Trolling a fly

Early yesterday morning, I found some stripers willing to play with hardware. They were feeding just below surface; I think on chovies, but didn't keep any of them to prove it. Nevertheless, the dimples that the baitfish were leaving have me thinking 2" to 4" baitfish.

So, next time out I'm gonna bring a 7 weight. I have a sinking shooting head and a floating line. All fish on hardware came out of a few feet of water. Should I go with the floating line? With the condition of my arm, I'm going to mostly drag some stuff, or so I'm telling myself now.

How do you guys/girls set the hook? The rod will be pinned under my leg. I'm paddling and when trolling the artificials, I'm not happy about the number of missed hits. At first, I was running 12 pound  mono and keeping the drag pretty tight, not a big problem: Motion did the job. Now, I'm running 8 pound braid and the rod is a super slow sweety. Hooks are sharp. The fish load the rod and I reach back and grab it, attempting to drive the hooks home. I'm not boating 2  out of 6 or 7. Plus, as a shore guy just learning this, I'm still taken back every time they run straight at me, so that split second isn't helping.

The flyrod is going to be soft too and because I can't put it in the rod holder, it has to be under my leg. Hits tend to cause the rod to slide a little, just a bit, but enough to influence the moment. I'm planning on using a 10 pound leader.
Thanks

Hey slow, I've caught a few stripes while dragging the clouser on full sinking line as I'm finding casting spots. Mostly they just hook themselves, then I just paddle to swing the yak point at the fish and line strike(one big fast strip) without raising the rod violently.
Never caught anything on the troll bigger than about 20" though.
You could also just do a light carolina rig on the spinning outfit and put a fly on. They will hit the trolled clouser.
You could get a fly rod holder - Scotty etc. - they work well for trolling, fly rods are better for casting than for trolling though.
If you get out around the Sac area we can fish for stripes on the fly some eve.
novofish -Tony

I troll flies for trout and bass all the time.  I usually set the hook with a strong stroke or two.

I troll flies for trout and bass all the time.  I usually set the hook with a strong stroke or two.

I had never done much trolling with flies until last week when high river flows kept me mostly on a lake. I figured it out after hooking up on 5 of 10 strikes one morning. Then after thinking about it and trying a couple of strong strokes, I was 6 of 7 in the evening.

For different depths you could cut up a 30' T-14 shooting head and make different length sinktips. That's what I do for my skagit rod.

I hold the line between the reel and the first stripping guide (the running line in my case since I use shooting heads) in my hand, clamped against the paddle shaft. I like to think this gives the fly  a stop/go action, and a direct connection for hooksets. Keep paddling for a stroke or two after you get bit, altho it's pretty hard not to grab for the rod immediately.

I'd start with the floating line and a faster sinking fly like a Clouser if you're in only a few feet of water. 10lb leader doesn't turn over very well for casting heavy striper flies. I use 8-9wts in the Bay, and the equivalent of 25lb 6' leaders.

Thanks for the help, hate being out there constantly questioning myself.

Yea Tony, I'm often down to fish, love stripers, and although I fish daylight hours, I fish mostly at night. For casting to fish, I'm going to have to learn to throw left handed, unless they're really close and I'm throwing a floating line.
I don't own a yak, yet, so I'm borrowing a friend's, so mods are not an option, so the rod will be tucked under my leg. I'll figure the hook set out when I figure out what to tie. Those fish were going off yesterday; I only landed a few when I should of killed 'em.
I'm down in vallejo. Give me a shout when it's time to get some.

mikechin, I'm feeling that, "holding the line, clamped against the paddle shaft." I'm going to work that method a few times.

I'm going to tie up a few ugly things and if I don't scare all the fish away with them and put a fish or two in the boat, I'll post up.
Thanks again.
David

I have never actively trolled for Striped Bass but every once in a while I bring in my line with 20 out when I chose to paddle somewhere else. And, amazingly, I have caught fish, both Striped Bass and Black Bass, on that short trolled line. I have never done it consciously nor have I plans—a big part of fly fishing (to me) is the casting and retrieving. It's almost like hunting more than fishing. I scored a nice Bass on a Clouser at the Forebay during a MBF tourney years ago will stripping for Stripers. Fishing is an adventure that's for sure.

SM,
Yea! I'm not fly fishing and that's okay, but it does seem like I'm going to be missing "IT", regardless of how many fish I hit while towing a lure. If I locate them under the "right" conditions - with a little luck I should - I'll put the rod in my hand. They'll be schooled up, feeding. I've found that there's often a short window when stripers go nearly blind to everything except feeding. Around that time, I hope to be throwing and retrieving, fly fishing. Neither the gorging nor my arm will last long. I'm going to learn to throw lefty.

Yea! An adventure for sure. In my head, I've been playing out the cast from a sitting position, the variations of length to strips, while the yak drifts and spins, a little, I suspect. Then, when I'm in a good mood, I imagine the hit, second strip, as soon as it twitches. After that, I'm lost. I've never fought a fish from start to end, from my ass. It's going to be an adventure, for sure, and I love it.

I have kayak fished since 1985,and caught lots trolling,both saltwater and fresh. At first , I was using rod holders , but a friend showed me to angle the rod tip back over my left thigh(I am right-handed) and tuck the rod butt under my right thigh. That way,as soon as I feel any tension , I can quickly reach down,grap the rod,and set the hook. My catch rate went way up after I adopted that way. Also,with the line in little or no angle to the tip,it is much easier to lay out line. I can even use leadcore line that way. Leadcore can be tricky to lay out until you have enough in the water to create drag on the line , but by being in line,much better. Leadcore can be handy on deep lakes when the summer heat puts them down. For a reel,I use a Shimano Moocher reel , which has a really large arbor. It works better then any other reel I have tried. Diawa makes an similar  moocher reel.

Works for me on trout, Action Disc are cheap too.

http://www.wigglefin.com/trout_rigging.html

Works for me on trout, Action Disc are cheap too.

http://www.wigglefin.com/trout_rigging.html

You can see a youtube video of ActionDiscs with a selection of different flies and baits here



- Wigglefin

Ohh man, these things are awesome!  I've never heard of action discs until now.  Adding them to next month's purchases.  Thanks!