I usually fish vertical or cast to shoreline cover from my yak, but a few times I just let line out with a bettlespin and paddled to my next spot. I caught a few fish that way and now I have found some areas where there are bigger fish available. It's deep, so I would like to know if anyone knows any good trolling setups for a kayak. My idea is to put a heavy 1oz. egg sinker 3-5' in front of a Trap or swimbait, then paddle in a generally straight line. I guess I could use a GPS for speed control, too. Anybody do this regularly from a kayak?

I tried but had no luck, still learning the kayak though, I will be interested to hear what people have to say about the way they do it.

When we first got our yaks,lake belton was the "proving grounds".Launch at Temple lake park and paddle over towards Morgans Point.The castaway's back 2 rodholders are angeled out/back,so a beetle spin on one,a rattle trap on the other was what I usually trolled with.White bass were easily caught,along with a few small LMBs.Speed was never a problem,just paddle slow and enjoy the ride,waiting on a bite.

I troll regularly from my yak. My set up is very bare-bones. I use a medium-heavy 7 ft spinning rod loaded with 12 lbs test mono and a #7 Rapala Shad Rap or Fat Rap. These dive 8-12 feet depending on speed, line weight, and current. I brace the rod under my knee with the rest of it crossing over the to pof my other leg and over the side of the yak at a 90 degree angle. I usually paddle slow and steady and occasionally give the rod a forward pull to simulate a fleeing baitfish. Bass, sunfish, catfish, and gar all slam this rig. If that's a no-go, I'll try a Carolina rigged soft plastic like a worm or lizard behind a 3/4 ounce or 1 ounce bullet weight.
Hope this helps.

You might try something like a Hell Pet rig.

Excellent idea Herbert! I usually troll a shallow diving crank bait down river, but have yet to have any luck.

You can use a planer board to get the bait outboard of your track. Even the generic planer boards will get a 30 degree angle out. This can be advantages when fishing for easily spooked fish like Stripers.

I use a 7' medium action spinning rod or bait caster with a 1 to 1-1/2oz. egg sinker. I tie a swivel in front of and after the egg. I use a leader the length of the rod and usually troll a 3"-5" white sassy shad or a Rattle Trap. I paddle a Hobie and do this when making long runs so the speed (or maybe just the water I'm in) limits it to mainly striped fish, but do pretty well in big water. I do the same thing BTB and use much heavier tackle but it works just as well.

When I'm crappie fishing, I'll drag the minnow when relocating and hang a bunch of sandies and the odd hybrid or striper.

I think if you drag anything you can have some fun.

Thanks guys, I will try the egg sinker in front method while the fish are still down 30-50ft or so.

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You can use a planer board to get the bait off you tail. Spooks fish less. I hang the planer board off of one of the forward rods and the trolled rod sits in a the rear rod holder. But you can also tie the planer board off the front end of the kayak. I just like the line control of putting the planner board on a rod. In either case the baited line is clipped to the rear of the planner board and is thus released when the fish bites, leaving the planer board free of the action. So the advantage of a planer board is precise depth control without hardware on the line to impede fighting the fish

Another way to control the depth of your bait is to put a swivel and a balloon on the swivel at the depth you want to troll. This allows you to troll some ways behind the kayak but at a precise depth.
Balloon ideas here:
http://www.texaskayakfisherman.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=51&t=120238

I like to use a doubled 12 lb leader tied in a Tuna knot to the bait hook. This leaves a small loop at the hook. Catspaw a lighter line through the loop and drop shot a weight 8-10"s below the hook. That way if the weight gets stuck I don't loose any more than the weight and the bait is just above the bottom and the line is held straight. Fish will usually set the hook themselves against the balloon in the upper jaw.

We troll regularly for our two seater kayaks. We fish the San Bernard river mouth near Freeport. Go out about 800 to 1000 yards in front of the mouth the current is strong but thats why the fish is there. We have a gallon of blood tie to the yak with a hole prick in it to slowly release. We troll with a 12 to 14 inch catfish for bait. With a small weight and 5 foot of heavy cable and a 10/0 hook. We have chaught several sharks this way. Our last catch was a 9 foot bullshark.

I troll regularly around Texoma where the stripers like to linger as deep as 60 Ft. down yonder. Academy sells divers that range from 10-40 yards each for under 10.00 each. I've had great success with them using a silver shad rattle trap.

The biggest trolling secret I've learned was to keep your rod in front of you (meaning you'll have to install rod holders in front of you). Find a target at a long distance and commit to that target rowing at a constant rate.

If you don't have a rudder I would suggest getting one if you are getting serious about trolling it helps keep the the yak steered.

I don't know if its the fishing conditions or the lure set up but my striper strikes have increased recently using a small 1" silver rattle trap instead of the big 3.5-4" versions.