Trolling with more rods

prayingmantis

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Mar 16, 2014
Messages
44
Hello everyone. I have just upgraded my riggers to the Cannon mag 5 with the 24" boom. I'm fishing out of an 18' boat. I normally 4 rods. I want to add 2 more dipsys. Was thinking about running at 1.5 and 3. At 1.5 does that get me far enough away from my riggers and if so how carefully do I need to be on turns. I mostly fish for trout and salmon on western lake Ontario. With running 2 riggers and 4 divers what would the best plan on depth compared to the riggers. Thanks for any help
 

dingbat

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Nov 20, 2001
Messages
15,414
Where there is a will there is a way...;)
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I troll up to 21 rods on a 22’ boat.

Running a pair of Mag 10s and pair of large, three board, planer boards out 125’.
 

Old Ironmaker

Captain
Joined
Dec 28, 2015
Messages
3,050
Where there is a will there is a way...;)[IMG2=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","src":"https:\/\/forums.iboats.com\/core\/image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP\/\/\/wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw=="**[/IMG2]​

I troll up to 21 rods on a 22’ boat

Running a pair of Mag 10s and pair of large, three board, planer boards out 125’.

21 rods? Man your good. If I run 5 off my 19' StarCraft I'm looking at a mess especially on Erie with the currents or a Silver Bass or Smallmouth hitting a line and then crossing them all. Carbuncklement is what we call it. We had a 15 minute trip last year when exactly that happened. I have 3 different size Dipsys, also run Jet Divers. I will set my Dipsy's to max to get them as far from the boat as possible, 3. If I have them on planners about 100 feet off each side I don't crank the setting. I like Jet Divers over Dipsy's, I don't have great success with Dipsy's. Too much tuning them for me. Many times I have checked the lines to find a small Silver on it and not trip. We fish the west end of Lake O as well on the Canadian side.
 

Sprig

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
May 2, 2016
Messages
571
My personal opinion is running a bunch of rods trolling is a pain in the glutes and not worth the hassle. But if you are going to do it then consider stacking stacking lines on your downriggers using stacking clips or a Shuttle Hawk. And if you want to run even more lines go with dipsy divers or depending on depth consider lead core line.
 

dingbat

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Nov 20, 2001
Messages
15,414
21 rods? Man your good. If I run 5 off my 19' StarCraft I'm looking at a mess especially on Erie with the currents or a Silver Bass or Smallmouth hitting a line and then crossing them all. Carbuncklement is what we call it. We had a 15 minute trip last year when exactly that happened. I have 3 different size Dipsys, also run Jet Divers. I will set my Dipsy's to max to get them as far from the boat as possible, 3. If I have them on planners about 100 feet off each side I don't crank the setting. I like Jet Divers over Dipsy's, I don't have great success with Dipsy's. Too much tuning them for me. Many times I have checked the lines to find a small Silver on it and not trip. We fish the west end of Lake O as well on the Canadian side.
Its all about bait placement and knowing exactly where a particular bait is running in the spread. Need to have a three dimensional picture of the spread in your head at all times.

I could write a book on the particulars, but here is a pretty decent overview of the process.

We have a pretty good “current” to deal with as well..ranges from 0 to 4 kts and changes direction very 6 hours. Even more fun when the outgoing tide runs against the prevailing south winds. Things get bumpy in hurry
 

Old Ironmaker

Captain
Joined
Dec 28, 2015
Messages
3,050
Its all about bait placement and knowing exactly where a particular bait is running in the spread. Need to have a three dimensional picture of the spread in your head at all times.

I could write a book on the particulars, but here is a pretty decent overview of the process.

We have a pretty good “current” to deal with as well..ranges from 0 to 4 kts and changes direction very 6 hours. Even more fun when the outgoing tide runs against the prevailing south winds. Things get bumpy in hurry

But 21 rods? We are allowed 2 per person on only some areas of the Great Lakes here in Ontario. 21 rods, that in my opinion is ridiculous unless running off a cruise ship.
 

dingbat

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Nov 20, 2001
Messages
15,414
But 21 rods? We are allowed 2 per person on only some areas of the Great Lakes here in Ontario. 21 rods, that in my opinion is ridiculous unless running off a cruise ship.
Well....then its a good thing that I don't fish the Great Lakes in Ontario and I have the skill and talent to fish 21 rods without a boat the size of a cruise ship.

The fuel to troll a cruise ship for three days would certainly put a dent in your prize money....lol
 

Old Ironmaker

Captain
Joined
Dec 28, 2015
Messages
3,050
Well....then its a good thing that I don't fish the Great Lakes in Ontario and I have the skill and talent to fish 21 rods without a boat the size of a cruise ship.

The fuel to troll a cruise ship for three days would certainly put a dent in your prize money....lol

You are good dear Sir. I would love to see a pic of your setup. I've seen 12 when we were 4 of us on a charter on Erie racked and stacked and all was good until a Rainbow didn't co operate and ran across 6 lines.
 

82rude

Rear Admiral
Joined
May 8, 2012
Messages
4,082
Dingbat could take a few thousand miles to turn on his body of water if im correct,lol.I don't even like using 2 rods ,but then again im fishing for pleasure not a lively hood or the likes.Most of the time I could care less if I even get a bite .The fact im out on the boat is therapy of the highest order.All pains and all other issues just melt away.Id love to see a vid of all 21 rods popping off at the same time .That would be interesting im sure.
 

dingbat

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Nov 20, 2001
Messages
15,414
Dingbat could take a few thousand miles to turn on his body of water if im correct,lol.I don't even like using 2 rods ,but then again im fishing for pleasure not a lively hood or the likes.Most of the time I could care less if I even get a bite .The fact im out on the boat is therapy of the highest order.All pains and all other issues just melt away.Id love to see a vid of all 21 rods popping off at the same time .That would be interesting im sure.
Nobody takes up Sport fishing for relaxation....lol

Bear in mind this is a trophy fishery. There is a 36" minimum length and a one fish per day limit. On a good day you might hook half a dozen fish over a 8 hr. period.

The most rods I've had gone down at one time is 8.

I was out with my fishing partner the second week in December. Stumbled upon a "false bottom" (bait so thick the 3ft. depth alarm on the sounder went off in 70+' of water) away from the fleet and we had a day to remember all by ourselves. Trolled the outside edge of the bait ball. The two of us boated 17 fish between 40 and 42 inches in a little over 1.5 hrs. Only time I've ever left fish biting.
 

BWR1953

Vice Admiral
Joined
Jan 23, 2009
Messages
5,802
That's a very nice striped bass! My best was only 9 pounds when I lived up in Maryland.
 

Kjmfisher

Cadet
Joined
Jun 18, 2018
Messages
19
Trolling for trout here in idaho with my brother and friend we run 6 rods 4 on the two downriggers and then two lead core strait out the back and havent have a mess yet
 

dingbat

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Nov 20, 2001
Messages
15,414
Trolling for trout here in idaho with my brother and friend we run 6 rods 4 on the two downriggers and then two lead core strait out the back and havent have a mess yet
Can’t figure out why in this day and age people are still using lead core. Made the switch to braid long ago

I guess old habits are hard to break.
 

Kjmfisher

Cadet
Joined
Jun 18, 2018
Messages
19
I use braid on the downriggers rods but leadcore is great for running pop grear and thats all those two rodes are used for
 

Old Ironmaker

Captain
Joined
Dec 28, 2015
Messages
3,050
Leadcore is a inexpensive way (OK cheap) to get the bait down. But a pain to change presentation when you have to reel it all in. Here on Erie guys have gone away from downriggers. The fish are getting smarter. Dipsys, Jet Divers and snap weights are more popular now. Got exactly zero on the riggers in the last 2 years, nada. On Lake Ontario yes but not Erie. A much deeper body of water on Lake O. We have 110' as the deepest we have here. Someone told me they fish in 200' of water on Erie, must be on the US side. Never saw anything deeper than 120'.
 
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