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The Fishermen's Journal |
The Merits Of Deeper Trolling
Darrell Primrose, Owner of Ballyhood, Shares Some Thoughts
05/21/99 -- Let's be sensible about TUNA, MARLIN, WAHOO, DORADO and GROUPER. Most boat owners have the luxury of state of the art electronics which includes a sophisticated fish finding device of some sort. Next to the radio and compass your fish finder is the most looked at and understood piece of equipment. True? - Okay, then, although it's called a fish finder, what we usually find with it is some type of bait fish, and not necessarily the species we are targeting. However, it is a lead! One of the points I want to make is, as we all know, big fish eat little fish. bait fish are pushed to the surface normally because something has pushed them there. Not many, if any, fish live on the water's surface. So, let's troll deeper to at least meet the targets halfway or more.
We know the larger TUNA swim under the smaller TUNA. Wouldn't it make more sense to troll 8'-12' deeper? Ballyhood's 4 oz. Top Gun Feather will dive to this kind of depth! If your lure is trolled deeper at least some of the time, chances for bigger tuna increase. The incredible results of the Cedar Plug bears this out as it is not always on the surface, but dives and zig zags it's way around. The same can be said for a Rapala type lure.
MARLIN and DORADO are caught on the surface very often, however, they don't live on the surface. They are usually attracted there by bait. Marlin Angers, especially tournament Anglers, very often will slow troll large baits such as small TUNA, BONITO, MACKEREL, etc. with weights. Why? Knowing their chances for a big BLUE MARLIN are better deeper! Hence the popularity of tuna type tubes. Ballyhood's 14 oz. Deep Diver Lure is excellent for this type of trolling and has the options of rigging a bait inside the designed hood and will reach depths of 30'-35' at 2-5 MPH. The same lure is deadly for MAKO and THRESHER Shark fishing.
Wahoo the exotic! Did you ever stop to think abbot why fly-lining Anchovies or Mackerel is usually not the accepted method as it is with TUNA or DORADO? Because they feed deeper! On the West Coast the very popular Marauder type lure or Rapala type are the accepted standard way to troll, and for casting the weighted "bomb" lure produces results. The reason for both lures success is that they get deeper. For years the Ballyhood Jr. Top Gun Lure has been an East Coast favorite. 5 oz. in weight, designed to reach 20'-24' depths at up to 7 MPH. You can troll it as is, or have the option to put a 6"-8" bait in the hood. It's also deadly as a cast and retrieve "bomb" type of lure. This same Jr. Top Gun Lure is dynamite for bigger TUNA and is used in many parts of the world for GROUPER and CABRILLA types.
Speaking of Wahoo: Don't miss our "WAHOO EXPRESS" Hi-Speed Troller. 14 oz. stainless bullet head with double mylar skirts and willowleaf spinner blade, and big goggle eyes. The lure trolls 12-14 knots, with depth. Forget your planer, lead line, and extra weights!
Let's talk about these cave dwelling types for a second. CABRILLA and GROUPER normally live in holes. It's well known they don't venture far from home, they wait in hiding to strike out, grab a victim, and take it back home for eating. Ever hook a GROUPER in Loreto, La Paz or some place of your choice and have it zing back into it's hole? Consider trolling around rocky areas in 30-35 feet of water. Wouldn't it make more sense to troll a lure in front of their door step, say at 20-25 feet? You bet! Jr. Top Gun is ideal for this in that it can be trolled from 207 knots with or without bait attached. Next time out why not think about trolling deeper where they live!
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Darrell Primrose
1982-92 Owner Finisterra Tortuga Sportfishing Fleet, Cabo San Lucas
2nd Place Whiteys Marlin tournament - 386 lb. Blue Marlin
3rd Place - Cabo Marlin Tournament - 189lb. Striped Marlin
1st Place - Drambui Catalina Calssic - 193 1/2 Striped Marlin
Participant in 12 Bisbee World Wide Marlin Tournaments
Participant - 8 Gold Cup Marlin Tournaments
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