Trolling gear to start out with...

Franko Manini

Well-Known Member
Folks,
Pretty new to the forum, but lovin' it so far.

I've lived on Vancouver Island all my life, and I've done plenty of fishing off other people's boats. I know how to set up gear and run downriggers, etc. I just got my first "real" boat, and I am getting it set up for fishing out of Sooke. I managed to find a 2010 Thunderjet Luxor 20', with Suzuki 140 and 9.9 motors. The kicker has 28hrs on it, the main has 15. Anyway, I digress...

I have some experience fishing out of Sooke, Sidney, Oak Bay and the waterfront, and I mostly know where to go. What I don't know too much about is fishing with bait (getting the right roll, leader lengths,etc.). I was told by someone once that it might be better to get good at fishing spoons and other lures (ie Coho Killers) and then when I gain some confidence there, graduate to bait. So i am looking for some advice on basic setups for trolling such as recommended flashers, spoons, and leader lengths for springs. There are so many options out there that maybe catch fish but definitely catch fishermen that I want to avoid that and get just a few "old reliables" or "standards". I am sure there will be 1000 options, but maybe there will be a general concensus of start with these 3 flashers, or these hootchies, etc. I would appreciate any suggestions. I know I have lots to learn.

Secondly, I have kinda narrowed my selection of rods down to either the Shimano Talora or the Fenwich Eagle GT HMX. Does anyone have any suggestions on good downrigger rods?

I will finish installing my Scotty electrics tonight, and I hope to be on the water this weekend or early next week for a shake down crusie with a bit of fishing tossed in.

Thanks in advance for any tips.
 
lures start with green and white glow and not glow and black and white to will get you started,flashers red and green glow and not glow
 
If it came down to 3 flasher's I would go with a Silver or gold Betsy, a purple haze and a green glo.
spoons would include cop car, green/glo and if you can get your hands on them Krippled K in chrome/green.
I would also have Hootchie's and squirts in purple haze,glow below and green splatterback.

I would likely go with the Shimano rod. I've had a couple of HMX break on me this season.
What about a choice of reel ?
 
You don't need to "graduate" to fishing bait.

Just jump right in and learn how to rig an anchovy......

Put it 6 or 7ft behind the flasher for starters.

No matter what you do you're going to have to learn how to rig bait anyway....if you fish bait.

It's not rocket science and it's not as difficult as some would have you believe.

Rigging hoochies isn't going to help you on bait.

Rigging bait is actually fairly easy.

Brine the bait first though......and you don't really need a fancy-schmancy brine to start with......just make sure you don't use table salt.

Of course there will be days when hoochies and spoons are working well too.....
 
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If it came down to 3 flasher's I would go with a Silver or gold Betsy, a purple haze and a green glo.
spoons would include cop car, green/glo and if you can get your hands on them Krippled K in chrome/green.
I would also have Hootchie's and squirts in purple haze,glow below and green splatterback.

I would likely go with the Shimano rod. I've had a couple of HMX break on me this season.
What about a choice of reel ?

X2. Take it from a guy who had a serious case of GAS (Gear acquisition syndrome) - you don't need as much as you think. These days I only run green and purple, and switch them up if one does better (well, I use red for sockeye). I'm by far the best out there, but more and more I believe that with saltwater fishing, 90% of it is dragging the lure across a fish's face. This fish has to be there.

Again, I mirror Scott's choices.

Great find on an awesome boat - good luck out there!
 
Thanks for the tips guys. I am super excited to get going, but what is really cool is that I am only half as excited as my two boys, 8 and 11 years old.

I didn't mention reels because I have a couple of Shimano 4000GTs already. Also have some older Peetz reels from the 1950s just for giggles.


Oh crap... Net... Anyone have good pointers on a net? I've seen the new Gibbs net that has what seems like a 12 foot handle! Holy crap! But I can see it being advantageous with kids on the rod and outboards bolted to an offshore bracket.


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Thanks for the tips guys. I am super excited to get going, but what is really cool is that I am only half as excited as my two boys, 8 and 11 years old.

I didn't mention reels because I have a couple of Shimano 4000GTs already. Also have some older Peetz reels from the 1950s just for giggles.


Oh crap... Net... Anyone have good pointers on a net? I've seen the new Gibbs net that has what seems like a 12 foot handle! Holy crap! But I can see it being advantageous with kids on the rod and outboards bolted to an offshore bracket.

FM, don"t save those old Peetz just for giggles... Its the only way to fish, all I use!!!

... Sooke of Haz... Thats a big statement.. "By far the best out there" !!!
 
Old Peetz reels are a great conversation piece......but I wouldn't use them in this day and age unless you forced me......

Get a reel with a one way drag........not the old 'two-way with adjustable wing-nut' Peetz.

If you're going to be fishing out of Sooke much:-

Bait heads:- Bloody Nose,Purple Haze, Green Glow, Green Scale, Chrome/Purple
Super Gold Betsy flasher (there is a difference between the Gold Betsy and the Super Gold betsy)
Purple haze flasher
Boogieman flasher
Purple Onion flasher

Andrew P's Sitka needlefish spoon has been good out there a lot too....
 
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Flashers:
Gold Betsy
Purple double glow

Spoons:
cop car 3.5"
green/white 3.5"


hootchy:
purple haze
white

squirts:
purple haze
electric chair(UV with pink stripe)

Anchovy teasers:
green glow
bloody nose


IMO - If you can't catch them one of the above it just isn't happening.
 
Thanks everyone for your generous advice. I am not afraid of putting in my time, making a few mistakes, and figuring out the finer points. But having a good starting point is really helpful. Thanks guys.

Is there a guideline for leader lengths? I have heard that generally run them longer for springs, and bait is longer than spoons or hoochies.


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if you can find a UV chart on line, you will learn that the two colors that retain their color down to depths are green to about 80' and purple down to about 120'. the rest of the colors are gone by about 40' or less turning to shades of gray. gold and yellow are gone by about 30' or less. this should give you a good clue regarding which flashers to immediately include in your kit. for me that means a green/chartreuse haze and a purple haze, probably the only two I fish consistently. UV anything beats 'glo' hands down as there is no 'recharging' necessary. also learn that leader lengths behind the flashers make a big difference. with a hootchie, about 24" with 30#. if you want even more action, go to 50# leader. because spoons and coho killers have their own action, 35-40" is a good starting point. my go to blind fishing Coho killer is the 'white lightning'. white lightning spoons are also worth trying. and remember, size does make a difference in 'matching the hatch' so don't just assume bigger is better. if I find small forage fish in the gut of a caught salmon, i'll look it over to see what is on the menu also checking for size. green splatter back hootchies are great if they are feeding on pilchard, as an example. and remember, if you aren't catching while others are, change.

as far as rods go, they are going to take a beating if you spend the time on task. I have broken the tips off of 2 composite rods that cost me over a hundred bucks each. now I am using ugly sticks, 8'6" medium action steelhead drift rods. very soft tips and a stout butt are just great for DR fishing. $65/ea so if I break these I won't be crying about ordering a couple of new replacements. its the soft tips that make great DR rods as with a release, you want that spring back to set the hook.
 
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Remember the name "ROY G. BIV" for color loss

Red
Orange
Yellow
Green
Blue
Indigo
Violet

This is for "normal" colors. Fluorescent colors do not disappear as quickly and hold their color at depth longer.

UV hoochies (or UV anything) are good at all depths.......although they seem to work better in low light or deep. On a bright sunny day at shallower depths (80ft or less) UV may not help that much.

"Glow" is good at depth generally (80ft or deeper). Over time a hoochy or spoon etc. will lose some of it's glow ( after an hour) but it will still show up better than non-glow. If you want to recharge a "glow" sufficiently...just bring it up and let it sit in the daylight for a few minutes and give it a shot with an LED flashlight. Nothing fancy.

You can't "charge" a UV hoochy. UV does not glow and does not need charging. It reacts to light plus UV light. UV light can penetrate over 800ft deep.

In my experience "Glow" flashers work well at depth or on overcast days or after about 5pm in the evening in the summer or early morning.

It may be sunny out but a lot of the sun's rays will bounce off the water in early morning or late afternoon. So it's not as bright down there as one thinks it is at those times.....especially deeper.

I don't think the "green Splatterback" is a Pilchard pattern.....I use that pattern as a goto lots of times and there are never any Pilchard where I fish.

Leader lengths are personal preference.....but for hoochies my fave is 38 inches from back of flasher to nose of hoochy on 40lb test (for summer Chinook).........trolled 2.5 mph to 2.75 mph.....flasher back about 25 feet.
 
Hey Franko,

I wouldn't be intimidated by bait...from my experience it's the most effective method the most often off Sooke. I'd be interested to get other opinions on this, but I think a tight roll with the tail in and not helicoptering is the best. I use a single gammy 2/0 treble and find it works best for strike rate and roll. Here are a couple vids I found useful when learning:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQm4aIJ6IOM
http://murphysportfishing.com/site/learning-with-the-pros.html

I'd keep it simple with colours...Gold Betsey flashers, purple haze and purple onion are my favourites with mint pear and bloody nose teaser heads.

I have Shimano Convergence rods with the Shimano GT 4000 mooching reels. They're nothing fancy but do the job.

Good luck out there!
 
Thanks again guys. Hopefully I will be able to get out this week to try some of this out.


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