2) Trolling in an Area with No Striped Bass
This particular one appears to be a no-brainer, but it occurs too frequently. Just because you are fishing around a widely recognized "hot spot" for instance , the Ledge, Race Point, Devil's Bridge or the Fingers, it does not mean that you are in a hot spot for this specific fishing trip. The entire area could very well be vacant of bait and bass.
Take a glance around the the next time you find yourself on the H2O. Within Cape Cod Bay in particular, the bass could really be more or less anywhere in the Bay. There's multitudes of water around to investigate! I do not ever place a tube in the water unless I mark a minimum of one striped bass on my sonar screen. Seeing even just one bass, within all of this often life-less water, is a big deal. Probabilities are that single striped bass beneath your transducer is but one of a lot of fish within the general vicinity.
Next time you head out, try out searching in a planned pattern all over many of the hot spots in your area until you commence marking striped bass or prey items. After that put the tubes within the water and fish around for 20 minutes. If hardly anything else is seen on the sonar, continue digging around. Burning off a couple of additional gallons of gasoline, because you are cruising around looking for fish, is really worth it-have faith in me!
2) Experimenting with various tube colors 1st, as an alternative to depth and tube length
There's possibly a boat load of those that will not agree with me about this (that is A-OK) however I don't see a reason to carry tube colors other than black, red along with perhaps orange. I think hot pink, green, purple, brown and other color tubes are created to reel in fishermen-and of course a few fish here and there. At one point I carried orange yet I do not today.
Any time you are not catching anything, but anglers close to you are hooking stripers, try paying closer attention to the depth and tube length they are using instead of color. Sometimes it does not matter at all what color tube you are using. Instead the length of the tube, and depth you are fishing the tube at, are more important variables.
I remember a trip when the bass fishing was sizzling, but without warning it surprisingly died. I first assumed the hot fishing had turned off, but I realised that my fishing bud was still hitting them hard. I tried modifying the number of colors I had been trolling, and then also altering the color of the tube. I went on getting not a thing.
It was not until I realized that my friend was trolling an 18 inch red tube, in place of the 24 inch red tubes we had been fishing with all morning. Unluckily I only had 18 inch black tubes with me. However it did not matter to the stripers, and right as the fish came across that 18 inch black tube they hit it and we commenced boating fish just as before. Sometimes bass can be very fickle creatures!
I've also had a great number of situations where I happen to be hooking fish utilizing 3 1/2 colors all day or night. Then simply, for some unknown reason, we could no longer get a bite with 3 1/2 colors. The odd thing was we continued marking bass. Making a simple depth switch to 4 colors was all we needed and we began catching once more. I might in no way ever have an understanding of the effect a half of a color can make to the stripers-yet I will never ever underestimate the importance.
If I'm not hooking up, but I still am seeing fish on my sonar unit, I will in most cases:
1) First vary the number of colors (depth) 2) Fiddle with the tube length 3) Make changes to the tube color
3) Trolling only 2 tubes instead of 3
A number of years ago I would to troll 4 tube and worm rigs from my 21 foot boat, the Miss Loretta. Now when I take folks out for a day or night of fishing, I've noticed that fishing 3 tubes, all on leadcore, will work somewhat smoother. Let me explain why.
Always having that third tube in the water is advantageous for a number of reasons.
1) It is yet another hook in the water for bass to attack. This will easily raise your fish catching potential. All other parameters held constant, the crew using 3 lines will, at all times catch more fish than the angler utilizing only 2.
2) It allows you to play around more with tube length, depth and color. This way you will be able to swiftly discover what the stripers want.
3) For some strange reason, most stripers bite that tube fishing down the center of the boat.
Often times once I discover a successful color (depth) and an effective tube color and length, I will fish all three tube and worms in the identical manner. Due to the positioning of rod holders on the Miss Loretta, the 3rd line runs exactly in the middle of the Miss Loretta, and is positioned slightly more towards the back of the Miss Loretta than the other rods.
What this results in the water is a bit of a "trolling spread." The 3 lines are fishing the same depth, however the 1 tube that is being trolled off the 3rd line (which is trolled in the middle of the spread) is positioned slightly behind the other two tubes. This is because that middle rod holder is positioned just a little nearer to the back of the Miss Loretta than my other two rod holders. The 3rd tube and worm rig is trolled just a few feet in back of the other tube rigs. This makes it appear to the bass as if one of the tubes is lagging behind the main school-making it more vulnerable to attack.
It's the same idea that goes into squid bars and umbrella rigs. The rule of thumb is that you generally troll one lure or bait that trails slightly behind the school. With three tubes at once, your are putting together a "school of worms" wiggling through the water. One of the tubes (worms) has slipped a bit behind the other two tube rigs (worms). Striped bass typically focus in on the prey items that fall behind the rest of the pack. I imagine this is the reason why my center tube generally out-fishes the other two rigs. It's the small details like this that can help you catch more fish on your next outing.
This particular one appears to be a no-brainer, but it occurs too frequently. Just because you are fishing around a widely recognized "hot spot" for instance , the Ledge, Race Point, Devil's Bridge or the Fingers, it does not mean that you are in a hot spot for this specific fishing trip. The entire area could very well be vacant of bait and bass.
Take a glance around the the next time you find yourself on the H2O. Within Cape Cod Bay in particular, the bass could really be more or less anywhere in the Bay. There's multitudes of water around to investigate! I do not ever place a tube in the water unless I mark a minimum of one striped bass on my sonar screen. Seeing even just one bass, within all of this often life-less water, is a big deal. Probabilities are that single striped bass beneath your transducer is but one of a lot of fish within the general vicinity.
Next time you head out, try out searching in a planned pattern all over many of the hot spots in your area until you commence marking striped bass or prey items. After that put the tubes within the water and fish around for 20 minutes. If hardly anything else is seen on the sonar, continue digging around. Burning off a couple of additional gallons of gasoline, because you are cruising around looking for fish, is really worth it-have faith in me!
2) Experimenting with various tube colors 1st, as an alternative to depth and tube length
There's possibly a boat load of those that will not agree with me about this (that is A-OK) however I don't see a reason to carry tube colors other than black, red along with perhaps orange. I think hot pink, green, purple, brown and other color tubes are created to reel in fishermen-and of course a few fish here and there. At one point I carried orange yet I do not today.
Any time you are not catching anything, but anglers close to you are hooking stripers, try paying closer attention to the depth and tube length they are using instead of color. Sometimes it does not matter at all what color tube you are using. Instead the length of the tube, and depth you are fishing the tube at, are more important variables.
I remember a trip when the bass fishing was sizzling, but without warning it surprisingly died. I first assumed the hot fishing had turned off, but I realised that my fishing bud was still hitting them hard. I tried modifying the number of colors I had been trolling, and then also altering the color of the tube. I went on getting not a thing.
It was not until I realized that my friend was trolling an 18 inch red tube, in place of the 24 inch red tubes we had been fishing with all morning. Unluckily I only had 18 inch black tubes with me. However it did not matter to the stripers, and right as the fish came across that 18 inch black tube they hit it and we commenced boating fish just as before. Sometimes bass can be very fickle creatures!
I've also had a great number of situations where I happen to be hooking fish utilizing 3 1/2 colors all day or night. Then simply, for some unknown reason, we could no longer get a bite with 3 1/2 colors. The odd thing was we continued marking bass. Making a simple depth switch to 4 colors was all we needed and we began catching once more. I might in no way ever have an understanding of the effect a half of a color can make to the stripers-yet I will never ever underestimate the importance.
If I'm not hooking up, but I still am seeing fish on my sonar unit, I will in most cases:
1) First vary the number of colors (depth) 2) Fiddle with the tube length 3) Make changes to the tube color
3) Trolling only 2 tubes instead of 3
A number of years ago I would to troll 4 tube and worm rigs from my 21 foot boat, the Miss Loretta. Now when I take folks out for a day or night of fishing, I've noticed that fishing 3 tubes, all on leadcore, will work somewhat smoother. Let me explain why.
Always having that third tube in the water is advantageous for a number of reasons.
1) It is yet another hook in the water for bass to attack. This will easily raise your fish catching potential. All other parameters held constant, the crew using 3 lines will, at all times catch more fish than the angler utilizing only 2.
2) It allows you to play around more with tube length, depth and color. This way you will be able to swiftly discover what the stripers want.
3) For some strange reason, most stripers bite that tube fishing down the center of the boat.
Often times once I discover a successful color (depth) and an effective tube color and length, I will fish all three tube and worms in the identical manner. Due to the positioning of rod holders on the Miss Loretta, the 3rd line runs exactly in the middle of the Miss Loretta, and is positioned slightly more towards the back of the Miss Loretta than the other rods.
What this results in the water is a bit of a "trolling spread." The 3 lines are fishing the same depth, however the 1 tube that is being trolled off the 3rd line (which is trolled in the middle of the spread) is positioned slightly behind the other two tubes. This is because that middle rod holder is positioned just a little nearer to the back of the Miss Loretta than my other two rod holders. The 3rd tube and worm rig is trolled just a few feet in back of the other tube rigs. This makes it appear to the bass as if one of the tubes is lagging behind the main school-making it more vulnerable to attack.
It's the same idea that goes into squid bars and umbrella rigs. The rule of thumb is that you generally troll one lure or bait that trails slightly behind the school. With three tubes at once, your are putting together a "school of worms" wiggling through the water. One of the tubes (worms) has slipped a bit behind the other two tube rigs (worms). Striped bass typically focus in on the prey items that fall behind the rest of the pack. I imagine this is the reason why my center tube generally out-fishes the other two rigs. It's the small details like this that can help you catch more fish on your next outing.
About the Author:
For more information on trolling the tumake and worm and how to target big striped bass using the tumake and worm make sure to head over to my website MyFishingCapeCod.com
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