# Question for Trollers... Use drag or baitclicker?



## MassillonBuckeye (May 3, 2010)

On my linecounter reels, opening the bail and setting the bait clicker results in line running out due to pull of the lure/bouncer etc.. How do you guys setup so you don't snap a rod or what not when getting snagged at 2 mph?? Loosen the drag? Thats what I've been doing. Just making sure I'm not missing something.


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## MassillonBuckeye (May 3, 2010)

I guess that was kind of a silly question. You'd have to have a pretty darn strong bait clicker to counter the pull. Trolled only 1 rod tonight and just held the spool with my thumb. Fun to feel the strikes that way as well


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## ezbite (May 25, 2006)

The only time I like to crank down on my drag is running dipsys. That's because I have a snubber and 8' rod to absorb the shock and I watch my depth closely. Any other kind of trolling, I loosen the drag enough that I can easily pull out line by hand, but also just tight enough to not let line slowly spool out with the clicker on. This was a trick I first learned night trolling and now I use it all the time. When the fish hits, if your drag is set just right, you'll hear the fish pulling out line and the clicker will be an alarm that tells you somethings up.. You can tell you have a bite without even watching your rod because of the clicker.


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## saugmon (Jun 14, 2006)

I gotta leave my bail closed, drag loose, and clickers on when I troll Indian at 3 mph. Not because of the saugeye,but the snags,big largemouths,channelcats,and flatties.
Saugeye will very rarely pull out any drag. Haven't broken a rod yet. Most of the rods that I have broke was because of greenhorns laying the rod down on the deck or tiller handle falls down causing a 180,reeling the fish to close to the tip,crisscrossed boards and line in the prop.Broke a tip with someone reeling in the fish all the way.
Another reason why is say:"Fish in the net,release the bail".Everyone wants to reel that fish all the way to the tip. My salmon rods aren't high $$,but they're not cheap either!


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## MassillonBuckeye (May 3, 2010)

ezbite said:


> The only time I like to crank down on my drag is running dipsys. That's because I have a snubber and 8' rod to absorb the shock and I watch my depth closely. Any other kind of trolling, I loosen the drag enough that I can easily pull out line by hand, but also just tight enough to not let line slowly spool out with the clicker on. This was a trick I first learned night trolling and now I use it all the time. When the fish hits, if your drag is set just right, you'll hear the fish pulling out line and the clicker will be an alarm that tells you somethings up.. You can tell you have a bite without even watching your rod because of the clicker.


Yeppers. Which is pretty much what I was doing. Remembering to loosen drag 90% of the time  Thanks for the info. Loves me some night fishin!

How about when you guys have someone with you, how do you guys handle snags? Other guy reels in and you circle the boat? Leave lines out? Kind of a pain running 4 lines eh?

How about with fish on? Slow boat? Reel in?

Noob troller cant you tell!?


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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

MassillonBuckeye said:


> On my linecounter reels, opening the bail and setting the bait clicker results in line running out due to pull of the lure/bouncer etc.. How do you guys setup so you don't snap a rod or what not when getting snagged at 2 mph?? Loosen the drag? Thats what I've been doing. Just making sure I'm not missing something.


 Me or anyone on my boat has never broke a trolling rod(all diawas or st.croixs one fenwick),and we troll from .5-3 mph. We have had muskie up to 42 inches sm bass up to 6 pounds, and ten pound walleyes, and to many big cats,carp,and sheephead to count. And have never broke a rod on a snag. We set our drag at a level where we can pull it by hand,but no planerboard,dipsie,lure, or even wave surge will pull drag. Just the ocasional fish and snags. Some people i know will keep it light enough to where they will hear when they get a fish, But i use mono on my trolling rods and if i did that feel i would never get a good hook in the fish......


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## Snakecharmer (Apr 9, 2008)

MassillonBuckeye said:


> Yeppers. Which is pretty much what I was doing. Remembering to loosen drag 90% of the time  Thanks for the info. Loves me some night fishin!
> 
> How about when you guys have someone with you, how do you guys handle snags? Other guy reels in and you circle the boat? Leave lines out? Kind of a pain running 4 lines eh?
> 
> ...


Put motor in nuetral. Reel other lines in like crazy. Give snagged rod to passenger. Hold rod up high and circle the snag. Hopefully it pops loose. If not, attach snagmaster. Retrieve $15 lure....
http://www.cabelas.com/catalog/prod...ty=1&itemGUID=&destination=/user/wishlist.jsp


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## buckeyebowman (Feb 24, 2012)

MassillonBuckeye said:


> Yeppers. Which is pretty much what I was doing. Remembering to loosen drag 90% of the time  Thanks for the info. Loves me some night fishin!
> 
> How about when you guys have someone with you, how do you guys handle snags? Other guy reels in and you circle the boat? Leave lines out? Kind of a pain running 4 lines eh?
> 
> ...


Snakecharmer's program for snags is right on! For a fish on I don't know how many folks you have on the boat and how many lines in the water. With me and my brother in law it's just us two. He'll drop the motor to idle speed and reel in (if I have the fish on, if it's him then I reel in), try to keep the boat going in a straight line, and whoever reels in handles the net.


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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

MassillonBuckeye said:


> Yeppers. Which is pretty much what I was doing. Remembering to loosen drag 90% of the time  Thanks for the info. Loves me some night fishin!
> 
> How about when you guys have someone with you, how do you guys handle snags? Other guy reels in and you circle the boat? Leave lines out? Kind of a pain running 4 lines eh?
> 
> ...


 We always just keep on trollng when we hit a fish. Unless its big enough we have to stop(usualy a muskie then). We have learned if we stop when we catch a fish 9 out of 10 times we will loose that fish(chance of getting slack in line). We try not to even let the speed get slower then trolling speed. Like others said keep in straight line or slowly vear to left or right depending on what side you need the fish to come up.....

And i do as the others do when snagged. Everybody reels in unsnagged rigs in a timely manner, When all are in, circle back and usually the plug pops up when you get to the oppisite side of the snag. We have only used one lure retriever and didnt like the paticular kind. but may invest in one for the boat,and try a different style. They sound like a good thing to have,if used right.


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## saugmon (Jun 14, 2006)

Circling around a snag at Indian usually yields a lost bait.Thumbing the spool usually frees it 75% of the time. When it doesn't free up,best bet is go straight backwards or in my case,very tight circle before getting to the snagged bait. Making a big circle all the way around that snag usually wraps the line around those stumps. Twice this year it was calm enough to break out the retriever.I'd drop it down and pick up the line in front of the bait.It looked like I was flossing the snag with my spiderwire being wrapped around a stump probably with a ton of baits around it as well.No possible way of getting either of my retrievers through a wrap around snag. Lost a few that way and got lucky the last time and snapped my line off then the bait popped up seconds later. 
Most of my snags lately is from people losing 50+ yards of line on those snags. I'd do the sharp circle back and my bait would be hanging above the water on other peoples snags.Bait hanging in air and the old line is snagged at both ends. Last year I must have retrieved 200+ yards of red cajun line from other people's snags.This year,people's losing a mile of 12 lb blue stren.

Losing 20+ cranks in a season is no biggie at Indian when pulling offshore planerboards and no stopping.I went to the next deeper diver recently and the snag % went way down. You'd figure it would double.The sharper dive angle seems to be helping out on the snag reduction and more success with my thumbing the spool technique.

This season is one of the best for not losing baits since upgrading to a kicker motor and offshore boards.


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## MassillonBuckeye (May 3, 2010)

Snakecharmer said:


> Put motor in nuetral. Reel other lines in like crazy. Give snagged rod to passenger. Hold rod up high and circle the snag. Hopefully it pops loose. If not, attach snagmaster. Retrieve $15 lure....
> http://www.cabelas.com/catalog/prod...ty=1&itemGUID=&destination=/user/wishlist.jsp


I like the looks of that snagmaster. I may have to try it out. I've been using the "thumb the spool" technique and it works like Saugmon says about 75% or better. Haven't lost too many lures.

I have a new problem though.. After changing my trolling rigs over to 10lb Trilene XT, I'm having trouble detecting bites. It's not like it was with the braid. Tons of stretch. I pulled a hawg 19" smallie last night for probably 100 yards before I realized he was on there. It made me want to strip that line right back off there lol.. Part of the issue I guess was having to let out 200' of line to get the lures down 15' @3mph. I had to put a lot of line out and I still wasn't on the bottom. I was basically watching for the rod to load up because I wasn't seeing any head shakes or other aggressive bites. And if it's not a large fish, the rod doesn't load up much. Mono also seems to slingshot the lures into fouling if you do touch bottom and snag slightly. A few of those resulting in major line twist from the lure spinning after fouling. I think I'm going back to braid. And it's not going to be power pro.. 10lb power pro felt more like 4lb as far as strength goes.


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## Snakecharmer (Apr 9, 2008)

What type of rod are you using? You're rod might be a little too stiff for the inland waters.

The snagmaster slips down your line and catches the treble hooks on your lure. It pays for itself . Works great from a boat. Not so great from shore.


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## buckeyebowman (Feb 24, 2012)

Snakecharmer said:


> What type of rod are you using? You're rod might be a little too stiff for the inland waters.
> 
> The snagmaster slips down your line and catches the treble hooks on your lure. It pays for itself . Works great from a boat. Not so great from shore.


That's what I was thinking, either too stiff or just a rod with not enough sensitivity to transmit the feel of the strike. Admittedly 200' is a lot of line out, but it's kind of the norm for Erie. Maybe something with a lot of beef in the butt with a fast tip might be the ticket.


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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

Yea thats crazy you didnt see the smallie hitting or shakeing its head. I use 12 lb stren magnathin on my trolling rods (its mono) And i have a fenwick hmx 7' med. heavy fast actoin, and a st.croix premier 7'6" heavy , fast tip telescoping. And i can detect a 8 inch crappie hitting with 200 ft out?

How heavy are your rods??


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## saugmon (Jun 14, 2006)

I couldn't fathom the idea of 200' of line out. I'm happy just to get out 42'.

I've got 2 retrievers. The telescoping (golfball retriever type) with a sort of screw on the end. Gotta be pretty darn calm to get that one out in my aluminum boat. Then I have one that is basically a big lead weight on a cord,has 5-6 fine chains that dangle 6" below it. The screw side is where I slip it on the line and drop down.The chain catches one of the hooks then pull it up. Gotta have constant tension on that cord as well as the rod. On those monster snags,the pain shoots right down my sciatica after 4-5 mins of trying to free them. Again,it's gotta be fairly calm with less than 10 mph wind in my boat. It's been a very windy year here on Indian!! Fewest lost baits in a season this year!

I remember seeing this old timer named Cecil that trolled in a small center console here in Indian..He always beat me to the launch. He'd troll as soon as the boat left the dock. 1 day we met up after trolling and he told me he had over 40 snags that morning!!
That's a lot of snags!


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## MassillonBuckeye (May 3, 2010)

Ive got the cabels snagmaster thing on the way and one of the daiwa lure catchers. Maybe. Backordered from landbigfish. UGH! Their website said it was in stock before I ordered it. Not happy! Oh well. Only lost 1 lure last night. But only caught 1 22" saugeye  Either way, I think i'm getting it dialed in now. Need to work out which depths I want to target and how to deal with all the humps at Alum. To go from 5 FOW to 35 in about a 15ft span is really something! Cliffs down there! You'd think there would be fish all over those!


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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

Yea saugmon, takes a little to get the 200 ft of line out lol, theres times at erie with paner i got out 300 ft of line. 200 is about max though for me on inland lakes like alum and hoover. Gonna look into the snag retrievers sound like money savers for sure!

massillon, Glad your getting those fish dialed in! LOL by the time you figure it out 100percent though itll be time to start beating the banks again for them LOL! Keep at em!


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## MassillonBuckeye (May 3, 2010)

Saugeyefisher said:


> Yea saugmon, takes a little to get the 200 ft of line out lol, theres times at erie with paner i got out 300 ft of line. 200 is about max though for me on inland lakes like alum and hoover. Gonna look into the snag retrievers sound like money savers for sure!
> 
> massillon, Glad your getting those fish dialed in! LOL by the time you figure it out 100percent though itll be time to start beating the banks again for them LOL! Keep at em!


I'm all boat baby! I tried the shore thing last fall/winter when everyone was catchin em.. I didn't catch squat! Lol You'll see me on buckeye anchored 10ft offshore if I need to. haha


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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

MassillonBuckeye said:


> I'm all boat baby! I tried the shore thing last fall/winter when everyone was catchin em.. I didn't catch squat! Lol You'll see me on buckeye anchored 10ft offshore if I need to. haha


Haha, funny stuff! I cant get my uncle off the boat either. Think after last winter i might have him conviced though.... Pm me come fall and will get out together, LOL Plenty of people this march anchored up just outsid the shore getting fish!


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