Little help with plugging

[my2labs]

Hi there.

I recently gave pulling plugs a go in my DB and ran into more trouble than good.

Either the plugs were running very high in the water or they kept becoming slack lines.

At one point they’d work okay but I was only able to maintain the action while holding my boat in place. If I let up on the sticks at all and even began a slight decent downstream, they’d lose their action and float back to the surface.

Eventually i I put one ounce weights above them and got them to drop but when this method worked to get them to decend, they’d stop working.

I have never ever done this before but see it as a critical method I need to familiarize myself with now that I float so often.

I’ll admit that my Lavro was not being tracked all that well and I have some time I need to invest to figure out how to row with plugs out but it seemed much more difficult than it needed to be.

Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Dizzy Fisherman]

Could be the rods your using, the line, the rod angle, size of plug for the current. Would need to know the answers to provide good advice.

 

[Artwo]

A lot of it depends on the current speed, both on the surface and on the bottom, as well as the size/style of the plug you were using. I back troll a lot of plugs out of my drift boat. If you could give a little more description I can probably figure out what's going on.

 

[adamg]

As others have mentioned, it depends on lots of details and variables. If I had to guess, tho, I'd say you were fishing water that is too slow and/or your plug is too small for the water you're fishing.

 

[my2labs]

As always, thanks for the responses.

Ok so....

rods:

7’’ single piece fiberglass 10-30lb w/ 30lb braid

I ran numerous plugs for varying depths, none of which would stick.

As for the angle of the rods, hard question to answer but I’d say about 45 degrees or so...

in faster water, it is apparent that it’s easier but in slower (not slack) current, I was unable to get them to produce any sort of action.

Thanks again all

 

[Dizzy Fisherman]

The current could have been too slow to run the plug you were using. Typically plugs like flatfish and kwikfish run better in slower water. Mag lips will still get down in slower water too. There is water that is considered too slow to pull plugs. I fish my rods parallel to the water with my rod holders facing almost straight out to the side. Some people don't like this as it's harder for the guys upfront to see the rod tips but it's the rower that's fishing and should be paying attention.

 

[my2labs]

The current could have been too slow to run the plug you were using. Typically plugs like flatfish and kwikfish run better in slower water. Mag lips will still get down in slower water too. There is water that is considered too slow to pull plugs. I fish my rods parallel to the water with my rod holders facing almost straight out to the side. Some people don't like this as it's harder for the guys upfront to see the rod tips but it's the rower that's fishing and should be paying attention.

This good info. I’ll make some adjustments and try again.

Thank you!

 

[Hooked Up]

I find a larger plug works better in slower water. More surface area of the plug to grab the current. I've been told that if you're pulling plugs in slower water to deploy a drift sock OFF the bow. This will pull the boat and give a steady resistance to row against. Never tried it but makes sense. The day we met on the Sandy I was using a K9 for the fish we Hooked Up if that helps.

 

[Coburg44]

Nice

 

[my2labs]

I appreciate all of the responses.

Thanks again!

 

[Artwo]

Just as a reference............

I run Maglip 3.5 & 4.5 for springers

I run Maglip 3.0 & 3.5 for winter steelhead

Once the Maglips came out I quit using Kwikfish as I like the action of the Magip much better.............