[Fishtrap2]

Went out of Bridge Bait on Friday morning and was greeted be awesome weather. Just bought several Mylures in both dark (purple/Balck) and light (Pearl) patterns and was hoping to try them out and bag my first Wahoo. Once we cleared the 504 area, we began trolling at about 15-20 mph towards the W27's. Within fifteen minutes, what I thought to be a big kingfish cleared the water by at least 6 foot behind our baits but never touched it...figured it was just a hungry King that missed it's mark. Kept trolling but turned up nothing.

I noticed that the lures were bubbling at the surface at times and had problems staying down. Is this normal for these types of lures (they are the 4 1/2 oz. size)...do I need additonal weight of some type or just the alrger bait? Do I need some type of bait trailer on the rig? I am used to slow trolling Rapalas, etc. for kings so this faster trolling had me wondering if I was doing things correctly.

In addition, I figure that the area where I was trolling gets me a shot at a Wahoo, is this correct? Looking to try some YoZuri bonitas and Braid Marauders nest time...just nervous about pulling those big baits so fast! Anyone who can offer suggestions, please...I could use some advice.

 

[safisher]

Trolling at 15-20 mph is a very specialized form of trolling!!
Two things will help keep those lures down- one is to flat line them using either release clips or rubber bands from the transom eyes or get down riggers. At that speed release clips are hard to use. Rememeber to get the line from the rod tip down closer to the surface of the water to allow the lures to ride lower. The Cannon Unitroll downriggers have 4 foot booms that also let you widen your trolling spread and, at high speed (above 10 knots) can be fished with the weights above the just above the water to keep the lures a little deeper.

 

[Kalamity]

Fish Trap,
Try 7-10 knots and always sharpen hooks, even new ones.
Good Luck.
Kal

 

[spotsndots]

Ditto what kalamity said. Slow it down - I was gonna say 8-12.

 

[Argo]

we were trolling at 12-15 knots alot yesterday, just give it some extra line and drop it back another 50 yds.

 

[agulhas]

i would keep it slow otherwise you are going to have to use a trolling weight and get those lines a couple of hundred yards behind the boat. i like 18 - 20 knots when there is a lot of weed becuase the weeds won't hold the lure or the sinker. you will also need 20 feet of shock cord. flat line the rods if you can and 50 to 80 class tackle is ideal becuase you will need a lot of drag with all that stuff in the water. the benefit of highspeed allows for easy area coverage. i like big mike's lures (on this board) and:

http://bigmikeslures.com/

http://www.wahooking.com/index.html

the last sight is anthony's and he has some great pics and articles.

good luck.