Trout fishing basics - reeling in when trolling flat fish

[95fordranger]

New to Trout fishing, New to this blog. I would like to discuss the basics of landing a fish.
I am trolling a kwikfish/flatfish from a row boat, using a 8lb mono line, on a spinning reel, mid/light 6ft poles. last week i lost 3 good trout when they surfaced, jumped or rolled aprox 20-30ft from the boat. i was reeling in the entire time, because my drag is set to light, and i felt a little slack when the jumped/rolled. am i on the right path in saying i should only reel in when the fish is not running, and to use the pole to bring it in in a calm manner?

 

[troutdude]

Welcome to OFF. Congrats on getting hits. Sounds like your gear is adequate. And it sounds like, your peristant. So don't give up now.

Are they breaking your line, spitting the hooks out, or??? When there's slack; you need to reel in FAST. Otherwise it's a pull up, reel down, repeat scenario (and appropriate drag adjustments, as needed).

Could also be dull hooks. Have you sharpenend them?

Could be trolling speed. Try going slower, or faster, and see if the catch rate increases.

Your more than half way there; so keep going. It WILL happen!

 

[C_Run]

X 2 on the sharpening of hooks. I buy these little E-Z Lap files at Bi-Mart for about $6 and use them on all my hooks before leaving the house. If the tine slides over your fingernail, it is not sharp enough. If it sticks in the fingernail, it is sharp. Another strategy if the fish is jumping a lot is to lower your rod. Good luck.

 

[95fordranger]

X 2 on the sharpening of hooks. I buy these little E-Z Lap files at Bi-Mart for about $6 and use them on all my hooks before leaving the house. If the tine slides over your fingernail, it is not sharp enough. If it sticks in the fingernail, it is sharp. Another strategy if the fish is jumping a lot is to lower your rod. Good luck.

Thanks, I have always heard keep the rod up, I hope to catch another to try it.


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[95fordranger]

Welcome to OFF. Congrats on getting hits. Sounds like your gear is adequate. And it sounds like, your peristant. So don't give up now.

Are they breaking your line, spitting the hooks out, or??? When there's slack; you need to reel in FAST. Otherwise it's a pull up, reel down, repeat scenario (and appropriate drag adjustments, as needed).

Could also be dull hooks. Have you sharpenend them?

Could be trolling speed. Try going slower, or faster, and see if the catch rate increases.

Your more than half way there; so keep going. It WILL happen!

Not breaking the line, somehow spitting it out, I'll check sharpness of hook.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[smoky]

One thought could be you might not be setting the hook deep enough. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Troutski]

Braided line doesn't have as much stretch as mono, it should set the hook faster and deeper... when trolling..



Chuck

 

[bubs]

X 2 on the sharpening of hooks. I buy these little E-Z Lap files at Bi-Mart for about $6 and use them on all my hooks before leaving the house. If the tine slides over your fingernail, it is not sharp enough. If it sticks in the fingernail, it is sharp. Another strategy if the fish is jumping a lot is to lower your rod. Good luck.

And by "lower your rod" that can mean actually sticking that rod tip down into the water. A very common strategy esp with bigger fish. Usually when you feel it's going to jump - aside from feel you can see that in the line sometimes too.

 

[C_Run]

And by "lower your rod" that can mean actually sticking that rod tip down into the water. A very common strategy esp with bigger fish. Usually when you feel it's going to jump - aside from feel you can see that in the line sometimes too.

Learning that one helped me not lose so many kokanee when they start going airborne.