P26 - FISH & BOAT, February 2019 Fishing TrollingWithIntent By Matthew Leavy land group in the early yacht into the wind and ers and removed the lure. It was mid-afternoon, 1990’s, and I was eldest instructed me to hold the In those years, we a bright day intensi- of three children aboard tiller as he brought a sil-trolled everywhere we fied by the reflection with our father. Astern, very giant to the side of sailed. It was simple too, of the white surface of one rope line was out, the boat. We had no way because of the constant the yacht. The southerly and as I sat sweltering, to bring this fish aboard,change of direction as pushed the vessel along the tedium of the slow and it seemed nearly the we tact, we only ever ran and offered moments of journey was broken by size the tender, so the gi-the one line. Trolling of- respite from the heat. the sound of the hand ant trevally was released fered something to do We were on the home reel thrashing around the at the side of the boat bywhile waiting to reach stretch after a long week-floor while it spun wildly.my father who reached our spearfishing grounds. end sailing the palm is- My father turned the down with a pair of pli- I have met others who Tips for trolling with the sounder simply prefer a cold beerand could Trolling for the win. You may discover that trolling is more than just dragging a lure astern not be both- your vessel whilst mindlessly chugging back a coldie. (not that there is ered by the interruption anything wrong with that.)Here are some concepts to consider: of landing goodmulloway finally may be misinterpreted, mortgage by 8am. Driv- If you are focused mostly on finding new fishing grounds, then the fish. They slipped into the net. On and goes against what is en by that ever-present trolling needs to be set up in a way that allows more freedom to move would be the board, the lure fell out expected. One example urge to fish, I must now and cover ground. In this case I would recommend using only one rod few that are con-tent and we laughed, and as of this occurred whilst think of creative ways to at a time, although it may be ideal to have many different rods set up with the drag and hope the camera blazed away experimenting with my convince the family out for different depths, so you can quickly change to suit the area you are approach. I had always and we released the fish, side scan sounder. It of the comfort of the air- driving through. thought of it as hoping, I began to realise the po-was a chilling nine-de- conditioned home. That Set the lure just above depth of the structure of fish. Too deep and however I have come to tential of trolling in thegree night, which for a leavesearly mornings realise the validity of the smaller systems. Later Townsville local is freez-and late afternoons, af- you will constantly fowl up, too shallow and you may miss the mark technique and consider at Richys’ house, feel- ing, and had me pull- ter all, only madmen and completely. the approach with much ing gambrinous(content ing on a jumper. I fig- Englishmen go out in For lures with a bib, letting out more line and or speeding up will more respect these days. and full of beer!) on ured I would troll while the mid-day sun. Troll- send the lure deeper. Bringing in more line and or slowing down will The slower speed re- account of the finely learning to improve my ing the lighter hours in bring the lure higher in the water column. quired for effective troll-crafted homebrews of sounder skill-set, yep… small sessions might be Match the profile of the bait fish in the area. ing makes it compatible my Brisbane host, I had you guessed it, the drag the best option. A port- Have a range of lures to cover depth and size. for crisp sounder returnsa light-bulb moment. I and hope approach. I able speaker entertains Consider weedless presentations in areas of heavy structure. and as such is often my considered the parallels drove many straight lines the children as mum en- Accelerate initially to set the hook. first approach when in- between blue water game past a local bridge, over joys a cool beverage from vestigating likely fishingfishing and trolling in- the rock and concrete the esky, the two-stroke Concentrate your efforts on areas with points of difference; struc- grounds. On a recent tripshore, estuary and even structure where there are chops away and the lure ture, current flow, birds working, bait congregations ect… to Brisbane, I was fish- freshwater impound- many breaks in current throbs along out the Make many passes over areas with good sounder returns (this is ing with my good mate ments. The basic princi- for fish to hold in. The back. If nothing happens, where only having the one rod out is an advantage). Richy.In hand we had ples appeared the same; lights of the bridge also the kids will still have a Know your target species and learn how different fish look on the a trolling rod each, as welook for pressure points attract baitfish and cre- good time but we ‘re al- sounder. (where they are sitting in the water column and how they are scrutinised the sounder and observe the currents, ate contrast of shadow ways a chance. To my schooling). imagery, when suddenly find the bait and work and light providing the kids this is the drag and Richys’ rod buckled over.those areas with intent. perfect ambush point hope approach, myself, It was now evident that Serious game fishers for predators. On the well I’m looking for bait the structure we were are keen students of the sounder screen the wa- schools, structure and looking at was holding weather and water cur- ter temperature read 21 flow. I am concentrating fish. The sound of the rents and observe the degrees, I felt the pulse on these points of dif- drag washers scream- charts and water tem- of the lure through the ference hoping to gain ing only improved our peratures for clues as to rod before it got a good a better understanding confidence in the abilitywhere their quarry may belt by a barra. It was of the river. My daugh- to interpret the sounder.be holding. The same unexpected, especially ters light rod bends over, Richy battled to keep thecan be said for the com- because the water tem- Ebony fights the fish fish off the rocky bottom, petition impoundment perature was outside of with great enthusiasm the ribbing I had given fishers. They study the the range of what was as- although uncertain in him about how rusty direction of the wind sumed for this species to her own abilities. She is ABN 13 478 922 417 those hooks were seemed for many days before an feed. After a dozen or so beaming while posing for somewhat less amusing event and often focus passes on the same point, a photo with her trevally. now. We saw the sil- on points that the wind I landed a total of three,This will do wonders for ver flash of a good fish,blows on to. Many an the largest in the low six-her confidence in fight- the net held patiently, aimpoundment angler has ty’s. The rocks that they ing fish and now she experienced the moment were holding in most has a story to share with SIMPLY Smooth waters when fish instantly go offlikely were warmer than the other kids from the Built to Fish - designs and layouts that actually work help give the best the bite with a change in water the transducer read Hinchinbrook Sports BETTERPerfect blend of form and function, not just good looks sounder returns. wind direction. on the surface, but that isFishing Club. Although Good barra fishers also only a guess. this was far from the gi- pay attention to the water In contrast, I now sit on ant of my childhood, it temperature, they know the top step of my house was a giant to my chil- how this can affect the pulling my work boots dren and hopefully the behaviour of the fish, andon, the first bead of sweatstart to something bigger often search for water in runs down my back. The than brutes of the deep. a more favourable range. sun’s got a real bite to it There are sometimes now and I will be sweat- other factors at play, thating like a gypsy with a Sounder Tips This is a guide of the settings I use on my sounder (striker sv7 plus) The speed of the boat is an important factor to consider as it will affect the scale of the sound- er image. The frequencies also have different qualities. The 820khz has less punch (in terms of range) but offers clearer pictures. The 440khz has more strength but is not as crisp. 1.5-3 knots for checking out detail 820khz range at about 15meters 3-5 knots for scanning larger areas of water for points of interest 440khz range at about 35meters Using the GPS in conjunction with sounder will help pinpoint the interesting features for a • Stronger hull 6mm plate on our 6.0m & larger range closer look. • Safer - foam filled hull with survey approved foam Using the side scan with the structure scan and traditional sounder helps to cross reference • Quieter hull - due to foam and HD plate design the returns on the screen. • Dryer- large reverse chines that work Be brave and play with the settings, you can always go back to auto mode anyway. • Better ride - more stable - built to outlast the rest Test the sounder on known structure to improve confidence. •Unmatched level of fitout If you can’t decide whether you are looking at fish or structure, mark it with the GPS and • The most competitive prices on the market for a true custom plate boatreturn later to see if it is different or even still there at all. www.offshoremarinemaster.com.au A good guide to setting the range on the side-scan is 3 times the depth(so if the water is 5me- ters deep, 15meters would be a good range). Builder of Quality Plate Alloy Boats & Power Cats Different sounders will have different abilities, this is what works for me on my current sounder.