# Trolling



## fishawk (Aug 23, 2009)

I'm fairly new to the trolling world so I'm hoping I can get a few tips. Just got a 16' closed bow with outboard motor. Using Cannon Uni-troll 5 downrigger. First question is what size ball to use? Is 6 lb enough? Mainly trolling for kokes and trout at Strawberry and Flaming Gorge. I know brands are mostly personal preference but what should I look for in a trolling rod and reel? I like using the hybrid braids like power pro and fireline but are they ideal for trolling? I searched the internet pretty extensively and have gotten some good info but a lot of it is from people fishing big water like Great Lakes and offshore. Just looking for some local input from people familiar with the waters I fish. Thanks in advance for your input.


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## swbuckmaster (Sep 14, 2007)

You want a long limber rod for trolling. Plain ugly sticks in 6-7 feet are what we use. You dont want to use a fast action rod! I like the 7 foot rods with a reel counter built in the reel. The longer flexible rods help land the kokanee better "soft mouths" and allows for depth changes without popping the release clips.

We use 20 lb thru 80 lb mono for most every thing we do at the gorge. 20 for the salmon and trout. 
The heaver stuff for lakers. There are a lot of different styles or ways to fish at the gorge so one set up might not work up there. Where at strawberry you could probably have one rod in 10 lb test.

I still think i wouldn't go any lighter than 10 lbs on the ball. We use 10-12 lb weights


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## Grandpa D (Sep 7, 2007)

Do you have a gas trolling motor?
If not, get one.
It will make trolling much better.
10# ball will work well because you may need to go deep and you want the ball to stay under the boat. 

I don't use heavy line or even braid. 8# mono for the Kokanee is what I use.
I also like a long soft rod for the down rigger.


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## fishawk (Aug 23, 2009)

Thanks for the info guys. I've been trolling with the boat motor on slow idle which puts me about 1.8 to 2 mph. Seems to work well. Sounds like I need to get a 10 lb ball. Thanks again.


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## Kevin D (Sep 15, 2007)

Somewhere I read that as a minimum you need 1 pound of weight for every 10 feet of depth you plan on trolling. I don't know how deep everybody else is trolling, but only on Bear Lake do I routinely go deeper than 60 feet. I use 8 lbs balls primarily because they are easier to retrieve with my hand crank downriggers.


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## swbuckmaster (Sep 14, 2007)

Thats probably a good rule for weight. We use electric rigs so heavier is better


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Kinda a repeat of what's already been said:

If the bottom is irregular I like to be able to see my cannonball on my fish finder screen, so heavier is better. I like 12lb weights when fishing close to the bottom and 10lb weights for suspended fish.


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

I used to like seeing my cannon ball, but its hard to seperate the ball from fish at the same depth. Now I just point the transducer alot more forward so it misses the ball completely. I know how deep the ball is due to the depth on the downrigger and angle of the cable. Normally though we are in +120ft of water so snagging up isnt much of a concern.

I dont use a trolling motor, our boat is a 4 cylinder and we have a troll plate on it. At minimum idle, we get 1.4mph. We use so little fuel we only fill up every 4 or so trips out, about the same as a outboard and I dont have to hover over the transom to steer.

-DallanC


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## troller (Jun 27, 2013)

I have one manual downrigger and on that I use a Shasta Tackle Shuttle Hawk.
The Shuttle Hawk is a downrigger diving plane that carries your release to the depth you want. This enables you to stack two rods and to fish all day without having to continuously raise your downrigger. 
it cost $15.00
http://anglerwesttv.com/shuttlehawk.aspx


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