Slow the kicker or not?

[B Robinson]

I do a lot of trolling. This year, I've lost a LOT of big fish trolling, way more than usual. I'm using new cranks, so hooks aren't the issue. Was talking with my cousin, and he said he idled the kicker to reel in big fish and ended up losing more when he slowed the kicker down than when he just left it running at the normal speed. So, what do you think? Slow the kicker down to reel in a big fish or just keep on keepin on?

[duckbutter]

If you have good reels with good drags, there is no need to slow down. If I am alone and I hook a big fish, I will turn the boat out if I am working a breakline so I don't get too shallow while landing the fish. I use 10 lb power pro on Tekota 300 line counters, and don't lose many fish as long as I keep the drag set loose and don't try and horse them in. If it's windy, you are much more likely to have tangles with boards if you slow down cuz you lose a lot of boat control in choppy seas at lower speeds. Good luck and tight lines/

[VTGooseman]

I think loosing fish has nothing to do with boat speed but more to do with not having what the fish REALLY want. If you are loosing fish they are more than likely taking a half a$$ed swipe at your bait. When you get it dialed in your baits will be getting T-Boned. Had it happen a few weeks ago fishing solo. had 8 hits and I lost 6 of them, of those two fish landed both had just one hook of the rear treble. I ran out of time before getting things dialed in but the next trip I made a few changes and the fish were crushing it.

[B Robinson]

Those are good points. I'm using good reels- Coldwaters. I do love the drags on these things. One area I'm fishing a lot usually produces lots of big saugers, some nice crappies, northerns, and flatheads. They usually always hits one of 3 or 4 usual baits, so I really don't think that's the issue. When I change things up, they don't bite at all. But, it's sure worth doing. I rarely ever use planer boards, but yes, I'm usually working a breakline and also turn out as to keep tangling to a minimum.

[thump55]

I will slow it down once the fish has been on and I have been reeling for 10-15 seconds.

Very simply, I want the person reeling to be the one who controls how much pressure is put on that hook, not the boat.

I believe your best chance of getting a poorly hooked fish into the net is to not put any more pressure than necessary, and you can't do that on a large fish without slowing the boat down some.

[Pete Bauer]

Brian, what rod's and line are you using? Are you trolling lead, hardline, straight mono?

I know you're an experienced fisherman and troller but this could attribute to part of your issue.

I have very different sets of trolling equipment and use them in very different ways.

Example, when trolling in MN with only one rod (especially on the Mississippi river where I'm bouncing bottom a lot) - I use a med moderate rod with hardline. When I hook up with a fish I will kick the boat in and out of gear moving just to maintain control. If I'm in heavy current I'll kick it out of gear completely. The Med Mod, limber action, of the rod helps absorb that initial shock after hookset. When doing this I set my drag light, but not open.

When pulling lead or spinners in more of an openwater trolling scenario I use monofiliment exclusively. Because in this scenario it's important for me to continue trolling as to not foul my other lines. Lead and mono do very well as a shock absorber. You troll enough to read your rods and know what kind of fish you've got on. For me, if I think the fish is sub 20inches, I keep moving at 2mph with no issues. Bigger and I'll slow some to aid the angler but fast enough to keep your other lines off the bottom. I also set my drags extremely light in this scenario with the clickers on.

Not saying what I do is right, but it works well for me and I haven't lost any big fish yet this year (now I jynxed myself!

I also agree with what was posted above. If those fish are not properly biting the baits and just swiping, it could be dialing in your baits and presentation more than the rod/line/ and speed itself.

[Offshore24]

I fish lake Erie, which is open water. We see alot of big fish. I can tell you that big fish or no big fish we do not go to neutral or slow down. the only time i would do such a thing is to land a big fish close to the boat when they are swimming deep and the fish is in danger of going under or against the boat. Even In that scenario there is a system that must be perfected. Our program is 12lb mono w/ inline weights or cranks, on 7' ugly stik rods, and offshore boards. Dipsy's have 40lb braid with no snubber because the rod is 8'6" and is soft tip so it acts as it's own snubber.

There are many things that can contribute too losing big fish. Slowing down or going to neutral is just one more thing.

Although now that i think about it, I remember one fall where we were catching steelhead on cranks while bass fishing. To land the steelies you had to slow the boat down. It had to do with the hooks pulling out on soft bites.

[AllenW]

I see we have a definite answer here..

I tend to use pretty light line, when trout/salmon trolling I'll use 10 or 12# mono and run a lot of line out at times, I keep the kicker in gear but hit the idle button on the speed control (trollmaster now Itroll) to keep the rest of the lines going straight back.

Reeling a 100-150 foot of line, a inline planner board, maybe a snap weight, the lure and a fish doesn't leave much extra for the line/drag capacity so idle it is.

Smaller fish I just reel in, but if the drag starts to sing, idle it is.

Walleye fishing is usually a slower speed and I'll just keep going unless it's a large fish.

al

[doubleheader]

Well IMHO there is definitely something to be said for the idea you may be pulling something they don't really want which is accounting for your missed hook-ups, but in addition, Erie fishing is is unique in that those fish hardly even fight compared to other bodies of water. I have no idea why but it's like pulling in a wet rag, so I don't see any reason to slow down on Erie. Not so on all bodies of water, and generally I do slow to 1mph.

[wimwuen]

Since I almost always use my xi5 to provide some of the power and all of the steering while trolling, I do throw my kicker into nuetral. This keeps the boat moving straight at a much slower speed. .5mph is much less pressure on that fish than 2.0 to 3.0mph.