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Thread: BC Lake trolling rod/reel setup

  1. #11
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
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    I'll just keep being..
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    3,026

    Re: BC Lake trolling rod/reel setup

    I got some downriggers last year for ocean salmon and have been planning to get out to chilliwack lake or chehalis lake and try for some deep dollys. I was gonn try the menno special, ford fender with a wedding band and worm...Do you fish right off the bottom? People have said real slow..what speed is that? I ve never done this before and so I'm watching this thread for tips..
    "Our arrows will block out the sun!" "Then we shall fight in the dark!" K.L. Government is not the solution to our problem, it is the problem. R.R. “One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results.” M.F. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClJ...fYFveARiWyqjQA

  2. #12
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    kelowna bc
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    1,268

    Re: BC Lake trolling rod/reel setup

    I usually run 30lb braid or 15lb mono. If I'm running on top I'll have a swivel with 10ft of 15lb floru leader to my swivel and Lyman..Or bucktail. Believe it or not I usually run about 300 to 375ft of line if I'm not on the rigger. I've been fishing from the kayak for the past few weeks. I've been doing well on top with no weight. Or a 2 or 3 oz mooching weight with a long 25 ft leader.

  3. #13
    Join Date
    May 2016
    Location
    Okanagan
    Posts
    122

    Re: BC Lake trolling rod/reel setup

    For speed, when your rod is in the downrigger you should see it bounce as the fender spins. I watch for about 2 bounces per second. Another method is spit beside the boat in the water and if it moves more than 1 foot per second you're going too fast. Slower is better, I use a 2HP motor on my 14 foot boat and it's pretty much idling, it's almost too fast with the wind at my back.

    Don't forget, go straight for 1 minute, then make a big S turn. Doing that puts slack in the line, then picks up fast which gets the fish to strike. If I get a hit while going straight but no hookup, I'll make an S turn right away and they come right back.

  4. #14
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    B.C CANADA
    Posts
    4,804

    Re: BC Lake trolling rod/reel setup

    if your fish finder doesn't have a speedometer , use a gps .... 2 - 2.8mph and like wifigary says "S" turns to vary the speed

  5. #15
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    kelowna bc
    Posts
    1,268

    Re: BC Lake trolling rod/reel setup

    U can even get a speedo app on your phone haha. Seriously I use it in my kayak

  6. #16
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
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    8-21
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    2,155

    Re: BC Lake trolling rod/reel setup

    Great advice, much appreciated!

  7. #17
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
    Location
    Quesnel
    Posts
    3,042

    Re: BC Lake trolling rod/reel setup

    In my experience, if your target is the truly large rainbows( okanogan lake, kootenay lake)....speed is your friend....like 3.5 - 5mph. With that in mind use the heaviest balls your rigger can handle to keep the rigger cable as straight down as you can. We have a place on quesnel lake and i use 15# balls for this reason. My most succsessful set up by far is a standard salmon flasher, 22" leader to hoochie. Oil slick hoochie for overcast, Pearl white with green/pink/yellow stripe for clear and sunny. A large streamer fly behind the flasher works as well. For a simpler set up, pink metallic, blue metallic, or black/white apex in the long skinny 7" version can be good as well. Run these set-ups 10 ft above where you are marking the fish and get them way behind the boat before clipping in to your downrigger...the big bows can be a little boat shy! Set your reel tension as light as you can that will still hold while cinched into the rigger, these big bows can hit like a freight train!

    anyway, thats what works for me!
    Chris
    "Do not go where the path may lead,
    go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."
    Emerson

  8. #18
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
    Location
    Cherryville
    Posts
    3,711

    Re: BC Lake trolling rod/reel setup

    Kinbasket: flasher/hootchie 50 ft, 1.8-2.5 mph has been best recipe last 3 early springs'. Any flasher that rotates, 20# test leader @ 38-42", purple haze cuttlefish with a green or blue double glow splatterback octopus hootch stuffed inside. Use quality stainless swivels and the cuttlefish should spin while rotating with flasher. Lyman/tomic plugs on surface or 1-2oz always get a few fish too.
    The only advantage to a light rifle is it's weight, all other advantages go to the heavier rifle..

  9. #19
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
    Location
    Cherryville
    Posts
    3,711

    Re: BC Lake trolling rod/reel setup

    I run 15# cannonballs, if you're using smaller you'll need more cable out to compensate for angle. When in doubt crank up sensitivity on depth sounder and/or play with width of sonar until it picks up your riggin. When you're tired of seeing fish constantly at 50' turn sensitivity back down HA. Kinbasket has no shortage of stumps to hang up on, troll the shorelines with caution.
    Tight lines! Looking forward to getting back up there.
    The only advantage to a light rifle is it's weight, all other advantages go to the heavier rifle..

  10. #20
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    Prince George BC 7-11
    Posts
    3,754

    Re: BC Lake trolling rod/reel setup

    Quote Originally Posted by Salty View Post
    Another option is to run a dummy flasher, a flasher off the ball with no hook. Set your line 6 ft or so above that with an apex, flatfish, small spoon whatever. When it hits its just you and the fish and you can get by with a lighter rod. Disclaimer - I know about this from ocean fishing, but don't see why it wouldn't work in fresh water too. I'm going to try some big lake trolling this summer as well and will try this.
    ^^^. Good advice right there. I nearly always use an Apex, they are speed sensitive, so use a GPS to track speed. For a 5.5" 2.2 mph seems about right, a 6.5" at 3.1 mph produces well. Generally Chang up to faster trollin speed when the wind gets up.

    Use an 8' medium action rod with a mooching reel.....easy to handle and down rigger friendly. Won a couple derbies over the years, chrome Apex is all round better than other colours/patterns.
    We can only be kept in the cages we do not see. @

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