how far back to troll?
 

Hey guys just wondering your thoughts on how far behind the yak to troll a mack or trolling lure?

Thanks

That depends on how deep you're trying to get the lure. With enough line out you can get 35+ feet deep, caught sandbass off the ledges in SD Bay when I attempted to spool myself trolling.

Typically 75 foot back for me.

50-90ft for Rapala type lures, 40-110ft for live surface baits, 40-75ft for baits off a clip on a downrigger.

I adjust my trolling distance to the depth I’m targeting. Also I will add inline sinkers to get deeper. I’ll fish 2 oz in line sinker with 75ft of line trolling in 70ft of water


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50-100ft.

Several factors come into play. More often it depends how close you decide to tailgate me or how bad a captain wants 300 yards of braid around his prop.

LOL There are some rude boaters in my area. If snagged, some of the yakers will put their reel in free spool to make sure the boater gets the whole spool of line around their prop.

much appreciated, thank you!

Unfortunately, its not just a kayak to boat thing. The same thing happens when you're in a small boat and a larger boat is in the area. big boats love to wake my 17ft. i love giving them my spool of braid.


That being said, what are you trolling for? halibut versus yt vs sharks can be different. current and trolling speed also play a factor. I would say "troll whatever length make the bait in the strike zone", but we have no idea if its in the strike zone when the FF can't see it.

About 200-300 yards for yellowtail and bluefin. You don't want them spooked by your kayak.
Right under the kayak for halibut.

Sorry to hear that. Derelict big boaters are the greatest danger to smaller vessels in my area. Some of them have their stereo blasting and are just not paying attention, others are going out of their way to steer straight at kayakers and leave them a big wake to deal with. When I see one headed my way, I always make it a point to turn on the GoPro camera for documentation. If the boater sees this, they often veer off. There have been a couple of close incidents that became viral videos and subsequently, the large vessel operators received some fall out that will make it less likely to occur again.

Thank you @qualifiedcaptain, right?? And it's true, my less ocean-oriented friends and family always ask me if I'm afraid of sharks when I'm so far offshore in just a small kayak. The threat of sharks rarely crosses my mind out there. But an idiot at the helm of a dual outboard center console is always terrifying...

Rather than off-topic hi-jack this thread, I will reply back in detail on a new thread. Thanks.

200-300 yards behind? that's a lot of line out for trolling on a kayak. That's most of your spool if its 300 yards back and you are fishing appropriate sized gear and corresponding line.

Yes, I'm talking about trolling for yellowtail. For trolling a mac it sounds like sending it about 75-100 feet back with 30lb fluoro leader to heavier spectra backing? I just picked up my first 165mm DTX minnow. You guys think send it about 100 feet back with what 40lb fluoro leader?