Ok, I know that trolling isn’t fly fishing. But lots of us leave a line out as we paddle from spot to spot. Personally, I like trailing a wooly bugger or a SHWAPF. Here’s the question…
At what angle do you put your rod? Is it aiming out in front of you, to the side, toward the stern? I recently bought a rod holder to attach to a thwart and was thinking that I’d face the rod forward so I could see the tip and notice any action but then I thought that if there WAS any decent action, it might be too much for the tip and cause a rod to break. I think I’m thinking too much. So, what do you do and why?
My fear was not the hit of the fish, but somehow in breaking the rod while trying to paddle. So if I do “troll” ? perhaps we should call this “drag” since that is an acceptible fly fishing term! ? I place the rod somewhere to my side where I won’t hit it with a paddle. Does that make any sense? JGW
Lord knows I’ve lost a fish or two doing this type of fishing method! The old admonition of keeping a tight line is just as true in a canoe as it is wading. In trying out diffenent rod positions in the boat I’ve found that what works best for me is to rest the rod on my thigh, opposite the side on paddling on, with the tip end of the rod out slightly and elevated maybe 60 degrees, the reel end is on the canoe bottom, reel handle up, and just in front of of my foot on the side I’m paddling on; this means the fly rod is slightly across me and I’ll be able to feel any slight “tugs” plus the reel should be giving away a little line just in case those are serious tugs! If need be, can just move the rod base to the other side while lifting the tip end over my head.
Now the fun begins when you have something real serious hit that wooly bugger and your trying to grab the rod to slow down all that line screaming out, put the paddle aside, take up some kind of a resemblance of proper fly rod posture and, of course, keep the canoe right side up. And the harder the hit, the harder it is to orchestrate all this.
I use a rod holder behind my seat, behind my left shoulder. I point the rod straight aft at a 45 degree angle and I tighten the drag on the reel to full. Although I frequently will glance up at the rod, there is a distinct vibration and sound that I hear when a fish is on, if it is a bass, the first sound I will hear is a splash.
I too was concerned about the rod tip breaking, but the rod angle and the fact that the fish is not under your kayak keeps the rod out of jeopardy.
I find that having the rod behind is best and I set the drag to the lightest setting so it works like an alarm. If you hear the click grab the rod.
Sarge
I have had a rod broken when I had my rod perpendicular to the 'yak. Lesson learned. I then mounted my rod in back and used the 45 degree angle approach but that does not work well when fishing from spot to spot. It’s hard for me to make the turn around and see what I’m doing. On my new yak I mounted it up front again and am going to try trolling with it at a 45 degree angle over the back of my head. Hopefully it wont be in the way and if I get a fish on it will knock me in the head and wake me up! I hope to put on a second base in the rear for those times in the salt when I troll for alot of the time.
If you set you rod on full drag then make sure your leader/tippet is strong enough to take any fish that grabs hold of the fly or else you will have alot of break offs. Its all in the balance.
If you set your rod on full drag then make sure your leader/tippet isn’t too strong that should you hook into a monster of a fish it doesn’t turn you upside down should that fish run starboard or port.
I’m in a kayak, so less degrees of freedom than a canoe. I use a rod holder for a second rod, not for trolling.
I put the rod butt in cockpit just under my left leg, reel handle up. and point the rod towards the back but underneath my right arm. If a fish hits, I just clamp down on the rod with my right arm.
I use a scotty’s fly rod holder on the left side midships and usually have the rod at a 45 forward and up and paddle under it. The rod won’t break if a fish hits. I just paddle-trolled 5 nice trout this way in a lake. The trick is to get the rod holder forward enough to be able to paddle under it and yet be able to reach the rod and extract it in a smooth motion.
I’m talkin’ SOT kayak…,but maybe it applies a little…