10/25/99
When
One (Line) is Enough
by
the Rapala Professional Advisory Team
To
watch this scene unfold from any distance, it would have appeared
that the driver of the boat had fallen asleep.
Zigzagging
along a path that looked crazy enough by itself, the boat suddenly
turned sharply and headed straight for shore. The boat was within
perhaps 30 yards of dry land when the operator finally switched
the motor into neutral, then reverse, revving the engine slightly
to stop his forward progress.
Deliberately,
with a smooth pumping action, the angler pulled his lure free from
the weeds and reeled it in. After removing the weeds, he held the
rod in one hand and steered the boat with other, heading out to
start trolling again.
He
didn’t catch a fish on that trolling pass, but he easily could
have, and just might on the next one, because he’s practicing
the art of trolling tight to a contour, or depth level.
We’re
going to discuss something that’s been a bit of a secret among
great anglers: the deliberate decision to fish with only one line
when contour trolling
When
One is Enough
For
years now, we’ve been preaching in this column about how
important it is to fish with multiple lures out when crankbait
trolling, to give fish a choice of lure style, action, color, and
to spread your coverage out. And, especially when you’re
attempting to cover a large relatively flat area, or you’re
after suspended fish in an open basin, that is still the best
advice. Planer boards can help you get lures off to the side, away
from the spooking influence of the boat, and truly do increase the
odds of contacting fish.
But
too many anglers attempt to troll with two or more lines when
they’re also trying to follow a contour. (For those who have
never tried contour trolling, it means to choose a certain depth,
such as the depth that weeds stop growing in your local lake, and
stay in that depth, having your trolled lures remain in that depth
as much as possible.) You have to make turns to stay in a certain
depth, because drop off contours are almost never straight! Any
time you make turns while you’re trolling with two or more lines
out, tangles are right around the next bend.
You
might troll around for a half-hour with your lures twisted
together, with no chance of catching a fish.
Therefore,
it’s often the wisest decision to use only one line when
you’re trying to follow a precise contour, or the edge of a
curvy weedline. And further, it can help you to choose a lure that
dives quickly such as a Down Deep Rattlin’ Fat Rap or Risto Rap
so you can fish with a relatively short length of line out. That
way, when you turn, the lure follows closely the path of the boat.
Fine-Tuning
by Hand
As
you become better at steering your boat and closely following a
depth contour, you can also become better at steering your lure
tight to the contour by making fine adjustments with your hand
position.
This
is a simple concept to understand. Let’s say you’re trolling
with a tiller motor. Your left hand is on the tiller, and the rod
is in your right hand, with the rod facing out over the port
(left) side of the boat. This is the most common pose to see a
troller strike.
What
this position does is force the lure further toward the left side,
if you will. Assuming the shallow side of the structure is off to
your left, this hand position will force the lure up shallower.
This is a good thing only until you accidentally motor up a bit
too shallow for the running depth of the lure.
At
that point, you have a few seconds before the lure will arrive
where the boat used to be, so you can often make a last-second
adjustment to keep the lure from hanging up on bottom or catching
weeds. As you see yourself get too shallow (by watching your depth
finder), steer the boat out a bit until you’re back in the
target depth, and at the same time, turn yourself so your fishing
rod is now pointing out to the starboard (right) side of the boat
the deep side in this case.
Doing
this will get your lure to steer out deeper, and probably keep it
from trouble. When your boat slides out a bit too deep, bring
yourself back around so the rod is pointing out the left side of
the boat again, causing the lure to swim up into shallower water.
To
catch fish, flirt with disaster as often as you can. If you snag a
weed, just reel up, take it off, and get back in the contour
trolling ballgame. (Remember, you’re using a lure that dives
quickly, so you don’t have much line out; it just takes a few
seconds to reel in, clean off the weeds, and let the lure back
out.)
Tip:
it really helps, when you’re contour trolling, to have the
shallow side off to your left. If you’re near a shoreline that
you can see, it makes it simple to eyeball your likely path (in
other words, you’ll be able to see when you’re getting close
to shore). And even if you can’t see shore, always trolling the
same direction helps make your rod position adjustments second
nature.
You
run up too shallow, thrust your rod out toward deeper water. You
motor out too deep, thrust the rod in toward shallower water.
These
fine adjustments, made by hand, are only possible if one rod is
being used. And it’s these fine adjustments that often make all
the difference in how closely your lure runs to the contour which
translates into more strikes.
The
Dead End Trolling Run
We’ve
arrived back at the subject of the opening little story.
Sometimes, the deep water runs in toward shore in what anglers
call an inside turn. If the inside turn is distinct, it becomes
impossible to steer a trolled lure through it, whip around when
you get too shallow, and have the lure follow you as you motor
back out the other side of the inside turn.
In
those cases, by performing what Rapala pro staffer Larry Dahlberg
calls a dead-end trolling run, can separate you from all other
anglers, and catch you some mighty big fish.
What
you do is sacrifice your lure to the shallow water. Keep following
the deep edge of the structure until the boat runs up shallow,
then keep going until the lure either snags bottom or catches
weeds or you get a bite. Very few anglers present their lures with
this kind of abandon, so these can often be un-pressured fish. The
worst thing that happens is you have to pull weeds off your lure.
The
best thing? A fish you can barely handle latches on.
Note:
These articles are provided by the Rapala Professional Advisory
Team. Join the Rapala Fishing Club, and help shape future lures!
You get a prototype lure and become an official Field
Evaluator! You also get 6 issues of “Profile,” the Club
publication full of fishing tips, and two different decals. Cost
is $12 in the U.S., $17 in Canada, and $25 in all other countries.
Send membership dues to: Rapala Club, Dept. SC, POB 581126,
Minneapolis, MN 55458.
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