Following A Boat Trolling

[fishfinder]

Thanks Juls, I will keep an eye out and I always give way when I should, I have a lot of respect for Lake Erie and all those that fish it.

[Krayfish]

Just know the Rules of the Road on the lake, and give way when you're supposed to.

There's too many out there that either don't know the rules of the road, or just don't give a crap, and will cut you off, so keep a good lookout, make adjustments, and all will be well.

Juls, need change that tag line for your boat to the Vexus!

[Capt Juls]

Juls, need change that tag line for your boat to the Vexus!

I will when it arrives. The build date is 5/30, so I'll be starting out the season in the Ranger.

[Kingfisher2025]

The big board guys take up an awful lot of room. I think its more than 80'. I've seen them out close to 80yds each side. I don't follow any boats trolling due to the fish scattering after their boat goes through.

[[email protected]]

[QUOTE=Kingfisher2025;74336]The big board guys take up an awful lot of room. I think its more than 80'. I've seen them out close to 80yds each side. I don't follow any boats trolling due to the fish scattering after their boat goes through.[/QUOTE

Kngfisher. I have no problem with big boats, big boards and wide passes. Like I said, it’s a big lake and there is room for everyone. My primary concern is safety. Secondary is having a good time and catching a few fish. It takes only ONE bad apple to spoil the fishing for a whole lot of people when the bite is on and the traffic picks up. I’m out there to relax not “combat fish”. Even a small boat that is careless can present some danger in a crowd. Be safe! Have fun!

[fishhawk2700]

The big board guys take up an awful lot of room. I think its more than 80'. I've seen them out close to 80yds each side. I don't follow any boats trolling due to the fish scattering after their boat goes through.

Your statement about seeing big boards out 80 YARDS is not possible. The distance you can let your boards out IMO is determined by two things. First, the height above the water of the source of your main line, and second is the efficiency of your boards. Once your main line to your boards starts to hang in the water you WILL have major issues. With that being said, on most days I will run five rods a side and I will only need about 60'. I can run seven a side but even at that I only run about 75'. Much more than that and the main line starts to drag. Five inline boards will take about the same width as my big boards with five lines.

[slimshady]

Your statement about seeing big boards out 80 YARDS is not possible. The distance you can let your boards out IMO is determined by two things. First, the height above the water of the source of your main line, and second is the efficiency of your boards. Once your main line to your boards starts to hang in the water you WILL have major issues. With that being said, on most days I will run five rods a side and I will only need about 60'. I can run seven a side but even at that I only run about 75'. Much more than that and the main line starts to drag. Five inline boards will take about the same width as my big boards with five lines.

80 yards might be pushing it a bit, however, I used to run my big boards out 150-200 feet when trolling for Steelhead out of Wheatley and Erieau. I used a 6 foot mast at the front of my boat that kept the line nice and high. There was rarely ever a boat within 1/4 mile of us, so having enough room to troll was almost never ever an issue. Years ago I switched to mostly dipseys & riggers, but when we do put out boards, we now use in-lines. We will sometimes run those out 200-250 feet from the boat. We set the clickers to "on" and set the drag very light so that we can hear them click when a fish hits. I wouldn't run them out that far when trolling in traffic, but that's the beauty of fishing in Canada. Not much traffic, eh?...

[fisherman 2]

yea those charter captains really hate it when somebody bird dogs them.

[Proline DC]

Last year I was trolling and was in the process of landing one. Before I did I looked around and saw no boats headed my way from either side. All boats I did see were parallel. I just pulled in the fish looked up and saw a boat headed my way. The boat had big boards out with no poles in the water. I put the motor in neutral and he still kept coming at me. He had plenty of room just decided he didn’t have to avoid me. Obviously they were turning. When turning be considerate of other boats. As I watched this guy he was zig zagging thru the pack of boats.

[[email protected]]

Pretty sure we were all dealing with the same boat. Big boards out WIDE, probably making a sweep at least 75 - 85 feet on each side. Boards were riding VERY low in the water and at times were hardly visible. They were wood boards unpainted and acted like they were waterlogged. We nearly got caught in the board line and it just missed us ....barely. No flags. Trolled right through the pack with complete disregard for other boats. People were scrambling to get out of his way. Everyone was yelling at them and they just smiled and waved back. There is no place for that kind of behavior on the lake. There are plenty of fish and lots of space for everyone. We try to stay away from big packs of boats and find our own fish, be safe and have fun.