Strawberry 7/7/07

[Kent]

Both methods were good; however, drift trolling was most effective. If I can catch fish drift trolling I will always do it over trolling with my outboard. Drift trolling is far more relaxing (it is always a challenge to keep awake) than trolling with an outboard. While using an outboard one must always be adjusting the direction (S patterns are the best approach) the boat is going, and even with a Remote Troll it still requires some effort and one must always be alert for other boats and obstacles (running into other boats or running ashore is never good). With drift trolling, unless there are other boats anchored in the area, I don't even bother to look around to see where the boat is headed for several minutes at a time. I figure any boats that are actively trolling will hopefully see my boat and steer around me. It is surprising how many fish can be caught in the middle of the largest bays at Strawberry, so it is not necessary to stay close to shore or in the smaller bays. Fish fight far less when being reeled in while trolling under power. With drift trolling one isn't breathing the fumes from the outboard and also having the sound of the outboard as a disruption to an otherwise peaceful day outdoors. If the wind is blowing hard enough (Within reason of course, the harder the wind is blowing the better.) to rock the boat I believe one actually has more movement on the lures, bait or whatever is being drug through the water than one has when trolling under power. Without having the noise of an outboard in the water one can catch fish with only a couple of feet of line behind the ball. Saturday, while drift trolling under power or while I was drift trolling I was surprised to see how many fish came up from the bottom to check out the downrigger ball (I used a heavier flat black one under power and a lighter red one while drift trolling).
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