Hi all,
Can someone tell me the specifics of sand bass trolling? I assume long rods with a lure. How fast do you troll? What depth of water in the summer? Favorite lures? What is your favorite sand bass trolling reel? What size of rod? Will a pontoon boat work well? What size of line? How far behind the boat is the lure?

So many questions...so little time. I would appreciate any help you could give me. Thanks, Patti

We keep it simple when I troll with my friend on his deck boat. Spinning rods and shallow cranks and rattletraps.

Someone told me that my Pro Qualifier would be too small. Said it would work be to death reeling it in. It has 6.4:1 ratio. I was told I would need a large baitcaster reel. Any thoughts?
Patti

I use spinning reels with 12lb test so my lures will run deep. I stop the boat to reel in fish. I guess if you didnt stop one would need a winch to get them in.

That may be why he said I would need a big reel. He does not stop the boat. Last year 4 people got a sand bass at the same time and he was driving the boat and reeling too. I don't understand why I can't use a baitcaster with a higher ratio. Does it reel in too fast? Tear the fish's mouth???

Patti

Oh now that I thought about it. If he stopped the boat, the rest of us would get all tangled up.

Patti

I usually troll a slab on a fairly long line at about 3mph (according to the GPS). When I get a hit, I'll stop the boat, land the fish, then cast in the immediate area. If there's one fish around, there are most likely more. Depending on what the graph shows, and how fast I'm drifting, I'll usually try to retrace my route.

I'm far from an expert, and usually don't want to keep more than four or five fish (I dislike frozen fish) so I'm more interested in quality than quantity.

Just trolling can get very boring, very quickly.

I hardly ever use spinning tackle. My preference is baitcasting tackle. It works just fine.

I agree with snmcc, Keep it simple, A bait casting rig works
best for me, but I just tie on a lure and drag it a couple of
casting distances behind the boat, If I catch a fish I go back
to locate the spot and drift around it with the trolling motor
and slab or cast to try for more, I do stop the boat to real in
but I often use a deep runner and they crank hard if moving. I
generally fish alone and do not have more than two rods out, one
from each side.

Trolling I guess its okay if you can't find the fish using other methods but not my cup of tea. Please be courteous and don't troll too close to other fishermen.

I don't troll much, but if you use a diving crankbait, the lower gear ratio reels would seem to make it easier on you over a days fishing.

Wayne

back at ya big dad- don't fish too close to someone already trolling an area

Snmcc, Eleanor, and Slabnshad,

Thanks for your help. I bought a baitcaster yesterday. It has 6.4:1 ratio. I hope it helps. Usually we fish for crappie, but if they aren't biting, we look for sand bass feeding. Then we cast into them. Only as a last resort do we start trolling. Usually it is in the heat of the day and the breeze feels good!

BigDad- I never said I couldn't find fish any other way. Thank you so much for your opinion...but it does not answer my original post's question. By the way, we never troll into other people's areas. It is usually the other way around. We catch fish while trolling and 2-3 other boats come up and drop anchor in our trolling lane. But thank you for thinking I don't know anything about being courteous.

I did not insinuate you were not courteous, don't get your panties in a wad. To answer your question, a lot of people here use the Hell-pet Rig. Its a Hell Bender (usually with the hooks remove) with a Pet spoon tied to a 12-18" leader which is attached to the Hellbender. Some folks attach a 3/4 oz bell weight to the front hook attachment.

Sand bass are easier to catch in the middle of a hot day, if you fish vertically over drops/humps/ledges.

For trolling, I like to use the below rod/reel combo w/ 50 braid:


Been working well so far, but I may change to the Superman combo next year

100% agree! If you see a group of boats fishing together, don't go trolling through them. That goes for even if there is one boat. Just stay a couple of hundred yards away from them.

I had a guy troll within 10 yards of me a couple of weeks ago and he looked at me like it was no big deal. I looked at him like "What the hell are you thinking?". My son told me to keep my cooments to myself since he probably didn't know it was rude.