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how fast should i be trolling skirts?


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Hey Raiders,

Pretty keen to chase some marlin this year. Ive got some kona jet head skirts and a couple of blue water livies (gar fish and bonito) also got some pakula's

How fast should i be trolling them (in km/h) and can i spread all the above lures at the same time or will it look to un natural?

Thanks in advance Raiders,

Stan

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Hey stan only done a couple of trips for marlin , heading out on the calm days only , don,t like large swells out wide.

I like to sit on the 8-9knots and sit back and enjoy the troll :sun: With the lures your thinking of using keep the larger most aggressive action lures in close to the boat and least aggressive out the back.

Can,t wait for the marlin season to come on strong , goodluck on the troll mate.

VERY , VERY addictive fishing but hooking up to a couple in april this year its worth all the time you put in once you hook up :D

Chris.

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Predator , You can troll the plastics together at roughly 13 to 14klm's . But this will depend on the sea conditions. Check the pattern looks like the lures are working well. If you need to move lures around for there best actions,try lures at different positions short rigger, long rigger, short corner etc. As the baits go they will be best trolled around 7 to 8 klms. Inregards to trolling together i have pulled hooks off lures and used them for teasers, but the speed is a little bit slow to get the lure actions really working at there best. Trolling lures is an art and it takes a bit of practice to master it, be patient and persist. Once you get used to the lures working well,and the way they should look. You can then try new speeds in different conditions. This will give you more confidence and better results.You can also try switch baiting, as this is a good technique . This technique has become very popular in the last few years and some great results have been posted in comps. Lures pulled in after teasing the Marlin up, and a bait has been dropped back to the Marlin.This technque is a bit a harder then just trolling lures and hooks are removed. But as i have mentioned this technique has been excellent in results.

:1fishing1:

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Predator, for starters forget about switch baiting, this is the next step up. Just concentrate on running them and getting used to how they work the best. Trolling lure 7-9 knots depending on conditions, trolling live baits 2-6kn depending on conditions. What pakulas do you have? Depends on your boat set up on how many you can run. Untill you get used to things maybe run three rods if you have a shotgun. 4 maybe fine but if the crew are inexperienced with gamefishing, would they know which lines to pull in first etc. Trust me all hell breaks loose on a noob marlin boat with too many lines out and blokes not having a clue what to do even if they think they know. Its like the saying "2 hands for beginners" :thumbup:

Edited by finin
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Hi Stan

Put simply Marlin when fishing for them on Lures and in particular with regards to the Striped Marlin are a very lazy feeder (along with being a bad shot) and tend to slash at the lure with its bill more times than it will actually grab the lure.....of course there at times when there are exceptions to this however even when you consider the antics of the mighty Blue Marlin arguably the most explosive and aggressive of lure takers they also have a tendency to slash away and quite often the resulting hook up actually amounts in the leader half hitching it’s self around the marlins bill as directly opposed to the hooks hitting home.

In answer to your question then the slower the lure is presented the easier it will be for the fish to eat it cleanly in the first instance this however needs to be balanced in firstly getting the lure’s action right in gaining the marlins initial interest and to be zoned in.......another reason then as to why the deployment of an aggressive actioned lure can be considered to be both a good and bad ploy depending on how you want to look at it

Cheers Warnie

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If you go to Peter Pakula's site you will find a wealth of info on setting up for and running lures. We haven't chased marlin, but enjoy chasing tuna and have had a good run. I reckon the advice above about not having too many lines out to start with is sound. First time out, knowing nothing and using our bottom bashing outfits to drag lures, we had six out, and five of them went off at once, with only three of us on the boat. Magic chaos with absolute bedlam, and boated five good sized albies but what a mess, gear thrown everywhere.

Make sure you have your drag set sufficiently, had a mate out with us last weekend, knocked the drag off taking the rod from the holder and had a spectacular birds nest to deal with, lost the fish as the line snapped when the reel locked.

I have had good results with the Pakula Dojo Peche lures trolled at 5 - 6 knots, find that we have to troll skirts at 7-8 to get the right action, and have some el cheap online shop jet heads that seem to work ok at 6-7 knots. have not had any success yet using the Bluewater livies. If you get cheap lures, replace the hooks and re-rig them. Lost a couple of fish early in the piece with snapped leaders. poorly crimped loops and cheap chinese hooks that broke or straightened.

Am stashing some cash to have a splurge at Bermi Bait & Tackle next time I get down there, intend to score a couple of "sets" of lures, a set with a green/lumo theme and another with a purple theme. Chasing bait (Bonito's & stripies) we have had a good run with small pink metal headed skirts. Was looking through the lure bags last weekend and they are basically worn out. Best $7 we ever spent ;^)

Hope this helps

Cheers

Thy

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thanks guys, that website is awesome Thy

Stan

Yep, the Pakula site is worth reading and reading again. I find myself revisiting as new experiences/screwups occur. Take from it what you will, but by my reckoning it is possibly the most comprehensive website on game fishing from whoa to go.

I have learnt a lot from it. Haven't chased Marlin yet, but applied learnings meant that we ate a lot of tuna this year, and know that there is still lots to be learnedo before I consider myself as even a novice. Forums like this one are great if you know what question to ask and the right language to ask it in. There is a wealth of knowledge hiding behind the usernames, and more info is better when sorting yourself out.

Good hunting, looking forward to the success stories.

Thy

Edited by Thylacene
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