Marking your line - it works!

I troll from my Revo without a downrigger.  This has proved difficult since without an ACCURATE line counter you cannot know how much line you have out and how deep your gear is running.  I've considered a line counter and tried to use an add-on, but unless a line counter is geared on the reel or consistently runs on the line they are approximations at best. 

My saltwater reels are filled with 50# Yellow PowerPro so I marked the line from the swivel with black marker every 50 feet.  At 50' I made a 2" wide section of the yellow line black.   At 100' I made two 2" sections of the line black separated by 2" of yellow line.  And so on every 50' of line.

If I run out 100' of line and maintain a 30* angle with the water surface I know my gear is running at 50' (sine of 30* is 0.5).  If I maintain a 45* angle with the water I know my gear is running at 70'.  And if I maintain a 60* angle then gear is running at 87'.  Angles in between the known numbers can be approximated. 

I've only fished this way once, but it was remarkable how much more confidence it provided that I was running at the depths of the fish I was targeting.  It showed me that I was previously running my gear WAY, WAY deeper than I thought, and that line runs off the reel much faster than I thought. 

The black marks are easy to see on the reel and easy to see against a darkish background (blue sky). 

I've thought of marking my line before but I run Mono and Spiderwire (dark green).  I don't this this would work for me.

I guess I have a reason to go buy a spool of yeallow braid now.

It also helps when bobber fishing.  Power pro + sharpie.  Five foot intervals starting at 10' going to 30'.

I mark my line at 15 and 20 "pulls" when fishing B10.  It's way easier than trying to count actuall pulls of line while maintaining trolling speed.

Good advice Demonick!

-Spot-

 For most trolling I use line- counters (can be real game changers)  but when I don't, I tie bobber stops.  Pre-measure the line at home and then tie a stop where I want it.  Run the stop out to the tip and your set.

When I was very young and learing the ropes of trolling for Kokanee, I learned from the old timers that they marked their lines with fingernail polish. To this day I carry a small Bon-Bon bottle in my tackle box of the brightest acrylic polish I can find. Sometimes someone will notice it and I get asked what that is all about... I then point out that sitting right next to it is the hypodermic syringe and needle I use to blow up worms!

It doesn't work for my Avet but for level wind reels, you can measure how much line it is for the level wind to go form one end to the other.  On my Ambassador 6500 using 20lbs ( I think) maxima chameleon, it's 10ft per one pass.  It works okay for the first part of the spool.  As the diameter gets less, its less effective.  But for the typical 15 to 25 "pulls" it works.

On my shrimp pot lines, the spectra line came pre-colored at a certain interval.  I thought that was pretty cool.  Can't remember what line I put on....

When I was very young and learing the ropes of trolling for Kokanee, I learned from the old timers that they marked their lines with fingernail polish. To this day I carry a small Bon-Bon bottle in my tackle box of the brightest acrylic polish I can find. Sometimes someone will notice it and I get asked what that is all about... I then point out that sitting right next to it is the hypodermic syringe and needle I use to blow up worms!

I used to use women's ear rings as lures ........   it began after my wife found a ladies ear ring on the floor of my truck 


Funny that I came home today to find this as a a thread topic.  I was out earlier today looking at line counter reels.   The problem is that, though I am right handed,  I have become used to using left hand casting reels when constantly casting from river banks.   Only lefty counter reel I could find displayed was a cheap Okuma.     The Sharpie marker system sound like a great idea !!