Trolling with a Surf rod

[DOGFISH]

I use 7.5' rods for kayak trolling. Heavy flipping stick rods work for spring and fall trolling. Planer boards will create too much drag for a pedal kayak or even my electric kayak. The added drag works the motor harder and thus kills the batteries quicker. I agree, I never liked trolling from my boat. However, I do like trolling from the kayak. It is quiet and relaxing. Fall season kayak trolling for stripers can be quite productive. Spring stripers are sort of like other spring striper trolling. You need to hit the migration right. Otherwise, it will be those long periods with the "15 minutes" of excitement. I usually troll two rods. I have used four rods. I like to troll large crank type baits, YoZuri, Rapala, and others of the like. In the spring one of my favorite lures is a 9" Sebile Magic Swimmer. I will also occasionally use a tandem bucktail rig.

I do not like a traditional bay style trolling rod. They tend to be too stiff. A larger fish will pull the kayak, and a stiff rod tends not to build up enough to provide decent action, at least for me. I like to have enough bend to the rod to keep pressure on the fish and keep up the slack, which may result from the kayak being so light. With that said, you also need a rod that will be heavy enough for heavier baits.

You can see my trolling set up on YouTube, just search Kayak Fishing With Dogfish.

[Steve6902]

Here is an interesting video on using a planer board on the Great Lakes.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sour...ANSu6uQyfDJXPh

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sour...DZG-_7O1pwq0Xb

[ronaultmtd]

I have enough trouble with two rods trolling...especially with two large fish hooked up at the same time..I used to troll 4 rods much like described by John V’s post...hooked a fish on the long line that was pulling drag like a freight train....stretch 27 tangled the other lines, ended up losing the fish and had a net woven from the tangle...after that I only troll two rods...

[Jim McFalls]

Now here me out on this. Has anyone ever tried to use a say 8-10 foot surf rod while trolling?? Here's my thinking; you have say 2ea. 10' surf rods running horizontally out to the sides. This would give you about say somewhere around 20' between the tips. You could then run 2 more standard rods vertically behind you with the angle set to give you 8 or so feet between them. Guess what, NO more tangles. Well maybe a less chance of your gear getting tangled. My question is has anyone ever tried it??

Never tried. Probably won't, but it's a great idea. I troll 2 7' rods and that is great for my yak setup. Do it man!!!!
J

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