Rockfish/ling thoughts

I almost always troll in the upper half of the water column while paddling out. I've caught lots of 18 - 20 inch blacks & several legal lings (nothing huge) this way. I use the old standbys, both 6 & 8 inchers, tied directly on the line:
They're cheap, effective & lots of fun. I use 1 oz jig heads for the 8's & 3/4 oz for the 6's.

I do this also.  I've had days where no amount of jigging or casting would put a fish in my boat.  Luckily those days have been saved by covering ground on the troll.  This has also been pretty effective for figuring out where the biting fish are.

heh, yeh, like you need to take notes, Spot.......

I wish that were true WR!  A lot of my fish come thru sheer force of will and blind stubbornness.  I'd rather they were coming thru intelligent application of technique......

Someone correct me if I'm wrong because I've never run a mooching rig, but I believe they're also referred to as a "banana weight", or "trolling weights". They have an integrated bead chain swivel on one end. Here's a pic I found on Cabela's:

Something I have often wondered, does it matter which end goes first, swivel or bead chain?  I've always used the bead chain on the bait end.

That's it- the bead chain is supposed to be better at letting the herring roll, without twisting the leader.

I have also given this idea some thought! In fact, I want to try the same set up I was using for salmon in the river. Instead of using a lure, how about a big spinner, like a Blue Fox. I was using a 5 ft leader attached to a bead chain. Then above that on my line, was a slider with a drop down 18 inch leader with a small cannon ball sinker. The weight would hit the bottom before the spinner, and this seems like it would be ideal for trolling along bottom structure. I'll bet the blacks would go nuts for the Blue Fox. You could even tip it with a small strip of squid for flavor.

I almost always troll in the upper half of the water column while paddling out. I've caught lots of 18 - 20 inch blacks & several legal lings (nothing huge) this way. I use the old standbys, both 6 & 8 inchers, tied directly on the line:
They're cheap, effective & lots of fun. I use 1 oz jig heads for the 8's & 3/4 oz for the 6's.

I do this also.  I've had days where no amount of jigging or casting would put a fish in my boat.  Luckily those days have been saved by covering ground on the troll.  This has also been pretty effective for figuring out where the biting fish are.

heh, yeh, like you need to take notes, Spot.......

I wish that were true WR!  A lot of my fish come thru sheer force of will and blind stubbornness.  I'd rather they were coming thru intelligent application of technique......

Although I obviously don't catch a wide variety of fish (AOTY ranking), stubbornness & willpower are probably 2 of the main reasons I seldom get skunked in the salt (freshwater is another story). There always seems to be a couple of BRF's to catch on the troll, & since I don't have a fish finder & BR's tend to school, I'll stop & do some cast & retrieve if I get a hit while trolling. I caught all these while trolling (the largest BR was 21 in).

I have also given this idea some thought! In fact, I want to try the same set up I was using for salmon in the river. Instead of using a lure, how about a big spinner, like a Blue Fox. I was using a 5 ft leader attached to a bead chain. Then above that on my line, was a slider with a drop down 18 inch leader with a small cannon ball sinker. The weight would hit the bottom before the spinner, and this seems like it would be ideal for trolling along bottom structure. I'll bet the blacks would go nuts for the Blue Fox. You could even tip it with a small strip of squid for flavor.

I'm gonna try that Blue Fox idea! I've tried the cannon ball set up, & always seem to manage to get it wedged in the rocks over structure while trolling. I've been thinking about using a long slinky with about 1 oz of shot instead of a regular drop sinker.

Dave, is Siltcoos still a happening thing for silvers? I've got lots of time off. Let me know if you want to try it.

I have also given this idea some thought! In fact, I want to try the same set up I was using for salmon in the river. Instead of using a lure, how about a big spinner, like a Blue Fox. I was using a 5 ft leader attached to a bead chain. Then above that on my line, was a slider with a drop down 18 inch leader with a small cannon ball sinker. The weight would hit the bottom before the spinner, and this seems like it would be ideal for trolling along bottom structure. I'll bet the blacks would go nuts for the Blue Fox. You could even tip it with a small strip of squid for flavor.

I'm gonna try that Blue Fox idea! I've tried the cannon ball set up, & always seem to mange to get it wedged in the rocks over structure while trolling. I've been thinking about using a long slinky with about 1 oz of shot instead of a regular drop sinker.

Dave, is Siltcoos still a happening thing for silvers? I've got lots of time off. Let me know if you want to try it.

I've lost a cannonball or two in the cobblestones.  This year I'm going to try a bottom-walker and see if I can avoid it.

One of the NCKA guys uses a small length of scrap rebar for bottomfish troll weights.

-Allen

But, back to the original question about trolling plugs.  How could you configure one to bump bottom regularly without snagging up?  I think this would be a Ling killer and let you cover some serious ground.

But, back to the original question about trolling plugs.  How could you configure one to bump bottom regularly without snagging up?  I think this would be a Ling killer and let you cover some serious ground.

If you're already going to use a sinker, then why use of plug?  There are plenty of lure options that would be appealing when using a sinker.

But if you must use a plug AND a sinker, I'd run the plug on a short leader and the sinker on a longer dropper.  So only the sinker is banging bottom and the plug is wiggling away above the bottom.  Some plugs have an attach point on the under side of the bill that you can drop your weight from.

-Allen

One of the NCKA guys uses a small length of scrap rebar for bottomfish troll weights.

-Allen

Sure that would make a great sound too.

Z

One of the NCKA guys uses a small length of scrap rebar for bottomfish troll weights.

-Allen

Sure that would make a great sound too.

Z

Rebar is cheap and easy to cut, and drill.  What diameter and length are folks down there using?

Think I'll try the rebar idea also. I'll probably manage to get it stuck in the rocks too, but with a drop sinker, should be able to save the lure. Revo Roy gave me some used copper tubing. I shined it up, put some pencil lead in it, crimped the ends, added a split ring & swivel on one end & a hook on the other. Made up about 6 of 'em of varying lengths. They rattle around pretty good, but haven't caught a dang thing jigging with it yet.