Trolling HB in Esturaries

[hattori hanzo]

Hey guys,

I'm an inexperienced but enthusiastic fisherman,thinking of giving trolling a go. From the reading I've done so far I figured a good starting point would be around the river mouths and near the pin bar, mainly targeting Flatties and maybe Trevs etc. I'm going to look for drop offs of about 3m and basically idle along them with 2 lures about 20m behind the boat. My lures of choice will be Micro Mullet, RMG scorpian, halco scorpian and atomic hardz.

I guess what I'm asking is is this how its done? what do other people do? But most importantly how do you set the drag ?? I'm wanting to use 2-3kg rod with a 2500 spin with 6lb braid and 8-10lb leader. Any help would be appreciated.

[Carter]

Hey,

a few tips,

Stagger your lures out the back at different distances,

If you want to chase Flathead, Jacks etc troll right near or on the bottom. Take time to go into shallow water and take note of when it starts to bumb the bottom, use this depth as a guide and use the sounder to keep you in the zone.

Try different lures as they all dive different depths, generally the larger the bib the deeper it will go

Go as slow as possible for bottom dwellers and up to 5 knotts for pelagics like Trevs and Tailor.

Try holding your rod and jerking it, sometimes a quick jolt will entice a strike

Try a variety of colours as some times colour selection makes a big difference especially for Jacks.

Dont set the drag too tight

Use 12-20lb leader, your looking for a reaction strike, too many decent fish will be lost with 8lb

Take time to sound and map out a troll path,

Favourite trolling lures for me are Berkley Flicker, DAmiki Long Bill, Manns 10plus, Micro Mullet, Reaction Strike ac55 and MAria 55

[hattori hanzo]

Thanks Carter,

If I need to increase my leader 15lb or so am I better off going to a heavier braid as well?

once again thanks for the tips.

[rosstralia46]

No your braid should be fine as they usually brake well above wat they are rated and use a decent amount of leader to act as a shock absorber and good luck

[Damien2Rad]

Go with the flow. Predators usually face into the current. It'll like the boat is going to fast, but just idle along and it shoould be sweet.

Going with the current also gets your lure down deeper.

I've had 2m lures hitting the bottom in nearly 3m of water before.

I've had success with Richos 90 2m and DuelHardcore Shad60SP trolling. Don't really do it much though.