04-28-2007, 07:59 PM
That's an interesting read on the Utah board. And I agree with your observations and reluctance to go with somebody in a boat who will never change methods when necessary. I go for the companionship and the outdoor experience but I mainly go to catch fish.
I've fished with several guys who like to catch kokanee (as I do). They're trollers. Trolling is a good method for finding schools of fish. However, these guys just blindly troll around and never stop, leaving behind many fish. When I'm in my own boat trolling with downriggers, I run with a very short drop back length. This makes quick turns easy. If the wind is blowing and I can't stop to jig over a school of fish (usually the case) I'll mark them with the handheld GPS as soon as I hook up and then do short figure 8's, running through the school multiple times until the fish either break up, get spooked, or move on. This method is good for 3 or 4 fish sometimes before things taper off and I have to go find a new school. If I can stop and hold over them, jigging will take even more. The blind trollers usually get no more than one or maybe two fish out of a school, then leave them behind.
Sometimes the simplest adjustment in thinking can make a big difference. I was once trolling kokanee in my boat with a friend. We were using the same lures at the same depth but he was catching fish and I was catching nothing. That went on for a couple of hours and was frustrating. I watched him carefully to see if he was rubbing some kind of secret ointment on his lure and not telling me. Then it hit me. I watched his dropback length carefully (distance from release clip to lure). That, plus his forward position in the boat showed me that he was shorter on his troll than I was. Now think about that. Who is coming through the school first? He was. As soon a he hooked a fish we'd slow the boat. (You can't land kokes with their soft mouths while moving very fast.) My lure would drop out of the fish zone and catch nothing. He was catching fish because he was first through the school. I may be dumb sometimes but I'm not stupid. I shortened my drop back so that I was coming through the school first and now I was the one catching the fish. And yeah, after gloating for awhile I told him the secret.
Discovering these "secrets" are what make fishing fun, fun, fun.
z~
[signature]
I've fished with several guys who like to catch kokanee (as I do). They're trollers. Trolling is a good method for finding schools of fish. However, these guys just blindly troll around and never stop, leaving behind many fish. When I'm in my own boat trolling with downriggers, I run with a very short drop back length. This makes quick turns easy. If the wind is blowing and I can't stop to jig over a school of fish (usually the case) I'll mark them with the handheld GPS as soon as I hook up and then do short figure 8's, running through the school multiple times until the fish either break up, get spooked, or move on. This method is good for 3 or 4 fish sometimes before things taper off and I have to go find a new school. If I can stop and hold over them, jigging will take even more. The blind trollers usually get no more than one or maybe two fish out of a school, then leave them behind.
Sometimes the simplest adjustment in thinking can make a big difference. I was once trolling kokanee in my boat with a friend. We were using the same lures at the same depth but he was catching fish and I was catching nothing. That went on for a couple of hours and was frustrating. I watched him carefully to see if he was rubbing some kind of secret ointment on his lure and not telling me. Then it hit me. I watched his dropback length carefully (distance from release clip to lure). That, plus his forward position in the boat showed me that he was shorter on his troll than I was. Now think about that. Who is coming through the school first? He was. As soon a he hooked a fish we'd slow the boat. (You can't land kokes with their soft mouths while moving very fast.) My lure would drop out of the fish zone and catch nothing. He was catching fish because he was first through the school. I may be dumb sometimes but I'm not stupid. I shortened my drop back so that I was coming through the school first and now I was the one catching the fish. And yeah, after gloating for awhile I told him the secret.
Discovering these "secrets" are what make fishing fun, fun, fun.
z~
[signature]