Trolling questions

So I did a short trial run of some Kokanee trolling and I have two questions. my first having to do with the trolling setup. So my rod holder is one that tightens to the rail by twisting the rod holder itself. Now a few times the whole thing rod holder and rod just twisted loose. Now I was only using an ounce of witght and only putting out about 35 ft of braid. Could the drag put on it still cause this or was it most likely a fish striking it? Probably would have been a Kokanee or a trout.

The second thing being How do you guys know when a fish hit! My rod tip seems to bounce too much to tell a difference!

Thanks guys

I suspect that you are using a Scotty rod holder in a Scotty Gearhead base.  The Gearhead bases are fine for mounting equipment which isn't under any stress, such as a fish finder, but are lousy for mounting a trolling rod holder, because they always twist out of alignment, even if you tighten them up to a dangerous amount.  And if your trolling rod is pointing to the left, the tension on the rod will loosen the Gearhead.  Buy or make a better base for your rod holder.  One possibility is to mount a Scotty side-deck mount on  the Wilderness Systems Slide Trax Universal Mounting plate, available at https://www.austinkayak.com/Wilderness-Systems-SlideTrax-Universal-Mounting-Plate/ACK2027P.html.  Stealth makes a real nice track mount for rod holders, available at  https://www.stealthrodholders.com/collections/mounts-and-extensions/products/2-point-track-mount-coming-soon, but the last time I checked, Stealth rod holders and bases don't work with Scotty Rod holders and bases even though they have the same basic design, because they have slightly different dimensions.  I posted a description of the rod holder bases I made and have been using for years at https://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=13167.msg144750#msg144750.

Yes! You are right! Thanks for the advice on different rod holders but neither of my questions were answered.

And thank you for the links! I値l take a look at em when I知 less tired! I知 thinking of replacing it with the ram light speed.

Yes! You are right! Thanks for the advice on different rod holders but neither of my questions were answered.

And thank you for the links! I値l take a look at em when I知 less tired! I知 thinking of replacing it with the ram light speed.

With respect to your first question, it doesn't matter whether your rod holder is twisting because of the drag from your fishing rig, or the drag from a fish striking.  Either way, the problem is that your rod holder is twisting, and to fix that problem, you need to replace your Scotty Gearhead bases with a base which is fixed and won't twist. If you switch from a Scotty rod holder to the Ram Light Speed rod holder, Ram makes a base which mounts on a gear track which looks like it will solve your twisting  problem.  https://www.rammount.com/part/RAP-421

With respect to your second question, some trolling rigs or lures will create a regular rhythmic pulsing in the tip of your rod.  But unless your fishing rig has a huge amount of drag, and you are catching real small kokanee or other fish, when a fish strikes you should see an immediate and pretty dramatic change in the action of the tip of your rod, and/or and big change in the amount that your rod is bending, particularly if you are using braided fishing line, which has very low stretch. Look at some of the excellent videos on kokanee fishing posted on this forum by Uplandsandpiper, such as https://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=22137.0 and https://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=22177.0, and you'll see what I mean. You can often feel the "thump" when a fish strikes in the hull of your kayak, because it gets transmitted up your fishing line and rod to your kayak. I can only think of a couple of times when I brought in my lure and was surprised to find a fish on it.  In one case I was experimenting with a huge cowbell flasher array when kokanee fishing, and I caught a small kokanee, and its jerking was overpowered by the drag of the cowbells. Who knows how long I had been dragging the poor koke around before I pulled up my lure to check it.  I quit using that cowbell for kokanee fishing. Another time I was kokanee fishing with a typical low-drag kokanee setup, and when I pulled up my lure I found a very small perch hooked on it.  Again, the fish was too small for its jerking to overcome the drag of my flashers and downrigger weight.  So what kind of kokanee rig were you fishing with?  If you describe it or post a picture of it, some of the kokanee experts who are members of the forum can suggest changes to the rig so it won't overcome the strikes of kokanee.

I took the same route as pmmpete and made my own bases to mount Scotty surface bases using plastic cutting boards.  You can make several out of one cutting board keeping the cost way down.  This gives you a solid, no twist way to mount your rod holders.     

Yes! You are right! Thanks for the advice on different rod holders but neither of my questions were answered.

And thank you for the links! I値l take a look at em when I知 less tired! I知 thinking of replacing it with the ram light speed.

With respect to your first question, it doesn't matter whether your rod holder is twisting because of the drag from your fishing rig, or the drag from a fish striking.  Either way, the problem is that your rod holder is twisting, and to fix that problem, you need to replace your Scotty Gearhead bases with a base which is fixed and won't twist. If you switch from a Scotty rod holder to the Ram Light Speed rod holder, Ram makes a base which mounts on a gear track which looks like it will solve your twisting  problem.  https://www.rammount.com/part/RAP-421

With respect to your second question, some trolling rigs or lures will create a regular rhythmic pulsing in the tip of your rod.  But unless your fishing rig has a huge amount of drag, and you are catching real small kokanee or other fish, when a fish strikes you should see an immediate and pretty dramatic change in the action of the tip of your rod, and/or and big change in the amount that your rod is bending, particularly if you are using braided fishing line, which has very low stretch. Look at some of the excellent videos on kokanee fishing posted on this forum by Uplandsandpiper, such as https://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=22137.0 and https://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=22177.0, and you'll see what I mean. You can often feel the "thump" when a fish strikes in the hull of your kayak, because it gets transmitted up your fishing line and rod to your kayak. I can only think of a couple of times when I brought in my lure and was surprised to find a fish on it.  In one case I was experimenting with a huge cowbell flasher array when kokanee fishing, and I caught a small kokanee, and its jerking was overpowered by the drag of the cowbells. Who knows how long I had been dragging the poor koke around before I pulled up my lure to check it.  I quit using that cowbell for kokanee fishing. Another time I was kokanee fishing with a typical low-drag kokanee setup, and when I pulled up my lure I found a very small perch hooked on it.  Again, the fish was too small for its jerking to overcome the drag of my flashers and downrigger weight.  So what kind of kokanee rig were you fishing with?  If you describe it or post a picture of it, some of the kokanee experts who are members of the forum can suggest changes to the rig so it won't overcome the strikes of kokanee.

I was just using a 3in skateboard flasher with a hoochie and 1oz weight.  Nothing crazy. I do remember feeling some thumps. Almost made me wonder if something was bouncing off the bottom of the kayak or something. A dull quick thump. I have a feeling the rod holder getting jerked around is why nothing was on the other end of my line. At least it seems I was doing it right!
  I already have a blazerapalla port that is modified with the rail screws. I just kicked up a rod holder for it and will try it out this weekend.

Just curious, what are you using for a rod with this setup?

Just curious, what are you using for a rod with this setup?

Lamiglas Kokanee pro rod. The red one.
Why?

So my rod holder is one that tightens to the rail by twisting the rod holder itself. Now a few times the whole thing rod holder and rod just twisted loose.

Simple solution.  Mount it to the opposite rail.  Then the pull of a fish or lure will tighten the base instead of the problem you have now.

I was just wondering why you would have trouble distinguishing bites from normal rod bounce. Sno pro痴 suggestion is the easiest, just point your rod to starboard.
I usually fish kokanee with two rods, 1 with a downrigger and the other as you described. I値l try to get a picture or two of my set up tomorrow and post it. I was having a bit of confusion when I first started but thanks to pmmpete I finally got it ironed out.

I just kicked up a rod holder that doesn稚 turn. My rails are plastic so I don稚 like tightening them TOO snug. I just got a different setup Where the rail splines tighten with nuts and not the base of fish rod holder. It痴 one of the railblaza ones. I already had the attachment. Just not the rod holder itself.