[jmorton]

I'm brand new to boat fishing and have a few questions. Just bought a boat and put it in the water yesterday for the first time at Jackson. It has an Eagle Z6000 fish finder, no trolling motor or trolling plate. I was able to troll pretty slowly but I'm not sure how slow is too slow or how fast is too fast. Also, there isn't any manual for the fish finder so I'm not sure how that works. Lots of little blips on the screen with a number below them which I'm assuming is the depth that the blips are at. It also has a number clear at the bottom which I'm assuming is the actual bottom depth.
Any help is appreciated, I have two young boys that are aching to catch some fish!!

 

[bnc04]

Hi and welcome..
Try this link for a manual for your eagle fish finder. http://www.eaglegps.com/default.htm I did not see your specific model but perhaps you can dig a little deeper and find it. They have downloadable manual on the site. Another thing to try is to play with the menu a little and see if you can find the demo screen and activate that. They will often show you the various features that your unit is capable of performing. You should also se something that will allow you to set it back to factory default settings. This is a good place to start and then begin to tinker with it to learn about your unit's capabilities and be able to interpret what you are seeing on the screen.
The manual will also show you how your transducer should be positioned for optimum results. Make sure that is as it is supposed to be or you will get all kinds of strange readings.

As for trolling speed,, There are others that can assist you better than I can,, It would help to know what type of boat and motor you have to see if your at least in te ballpark for an average trolling speed. There are also many accessories that will allow you to slow your trolling speed if you desire.

Brett

 

[jmorton]

Thanks.
I have a 1989 Bayliner Capri with a 5.0 liter inboard and Cobra OMC sterndrive.
I would put the throttle on the first click to engage the drive and it would putt around pretty slow, slow enough that the speedometer wouldn't read anything but it doesn't register under 10 mph anyway. The lures weren't flipping out of the water or anything and you caould feel them working.
Also, how far should the kids have their lines out??

 

[bnc04]

I'm going to guess that the 5.0 will be a little on the fast side for trolling but iothers will have a better idea. I have a 65hp merc that I think is a tad too fast at times. there are rolling plates you can buy to add to the motor or dragging a parachute like device will also work, though it would seem more trouble.
I like to let out a little more line than I can typically cast, ( thats a starting point) you can then vary from there to see what the fish wants.

 

[bnc04]

The board or my computer is acting weird and it posted before I was ready and spell checked so I apologize for that.

Remember that several factors influence your lures action and depth. Line size, boat speed, weight attached, length of line let out, waves and turning vs. straight line trolling. You'll have to experiment with all of that but that?s the fun part of fishing.

Good luck !
Brett

 

[mauser]

what are you trolling for -- the type of fish makes a huge difference.
I like around 1.3 - 1.7 mph for trout and Kokes. 2 - 2.5 seems to work for alot of warm water species.

 

[dkooser]

Thanks.
I have a 1989 Bayliner Capri with a 5.0 liter inboard and Cobra OMC sterndrive.
I would put the throttle on the first click to engage the drive and it would putt around pretty slow, slow enough that the speedometer wouldn't read anything but it doesn't register under 10 mph anyway.  The lures weren't flipping out of the water or anything and you caould feel them working.
Also,  how far should the kids have their lines out??

Make "s" turns when trolling, if the outside lines get hit then the fish like it faster.  If the inside lines get hit then you need to find a way to slow the boat down.  A cheap trick is to take a 5 gallon bucket, tie a rope to it and toss it out the back.  That'll slow you down.

As far as feet back.  Let the fish tell you what they want.  I have caught fish trolling 20 feet behind the boat.  The key is consistently putting the lure where the fish want it.  Try some way back, try some closer.   There are cheap ($9) clip on line counters that will enable you to be consistent with lure placement but the trick is finding what and where the fish want the lure.  

 

[dkooser]

I like around 1.3 - 1.7 mph for trout

You troll for trout?

 

[mauser]

I like around 1.3 - 1.7 mph for trout

You troll for trout?

LOL -- For claiming to be a walleye fisherman you are the best trout fisherman I know

 

[dkooser]

LOL -- For claiming to be a walleye fisherman you are the best trout fisherman I know
Maybe if I claimed to be a trout fisherman, I'd catch more walleye.

 

[work2fish]

Here are a couple of other suggestions:

1) Get or borrow a good handheld GPS to determine your trolling speed. Somewhere between 1 and 3 mph is usable. Just remember that some GPS's are not very accurate at very slow speeds...

2) Buy the "Precision Trolling" book from http://www.precisionangling.com/ This book contains information about where your lure will be depending on the type, trolling speed and how much line is out. Check out http://www.precisionangling.com/curve.html for an example page from the book.

Hope this helps.

 

[jmorton]

Thanks for all the info guys! Hopefully the kids will be into fish soon!

 

[work2fish]

Just remember that some GPS's are not very accurate at those slow speeds

could you state your source for this

ever since SA was turned off GPS accuracy is quite impressive even with the cheep (under $100) units i used to have trouble with an old 2 channel units while traveling faster than 200 mph especialy when changing directin quickly havent been up in a few years but most units are 12 parrallel chanell and do quite well

I will look it up, but as I recall it had to do with the amount of internal averaging some of the GPS's would do... I know that, even with SA off, my fishfinder's GPS gives very strange and inconsistent readings below 1mph, for example.

 

[dkooser]

I agree.

My handheld Garmin can sit beside my Lowrance 480 and the Garmin will read 0 until I get up to about 1 mph. The Lowrance will read down to .2 mph despite them sitting side by side.

Above 1 mph, they register the same but below that the Garmin (more an issue of cost - handheld) just does not pick up the speed.

Dont let that deter you from using a handheld to troll with though, very little trolling is done below 1mph.

 

[EricCO]

This place has some good stuff on trolling.

http://www.luhrjensen.com/techreports.cfm

To slow down try going in reverse. Also you can shift into neutral sometimes.

 

[lynmack]

I would like to say the more knowledge the better,but it doesn't have to be rocket science either.I've trolled the last three years with very basic methods with great success.I didnt even know how fast i was going until a month ago when i got a gps.Found out i was going about 2miles a hour.For trout(and wipers)I just throw back a 3/8oz kastmaster on one side and a jointed rapala on the other.Pull off another 15 to 20 ft and troll.The biggest help i have found is the topo maps that you can find in the sporting goods stores.They even tell you were to fish.This year im starting to experment with lead core and flashers.Newt year i hope i can move to a bigger boat and maybe downriggers,but until then i expect to keep catchin my limit plus each outing!

lyn

 

[mauser]

Agreed -- My Garmin III will not register below 1.0 MPH. Lead core and Dipsy divers both come with a depth chart based upon speed and amount of line out.