NorCal Kayak Anglers

Kayak Fishing Zone => Kayak Fly Fishing => Topic started by: dod488 on May 10, 2007, 03:28:22 PM

Title: My fly trolling setup
Post by: dod488 on May 10, 2007, 03:28:22 PM

This is my fly trolling setup.  Since there is nothing bigger than a 10lb steelhead in the lagoons that I fish, I use a 9' 4wt rod, 15' of T14 line, a 9' leader with a 5x or 6x tippet.  You'll see on the picture that I'm in 11' of water going 1.45mph.  With this setup once the end of the T14 clears the end guide, one long pull will put the fly down 1' per pull - 10 pulls and the fly is down 10'.  But, I have to keep my speed between 1.3 and 1.5mph.   This has been snag-tested!

Thanks, Hal

Title: Re: My fly trolling setup
Post by: dod488 on May 13, 2007, 05:44:02 PM

I'm going out tomorrow morning to try a slightly different rig. I'll be using T8 instead of T14. I should be able to get quite a bit more line out before I snag on the bottom.

Thanks, Hal

Title: Re: My fly trolling setup
Post by: dod488 on May 14, 2007, 07:57:18 PM

Caught two steelies that added up to 7 pounds on the T8.  I like this setup better as I can get more line out.  Out again tomorrow to see if I can equate pulls to depths with the T8.

Thanks, Hal

Title: Re: My fly trolling setup
Post by: jmairey on May 14, 2007, 08:28:29 PM

what does the "T" signify?  I assume it is sink-ability of some sort?

seems like a fly reel makes for a nice trolling rig.

Title: Re: My fly trolling setup
Post by: ScottThornley on May 15, 2007, 06:24:29 PM

John,

"T" stands for Tungsten.  It is a cored line, designed for sinking shooting heads. There is an LC-13 out there as well. ("L" stands for Lead). The numerals stand for grains per foot. 7000 grains/lb

Regards,
Scott

Title: Re: My fly trolling setup
Post by: Pelican on May 15, 2007, 08:14:34 PM

Dod - I've trolled flies in my short kayak career and had some luck - but I've never been sure how deep I was or how fast I was going - no FF yet. I've caught stripers trolling from a PB off the Marin shore and in Mendo from the yak - in both cases there was a fair amount of line out - a 30' head and at least another 30' of shooting line, so at least 60' plus the leader. In the bay it was T-14 and at Mendo it was a clear intermediate head. This seems like a minimum length so as not to spook fish you are trolling over. Still, how do you know how deep you're getting with this method? Snagging is a good sign - I hate getting snaged! In the local waters here in Marin I'm trying flies tied on circle hooks or hooks that ride point up for trolling, hopeing I won't hook bottom so much. What flies are you using?                                                    Another approach is a fast sinking line and a floating fly to keep the fly up off the bottom.

Title: Re: My fly trolling setup
Post by: dod488 on May 16, 2007, 10:56:59 AM

Got skunked yesterday.  But I did find out that I can get 1.5 pulls per foot depth with the T8 than the 1 pull per foot depth with the T14.  Depths were verified with FF.

Thanks, Hal