The 10 top tips for trolling lures

Whether you’re fishing the freshwater for Murray cod and yellowbelly; working a tropical billabong for barra; or chasing mackerel, wahoo, kingfish and everything else up to and including sails and marlin out on the blue water, lure trolling is a proven, reliable “go-to” method.

But, as with any style of fishing, there are various little twists and tricks that can significantly swing the odds of success in your favour.

Trolling (still erroneously — and rather annoyingly — referred to as “trawling” by some folks) should involve a lot more than simply dragging a couple of lures around and blindly hoping for the best.

By applying the 10 tips below every time you troll, your strike rate will definitely improve…

And if you’re one of those people who still call it trawling, please stop! Unless you’re towing nets, rather than baits or lures, what you’re doing is trolling!

It makes good sense to troll more than one or two lines and lures. Within reason, the more lures you have in the water, the greater your chances of success.

Trolling multiple lines also allows you to mix lure shapes, sizes, actions and running depths to help discover what’s working best on the day.

Obviously, you’ll be limited by factors like the number of crew on board to retrieve lines when you score a hook-up, and you don’t want to be constantly crossing and tangling lines, but if you stagger the distances of the lures behind the vessel using an ‘M’ or ‘W’ pattern and make gentle, gradual turns, you should be able to avoid those troublesome issues.

Employing outrigger poles to spread your lines also helps in this regard.

Always troll one lure very short in the wake — just behind the main prop wash. It’s amazing how often this ultra-short line will be the first one to be hit!

That’s because your boat is effectively acting as a giant “teaser” to arouse the curiosity and interest of predatory fish. This is especially true, on some days, with species such as tuna, mackerel, wahoo and even billfish.

If the short lure is prone to leaping from the water and tumbling, you can use a rubber band or an outrigger clip set somewhere low on the transom to hold the line down.

Equally as important as a short line in the spread is a much longer “shotgun”, set well back behind everything else, usually straight down the centre of the wake.

Some days, this shotgun position will account for the lion’s share of your strikes, especially in very calm, bright conditions, or when the fish are extra wary.

If possible, set the outfit attached to this line up high. If you have a “rocket launcher” style rod rack over the rear of the cabin, and it’s strong enough to support the impact of a heavy strike, try placing the shotgun outfit up in it.

Too few trolling anglers vary their revs and speed throughout the day to see if a change-up might trigger a strike… Often it will!

Sometimes a subtle change in revs or even motor trim will tweak the actions of lures in the spread just enough to draw a hit.

Another great trick to try is pulling the motor out of gear, letting the lures sink, then starting to troll again.

This can be especially deadly around aggregations of baitfish, along obvious current lines and colour changes, over submerged pinnacles, or near items of surface “structure” such as man-made FADs or pieces of flotsam.

Check and re-check your drags

The forward momentum of the vessel combined with the power of a big fish hitting, often while travelling at high speed in the opposite direction, can create a sudden and dramatic spike of pressure capable of popping lines or straightening hooks.

For this reason, it’s a good idea to set your reels’ drags a little below their ideal fighting pressures, then edge the drag up when things settle down after the initial impact.

You need enough strike drag to bury the hooks, but not so much that you start breaking tackle!

Check these settings frequently throughout the day to make sure the drag hasn’t been bumped, and instruct your crew to do the same.

It makes very good sense to attach a sturdy lanyard or safety line to each outfit, especially when trolling offshore.

This can help to prevent an expensive outfit from being torn from the rod holder, or bouncing out of it in rough conditions.

Ensure the lanyard is attached to a strong point in the boat, is long enough to allow the outfit to be lifted from the holder while still attached, and has a fast-release catch or clip for easy detachment after hook-up.

Don’t simply troll aimlessly about and hope that you will eventually cross paths with a hungry fish! Have a game plan in mind.

This might be to zig-zag back and forth over a particular piece of ground, or around a feature such as a pinnacle or FAD, or it could be to follow a chosen depth contour or water temperature gradient.

In an estuary or freshwater scenario, it might be to thoroughly work back and forward on one river bend or set of submerged snags before moving on to the next. 

The moment you register a strike, have someone punch the waypoint into your GPS plotter (or take a landmark, if you don’t have GPS).

After the fish is landed (hopefully!), troll back through that waypoint several times from different directions. It’s amazing how often this will produce subsequent hook-ups.

If you’ve trolled for hours with absolutely no action, it’s probably time for a complete change-up.

Either bring all the lines in and run at speed to a new area, or swap out all the lures in your spread for something completely different… or even do both!

Don’t simply accept failure and another donut day.

Keep trying, keep thinking, and don’t become lazy or complacent.

At the end of the day, bring in each line (one at a time), remove the lure from it, and drop that lure in a container of fresh water for a wash.

Then run the de-rigged line back out into the wake a little further than it was deployed while trolling and tow the unencumbered line for a few minutes.

This will remove any line twist generated during the day’s trolling.

The underlying message in all of these tips is that trolling should never be a “set-and-forget” form of fishing.

Good skippers and crews are constantly tweaking things — watching the spread, lengthening and shortening lines, swapping out lures, adjusting their speed and course, or scanning the horizon for birds, splashes or other potential signs of life.

Stay active and be a hunter!

Steve ‘Starlo’ Starling is one of Australia’s best-known and most respected fishing communicators.

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