Getting Started….Wire Line Trolling

By Capt. Bob Paxson

It’s the fall and the run is in full swing. Is there anything better than seeing diving birds off the beach and running up to a full scale blitz of Striped Bass and Bluefish? I think not.

But what do you do when the birds aren’t there to show you where the fish are?  You could jig all day until your arms fall off or you could get to catching by trolling wire line and finding the fish yourself.

What is wire line? Simply put, it’s line that’s made of wire…usually Stainless Steel or Monel.  Some people have used lead-core line, but it doesn’t seem to hold up in salt water as well.

Wire line’s density is much greater than that of monofilament and that allows you to troll deep. How deep? Well, for every 100’ of wire line you let out, your lure will be 10’ deep. Adding a trolling weight of 8 oz will increase the depth an additional 5’ or so.

Controlling the depth is important! And with the new “Pre-marked” wire lines from Malin, setting up your trolling outfit just got a whole lot easier. 

Prior to Malin’s introduction of pre-marked wire, marking the wire was a chore. Some people used colored telephone wire that they would wrap around their trolling wire at 50 or 100’ intervals. I never bothered with that. I would use a small barrel swivels, attached with Haywire twists, and simply count them as I was letting the wire out.

Perhaps what puts people off the most about trolling wire line is the need for some special equipment to do it properly. Here’s what you’ll need to get started:

-Reel

The standard in wire lining is the Penn 113 HSP with the Chromed Spool

-Rod

Should be 6-7’ with “Carboloy” guides that can withstand the rubbing of the wire.

-Wire Line

I prefer Monel over Stainless as it’s softer and easier to work with. 40# test will suffice.

-Backing

Dacron, 80#, Hi-vis is nice. About 200 yards fits on the 113 leaving enough room for the wire.

-Outrodder’s

These clever devices keep the rod tips low and help to spread out the lines should you decided to troll with 2 outfits. A lanyard and clip are supplied to secure the rod…just in case J

Rigging

After putting the backing on the reel, you’ll need to attach the wire. I’ve found that an 80#, “Spro” barrel swivel fits the bill nicely. They are strong enough to hold everything together and small enough to pass through the guides of the rod if need be. A simple cinch knot will attach the Dacron to Barrel Swivel. Now, you’ll need to attach the wire to the barrel swivel. Here’s where it can get tricky if you’ve never worked with wire before.

You’ll need to learn how to make a “Haywire Twist”. In comparison to some knots we tie with mono, the Haywire is simple.  It’s best to have someone show you, but there must be some resources online that can give you step-by-step instructions.

That’s what one looks like, but  I’d have a few more barrel wraps on the left side

Once the backing and wire are on the reel, it’s time for another Haywire Twist to a barrel swivel and then a top-shot of heavy (80#) mono or Flurocarbon for the working end of the line to a snap swivel.

I like to put enough mono on so that there are a few wraps on the reel and a few feet past the rod tip. I do that for 3 reasons:

-First, it gives you something easy to handle when leadering a fish.

-Second, that end of the wire gets the most abuse and changing it out is as simple as cutting it off at the barrel swivel and tying on a new section.

-Third, at boat side, fish do the darnedest things. By having mono and not wire at the tip of the rod, you avoid kinking the wire. Kinked wire is BAD!!! Kinked wire is weak and will break causing lost fish…try to avoid kinking at all costs.

So you’ve got the rod and reel. Now what do you troll with?

There are many options. First and foremost in your selection of what to troll should be an understanding of what baits are present. You should try to imitate what’s out there.

 It’s now November and large schools of Anchovies, Sand Eels, Mackerel, Bunker, Sardines and Spearing are prevalent. All of those baits can be easily imitated.

Here are a few ideas.

Spoons

Try to match the size of the spoon to the size of the bait. Drone Spoons, Crippled Alewives, Tony Acetta “Pet Spoons” all produce and unlike their bigger cousin, “The Bunker Spoon”, they don’t require the use of a special rod to make them swim properly.

Umbrella Rigs

There’s no denying the effectiveness of umbrella rigs. They are so good at raising fish that their use in many tournaments is prohibited! Catches of 2-3 fish at one time on an umbrella rig is not uncommon. Umbrella rigs can be bought pre-rigged or you can rig them yourself with tubes, plastic shads and small metals to “match the hatch”.

Swimming Plugs

Some deep diving plugs just don’t dive deep enough. Wire will get them, and even shallow diving plugs, in the strike zone.

Now it’s time to troll with wire. You have the rod rigged and the umbrellas or spoons ready.

Trolling speed is S-L-O-W for Striped Bass…3 to 3.5 knots.

Suppose you have the Malin pre-marked wire and will be trolling in 25’ of water. Here’s what you do. Once you’ve set your trolling speed you can drop your lure or rig back. Carefully thumb the spool as you let the line out and count the plastic sleeves that are attached to the line every 50’.  You’ll need to let out 4  and a little more to troll just over the bottom.

Trolling weights can be clipped inline to reduce the amount of line you have out. That’s a plus when trolling 2 lines as it enables you to stagger the lengths of line out…a big plus when making turns.

Place your rod in the outrodder, if you have one, and clip the safety lanyard onto the reel.

Maintain your speed. Adjusting for wind, wave and current as you make your turns. All turns should be wide.

When the fish hits, leave the boat in gear until the angler has the rod out of the outrodder and is fighting the fish.

As the angler, be cognizant of the line. Wire line is very unforgiving as it has no stretch. Always maintain constant pressure on the fish. Pumping the rod is not recommended unless you are very, very careful when doing it.

Once the fish is boatside and the mono leader is well inside the rod tip, you can leader or net the fish.

Be mindful of any depth changes and be ready to reel in line or let it out to adjust for changes in depth. You want to be within 5’ of the bottom. If you catch Skates and Flounder when trolling, you’ll know you’re in the zone. Don’t laugh, it happens!

You can troll a blitz. Common sense says to stay outside. And it just so happens that outside and behind, the blitz is where you’ll often catch the biggest fish!

Good luck!