Trolling for bass, good or evil?

[Neil McCauley]

It does seem like the tournament rule thing is where it gets a bad name, if it has one. But I don't think it's banned because it's "easy" or "cheating." It just doesn't sell lures/equipment/boats. It's a $16 billion/year industry and  tournament rules are a big factor. Keeping more people casting means more types of baits, lines, rod setups, etc. Even bass boats are a product of it...no other species has its own special boat. No other species is best fished for from a boat that essentially is as much raised platform space with 360 degrees of casting that can be attached to a 300hp motor and zipped around from spot to spot.

[scaleface]

Can you imagine KVD trying to troll with fifty spectator boats following him .

[gim]

I think part of the reason trolling is banned is also because every state has different rules about how many lines an angler can have out.  In the south, crappie anglers can deploy a spider rig.  The maximum amount of lines one can use here in Minnesota is one at a time.  Casting with artificial lures is something that you really can only do one a time and you need both hands so that levels the playing field some.

[Team9nine]

The real reason trolling is banned from bass tournaments is because when Ray Scott first started and devised the rules for his national B.A.S.S. events, he envisioned a competition where guys who didn't know each other were paired together in boats and competed "mano y mano," cast for cast, one lure each. Each angler was competing against all the other guys, and everyone's weight was an individual score - let the best man win. As such, there was no good way to implement trolling into the game and keep with the spirit of competition and fairness he sought. Since Ray and B.A.S.S. set the rules, most every other bass tourney organization that followed did the same.

 

If you take note of the professional tours for other species you'll see the difference. For example, the walleye guys (PWT, AIM, etc.) are always either paired as a pro and a co-angler in the same boat, and have a shared weight system (work as a team, and the weight for the boat is the weight recorded for both the pro angler and the co-angler), or as a team (with your partner) in the AAA level events. Makes trolling and scoring fair for both partners. Similarly, nearly all professional crappie events are "team" events, where the team get the weight for the day, and you are usually fishing with your buddy. As such, trolling is a perfectly good tactic again, fair for all. Ray set the rules for bass national competition, so that's how we still play the game.

 

-T9

[Airman4754]

My dad and grandpa taught me the art of trolling Shad Raps. It's a fish magnet in the summer trolling the middle of creek channels.

 

I do it occasionally, but it's so boring to me. Long lining on the other hand is a staple of my summer time fishing, also super tournament illegal.

[Deleted account]

If ANY kind of fishing is wrong, then I don't want to be right. If it has gills and fins, I'm catching it like it wants to be caught, I own a 3 wt fly rod, 130 Internationals, and everything in between. No holds barred. 

[HeavyDluxe]

On 4/4/2017 at 2:21 PM, Hawkeye21 said:

Reason I brought this up is because in some kayak bass fishing tournaments it is allowed and some people seem to be upset about it.  I found it interesting because every single person that didn't like it didn't have an actual legitimate reason as to why it should be allowed.  Their only reasons were because the boat tourneys don't allow it and they personally felt it was wrong.

 

I'm guessing, but don't know, this is in part due to the changing dynamics of what a kayak actually is these days.  With pedal boats and Torqeedo motors, there's a bit of a perceived arms race around boat type.

 

I'd bet that, at the root, people are scared that some trolling technique is going to be found to be beneficial but only open to those who have suitably outfitted boats.  For a purist, is that even still kayak fishing?

[WRB]

The argument that Ray Scott didn't like trolling based on it reduced competition may have merit with 2 anglers fishing from the same boat. Scott was focused on fair competition without opertunity to cheat and stated he thought trolling wasn't a sporting method to catch bass. You need to factor in the time period was 1967 and trolling was more common then as was cheating.

Kayak fishing is one person per boat and difficult to prevent cheating other than a honor system. Can't see how trolling could have a negative impact in a kayak tournament.

Tom 

 

[Paul Roberts]

Good.

[everythingthatswims]

I trolled two Alabama rigs from a kayak and hooked a fish on both rigs at the same time, and landed them both

[Deleted account]

7 hours ago, everythingthatswims said:

I trolled two Alabama rigs from a kayak and hooked a fish on both rigs at the same time, and landed them both

 

You can troll Alabama rigs? Who knew!

[joeblowwwww]

Evil !

[Hawkeye21]

8 minutes ago, joeblowwwww said:

Evil !

 

Oh, come on.  You can't get away with saying that without giving your reason.  Nothing wrong with not liking it but I'm curious why.

[Esoxfreak]

Trolling isn't cheating, and neither are water wolfs,mar-cums, nor side scanning sonars, things like that. With all those tools you can still get skunked,lol! You can't make a fish eat or attack if they don't want to. Cheating is snagging...on purpose. I will sometimes troll a few yards moving to the next spot with the trolling motor down and a bait out (I'll bet a lot of people do that), sometimes I tag one and sometimes I dont but ya can't catch fish if you ain't got a lure in the water

[gim]

16 hours ago, everythingthatswims said:

I trolled two Alabama rigs from a kayak and hooked a fish on both rigs at the same time, and landed them both

 

That is so illegal here.  Alabama rigs are illegal as is having two lines out.  That is interesting how almost every state the game and fish laws are different.

[Hawkeye21]

15 hours ago, gimruis said:

 

That is so illegal here.  Alabama rigs are illegal as is having two lines out.  That is interesting how almost every state the game and fish laws are different.

 

There are lures you can fish that work like the Alabama rig but are legal.  In Iowa there are laws on the amount of hooks on a line so the Alabama rig is not allowed but I found one that works.  Instead of having multiple little swim baits with hooks it only has one in the center and the rest are spinners.  This gives the look of schooling fish still and it works.

[WRB]

Are you saying you can't use lures 3 hooks in Iowa? If that is true there are several lures with 3 treble hooks that would be outlawed. California has a 3 hook rule/ 3 lures on 1 line rule for fresh water. Arizona has a 3 hook rule with 2 individual lures on 1 line rule. Each state is different regarding regulations.

Drifting away from the topic of trolling, however umbrella rigs originated as a trolling device along with spreader bars decades ago.

Tom

 

 

[Raul]

I don't fish tournaments so any tournament rule doesn't apply to me, it's not illegal in my neck of the woods and, well, if I'm in spot A and I'm going to move to spot B, then I have no problem in trolling from A to B, hell, who knows, maybe I discover a spot where fish are holding in the process.

[Hawkeye21]

2 hours ago, WRB said:

Are you saying you can't use lures 3 hooks in Iowa? If that is true there are several lures with 3 treble hooks that would be outlawed. California has a 3 hook rule/ 3 lures on 1 line rule for fresh water. Arizona has a 3 hook rule with 2 individual lures on 1 line rule. Each state is different regarding regulations.

Drifting away from the topic of trolling, however umbrella rigs originated as a trolling device along with spreader bars decades ago.

Tom

 

 

 

I think you can have three hooks on a lure like a jerk bait.  You can't have a line out with more than two hooks on it.  Here is rule from their regulations.

 

"HOOKS When fishing by hook and line you cannot use more than two lines or more than two hooks on each line when still fishing or trolling. When fly fishing, you cannot use more than two flies on one line. When you are trolling and bait casting, you cannot use more than two trolling spoons or artificial baits on one line. A third line may be used when possessing a valid third line fishing permit. You cannot leave fish line or lines with hooks in the water unattended by being out of visual sight of the lines. One hook means a single, double or treblepointed hook, and all hooks attached as a part of an artificial bait or lure shall be counted as one hook. An Alabama (umbrella) rig is not an artificial bait or lure."

1 hour ago, Raul said:

I don't fish tournaments so any tournament rule doesn't apply to me, it's not illegal in my neck of the woods and, well, if I'm in spot A and I'm going to move to spot B, then I have no problem in trolling from A to B, hell, who knows, maybe I discover a spot where fish are holding in the process.

 

The thing is, it's allowed in many kayak fishing tourneys but some members were complaining that it shouldn't be allowed.  Some say it's not fair and other have some sort of moral reasons why it shouldn't be allowed.  None actually offered a legit reason as to why though.

 

Your idea about trolling while traveling to another location is exactly what I do and see no reason why it wouldn't be allowed in a tourney.

[WRB]

If a Alabama rig isn't a artificial bait or lure according the the last sentence, what is it?

The regs you posted allows a single lure to be tied on a single line with up to 2 hooks, or 2 flies, on a lure on a single line. A lure with 3 hooks on a single line would illegal, like a 3 treble hook lure. 

Tom

[NYWayfarer]

On ‎4‎/‎4‎/‎2017 at 1:25 PM, BrianinMD said:

boring.......zzzzzz...

 

Exactly!

 

I have friends that invite me all the time on their boats to troll for Lake Trout and Salmon. Big fish, exciting fight, great to eat but most boring fishing imaginable.

 

Take that from someone who loves finesse fishing for Bass and it means that much more.

[the reel ess]

I've never caught many bass trolling. I used to catch a lot of white bass and peanut stripers doing it though. It wasn't unusual to find a yearling largemouth chasing the bait with those "other bass". Now I troll with my friend for crappie and occasionally there is a bycatch of bluegill or bass. 

[Hawkeye21]

1 hour ago, WRB said:

If a Alabama rig isn't a artificial bait ot lure according the the last sentence, what is it?

The regs you posted allows a single lure to be tied on a single line with up to 2 hooks, or 2 flies, on a lure on a single line. A lure with 3 hooks on a single line would illegal, like a 3 treble hook lure. 

Tom

 

I didn't really understand how the Alabama rig isn't considered an artificial bait and according to what I posted it doesn't look like my 3 treble hook jerk bait would be legal either.  Not a big deal though, that can be easily removed.

 

This is what I use.  https://www.amazon.com/Z-Man-QuadZilla-4-Arm-Spinnerbait-Silver/dp/B00FPQPECI/ref=sr_1_25?ie=UTF8&qid=1492111088&sr=8-25&keywords=umbrella+rig

[J Francho]

It's a rigging for five baits, not a single bait.

[Hawkeye21]

2 minutes ago, J Francho said:

It's a rigging for five baits, not a single bait.

 

What is?