Anglerj said:
Hey Kevin I have a 20 ft cc and I'm trolling with a 150hp Merc about 1-2 knots. I was told to get a 4-5hp kicker as the Merc was too noisy for the fish. Is this true if the line is out 30-40ft? Since I'm pickin your brain what is the best trolling lure in your box?
I really dont think that at all unless you have no cowling and the motor is a 2-stroke from the 60's. I use a 225 Optimax and while it may be a bit less noisy then the two-strokes, it certainly does its bit of purring. I have never heard anyone doing that, and while the 150 is a lot bigger then a 4-5 horse kicker, it doesnt mean it will be any noisier. Just try to stay out of big schools of boats (bigger then 12 or so) as that combined noise will scare the fish. However if your casting, then an electric trolling motor is good, because running into your target area with the motor running can scare the fish (in all honesty though I dont have one). Also note that starting the engine will also scare fish the most (noisiest). Just continue using you 150 horse, it wont hurt your fishing any.
In regard to your mention, 30-40 feet on the mainline isnt that much at all. I usually use 25 foot leaders, and have my shortest line back about 40-50 additonal feet, and sometimes let out rigs as much as 180 feet. I count feet by each pass of the guide on my reels, it is equal to 10 feet. If your lines are all out 30-40 feet, unless you have some weight, if you are using mono, your rigs will be about 4 foot down for a 6-10 ounce lure, for braid, about 6 foot down. The fish are in the upper water column, but I wouldnt run anything higher then 6 feet, and nothing lower then 25. The fishing is gonna start trailing off as they start heading north, and will be harder to locate, trophy season is after all nearing its end.
About lures, I've been using a lot of different stuff this year. In complete honesty, if the fish is hungry, and you put the lure in front of its face, it will bite it. However, white has been the dominant color, and if your running few rods, umbrella rigs will help you out a lot. Parachutes are of course the traditional favorite, and running a 12 inch or bigger umbrella followed by the parachute will net you some fish, as well as you being able to replace it with a tony spoon (size 21 if your going for the big ones!). I will say though that my hottest lures have been the holographic ones. We got a new color last year that is a transparent lure with a mylar center that changes from purple/green/blue/yellow/red depending on where your looking at it from. I use a 4-arm 12 inch umbrella with the holographic teasers on it, and then have the hooked holo/mylar swim shad following (they are sold with or without hooks, with a different tail style depending on this fact). It looks awesome, and thats what I caught my first fish of the season on, and others have had great luck with them. You do have to keep them dry however, because the clarity will go south if you leave them in a bucket or in the water somewhere. I've never seen these anywhere else, although Im sure they're sold elsewhere, and they arent a name-brand, so its hard for me to tell you where to get them.
Another great lure is the tsunami bunker swim shads. For trolling, I use a 9-inch bunker colored shad (the clear/chartruese ones that are new this year are awesome also) and a 7-inch bunker shad. Herring is anothe excellent color, and instead of a 7-inch bunker shad, you can use a bucktail, or differently colored shad. The holographic mylar shads with storm's 6-inch purple phantom work good too. Theres a lot of great stuff out there, but if your running few rods, I'd stick to the umbrellas for half your rods, and then use tandems for the rest.