Trolling Defined For Tournament Purposes

[RSM789]

I saw something while marshaling at Lake Havasu last week that I didn't report to the B.A.S.S. officials (because I was unsure if it was an infraction), but has bugged me a little for the last week.  On one of the days, the pro I was with alternating between a jig & a drop shot (which he was casting & retrieving, not fishing directly below him) while fishing offshore.  The area he was fishing featured a drop off between the shore & an island and from what I could see on the rear graph had quite a few isolated pieces of cover (possibly man-made, part of the habitat program there).  The desert winds kicked up and on about a dozen occasions, after he made a cast & let the rig settle to the bottom, he would get on the trolling motor and power into the wind for 10 to 20 yards.  I wasn't sure if he was moving to keep the boat in the position he wanted or just to fight the wind, but he was definitely dragging the jig or worm through structure on the bottom (& manipulating it as he did so).  He seemed to do it as was moving from one piece of cover to another, a way to keep fishing while moving (as opposed to finishing the cast, moving the boat & making the next cast).  He didn't do it every cast, just mostly when he was moving from one target to another.

 

Now I know what "strolling" is, the technique of making a cast, letting out line as you move the boat & then retrieving the lure after you stop the boat.  What he was doing was not strolling, the reel was engaged.  Nor was this power fishing, with the trolling motor on high as one makes rapid casts over & over.  It wasn't trolling in the traditional definition, but it was a process of using the boat to pull the lure through the water for a short distance.  As a comparison, neither of the other two pro's I was with did this, although they were mostly flipping & fishing shallow structure to the front of the boat, so the opportunity never really presented itself.  

 

My question to those of you who fish tournaments is would this technique be considered trolling & violate the rules in the tournaments you fish? 

[Lund Explorer]

Quite honestly, you gave up the chance to learn what that organization considers trolling, by not asking when you had the chance.

 

It doesn't matter what any of us think about it as we aren't in charge of making or interpreting that rule.

[RSM789]

You are absolutely correct, by not saying something then, I forfeited the chance to learn if B.A.S.S. considers that trolling.

 

That is why my question was if this technique would be considered trolling & violate the rules in the tournaments you fish.

[Lund Explorer]

You are absolutely correct, by not saying something then, I forfeited the chance to learn if B.A.S.S. considers that trolling.

 

That is why my question was if this technique would be considered trolling & violate the rules in the tournaments you fish.

 

I don't know.  In over 25 years of fishing tournaments it never came up.  Perhaps because in a state where the many fisherman troll for either salmon or walleye (often with as many as 15+ rods at a time), the act of dragging a single lure behind the boat a short distance doesn't look like what trolling means to us.  I guess if someone made one cast and then began to drag the lure along until they got a bite, then there would have been a problem.  I just never saw it.

[EmersonFish]

I believe the company line has been, when you drag a bait in that manner on the electric motor, you need to be reeling it in "however slowly." In other words, make some effort to appear to be working the lure back to the boat, not just dragging it along or using the boat alone to impart the action. Even that explanation leaves something to be desired. I know I've fished in the back of the boat where the guy in front was fishing much faster, and the boat ended up dragging my lure a short time, but I continued to "work" the bait while not necessarily "reeling" it the entire time. From the back, it's not always easy to tell when he's on or off the motor, so with the ambiguity of the rule, that could be tough. These were not tournament situations I speak of, just observations from fishing from the back. 

 

With some of these techniques becoming more popular, I think clarifying the rules might be in order.

[J Francho]

In the club I fished and served as an officer, trolling a bait was considered moving a bait via one of the boats propulsion systems, be it gas, electric or otherwise. Wind did not count. The instance described above is grey. In high winds, boat control is difficult. It would have to boil down to the angler's intent. Did he mean to move the bait via the motor? Of course, that angler could lie. I don't see it as trolling or trolling. Cheating usually affords an unfair advantage, so that would figure in. Could there be unfair gains? Could, not was - there's a difference.

I think we're splitting hairs here though. At a club level, this is something I'd bring up at a meeting for rules clarification, not necessarily something I'd lodge a complaint or accusation to a TX director.

[Canyon explorer]

St. Louis Bassbusters, the largest Federated Bass club in Missouri, Rule Book states" there can be no trollling with the Big Motor".

 

I favor this rule as it eliminates the grey areas related to actual trolling of the electric motor.

 

Pros use the electric motor all the time to keep their boat correctly positioned to the structure they are fishing.

 

[J Francho]

So I can bring a boat with a kicker and troll in those tournaments, right?

[Canyon explorer]

So I can bring a boat with a kicker and troll in those tournaments, right?

Re read the first sentence. Yes you can consistent with with STL BB published rules. All other tournaments usually have their rules on the back of entry form.

[Canyon explorer]

So I can bring a boat with a kicker and troll in those tournaments, right?

Nah,

 

In the south we don't use mickey mouse motors, or 2" bobbers ever. :-)

[Scorchx1245]

15 feet doesn't seem he's trolling seems hrs just repositioning the boat moving the rod to keep the bait active, should the reel of been disengaged or free spooled, yes I feel, did it hurt? Most likely not. I would of just asked for clarification at the end of the day.

[Fishing Cowgirl]

I watched one tournament of the Elite series, I think they were calling it "Long Lining". 

 

http://www.bassmaster.com/long-lining-how-deep-can-you-go#.

 

I don't know if that is what you saw or not.

[Jd_Phillips_Fishin]

In my opinion what he did was not illegal. The only difference between what he did and long-lining was the real was in engaged. It shouldn't matter.