Slowing the boat down to just less than 3 miles per hour, I began to set our lines out. Our first two lines went down off the back corners attached to downriggers. With those in place I focused on setting the side planer lines out. But, before I could even grab another rod, the port side rod slammed down so hard that the tip was in the water. Fish On!

Some fisherman consider trolling a turnoff, they prefer the one-on-one connection you get with live bait rigging. Do you need to use live bait consistently to catch stripers and hybrid? No! In fact, trolling has becoming the #1 technique used to catch stripers and hybrids over the course of a year.

The reason that trolling is catching on so fast is the minimal amount of pre-effort you need to put in compared to live bait fishing. With live bait rigging, you may put 2 to 3 hours of labor into the trip before you wet a line. With trolling, this is not so. Gas the boat up and a quick check of your equipment and your ready to go.

There are several different ways you can approach trolling for stripers and hybrids. You can incorporate the use of downriggers to get the bait down to the fish’s level. You could chose to use planer boards, whether a single line board or the bigger dual-multi-line boards. Simpler yet is flatline trolling straight off the back of the boat. All of these techniques have produced fish for me in the past and they will work for you as well.

In the following pages we will break down all the different ways you can troll. After you complete the article you will have the basic understanding that is needed to put fish in the box on a consistent basis.

Cannon Downriggers  Manual and Electric	Downrigger weights

Downriggers come in a wide variety of styles. They can be a manual or a top of the line electric model. Their purpose is the same however in the fact that they are nothing more then mechanical devices used to get your lure down to the fish. Common to the Great Lakes and to ocean fishing for several decades, the downrigger has only recently caught on in our region over the past 10 years. However, as more and more fisherman become familiar with them, they could easily replace live bait as the number 1 technique used for stripers and hybrids.

Using downriggers is simple. They mount off the back corners and side of your boat. Depending on the width of your beam, you may be able to mount two downriggers off the sides of your boat. The downriggers on the side should have longer booms to help separate your rods.

Each downrigger is spooled with steel cable and has a heavy lead weight at the end. Your line will attach to the weight via a release clip, or other device that allows your line to pull free when a fish hits. The lead weight can vary in size from 2 to 10 pounds. For our southern reservoirs and the depth of the average line set, a 6 to 8 pound weight is more then adequate.

The weight is lowered with the downrigger while you feed line off your reel. Once you’ve attained the desired depth, lock the downrigger and engage your reel. Take up as much slack line as you can. This helps to eliminate slack line when a strike occurs.

There are several commercially made release clips available. I personally prefer a rubber band. The rubber band is secured to your line with a half hitch knot and then run through a clip on the downrigger weight. When a fish hits the rubber band will stretch and break under the pressure. What I like about the rubber band is that helps you hook light hitting fish by keeping pressure on the hook until it breaks. A standard release may break free too quickly and provide just enough slack for the fish to throw the bait.

Set your lines back 75 to 125 feet behind the weight. Fish tend to spook away from short line sets.

Pay attention to the type of lures your using off the downrigger. A ½ ounce jig may drop 3 feet when pulled behind a weight, while a crankbait might drop 10 feet.

Try and set your lures so they troll 1 to 3 feet above the fish’s level. Remember that they feed looking up and will not go down to take a bait.

Downriggers are most effective on fish that run at least 15 feet down. Fish shallower then this can be more easily caught with flat lines and planer boards.

Side Liners and fish taken with them	Diving bills by Big John and Dipsy Diver
Double Board Planer	Release Clips

Since the presentation of these techniques is so similar, we’ll cover them at the same time.

The use of planer boards, whether they’re single line, or multiple line boards should be used with caution on our Southern waters. These boards spread out to the side of your boat allowing you to cover a wider path of water. In conditions where heavy boat traffic is present, an accident might occur when someone inadvertently runs over your boards. A single board planer is designed for the use of one rod and stays attached to your line after a fish hits. The double board, or multiple line board, can run several lines off it and uses release clips similar to a downrigger setup.

To set your lines out on a planer board, start by stripping 75 to 100 off your reel. Then either attach your board to your main for a single board, or attach your main line to the release clip on a double board. Release more line off your reel as your line is carried away from the boat. Once out, engage your reel and set into the rod holder.

The flatline trolling technique is identicle to board fishing except its down straight off the back of the boat.

Boards are very effective when fish are running shallow and are spooked by the boat passing overhead.

A trick that caught fish years ago and still catches them today is a three-way swivel rig.

Tie a deep diving crankbait (one that dives 12 to 16 feet) on one rung and run a spinner or jig off the other rung. This combination caught fish when we were just understanding how to fish for them back in the early days.

Lure Selection

Sassy Shad	Storms Hot-N-Tot	Rapala Magnum
Bucktail Jigs	Johnson Sprite Spoon	Felmlee Eels

There are a wide variety of lures that the troller can use in his arsenal to catch stripers and hybrids. Of the more effective, are jigs, crankbaits and soft plastics.

It’s important to use baits that are relatively the same size of the forage that they fish are feeding on. On Tims Ford that is threadfin shad. For Percy Priest, it could be either threadfin, or gizzard Shad.

Where threadfin is the predominant forage, baits in the 4 to 5 inch category work best.

When gizzard shad are present, or targeted by predators, I prefer baits that stretch 5 to 7 inches in length.

I use an appropriate trailer on my jigs when fishing different lakes, or times of the year. Fall and winter I prefer a smaller 3-inch grub compared to a 5 to 7 inch grub in the summer.

Color choices are fairly simple. You should always carry combinations of white, red, chartreuse, chrome (gold and silver), pink, fluorescent orange, pink and blue.

Bright sunny days have proven the best for white, chrome and pink. When conditions are cloudy, I’ve found that blue, fluorescent’s and red work better.

When considering crankbaits, almost any bait with a shad like appearance will work. Once again, use the color preferences I mentioned above to choice a crankbait.

Soft plastic lures that I like prefer include, the magnum 4, 5 and 6 inch curl tail grub, Split tail and ribbon eel and the 6 inch auger tail type bass worm. My choice of colors for soft plastics include pearl, white, chartreuse and combo patterns that mixed these together.

Experiment with different lures, colors and combinations until you find the one that your are most comfortable with.

Since stripers and hybrid are pelagic in nature, meaning they prefer to roam open water environments, concentrate your efforts near the main river and creek channels. Points, humps and bars located near the channel will be ideal feeding areas where active fish might be found.

When you find fish, continue to troll the area until the fish move on. Find the next probable location in both directions and check to see if fish have moved in to feed there.

Trolling in a straight line can get you from point A to point B faster, but in increases the chance of by-passing fish. Troll in a zigzag pattern to eliminate the possibility of missing a school of fish.

Vary your speed. Depending on the activity level of the fish, you might be going to fast, or too slow for their liking. Active fish prefer a fast moving bait while inactive fish will be more likely to hit if the bait is in front of them for a little longer period of time.

Whether you consider live bait as to much work, or below your standards, it should deter you from chasing stripers and hybrids. Their food value and fight tenacity is why they’re gaining ground as Tennessee’s number one most sought after game fish. Don’t miss the boat! Hop on and start trolling.

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