Light tackle trolling

When it comes to fishing, I've done a lot of watching and learning this year. I've found the standard trolling techniques on the Bay very interesting. Back in the spring, I signed on to a charter fishing trip where we trolled for rockfish. I was a little surprised when they used rods the size of broomsticks, 50lb test line, and sinkers that looked like hand-gernades in order to get bucktails down where the fish are. It's not too much fun reeling in fish, even big fish, with rigs that size. So, sticking with my theme of adapting the techniques I learned fishing the TVA lakes of Tennessee, I'm having great fun catching big fish on very light tackle. I talked about the top-water/fly combination earlier. Here's another tandem method - once again, taught to me by my dad - for getting a bucktail down deep without using the heavy sinkers. Tonight was my best rockfish evening ever since moving here last January. With calm winds and a ripping current at 5:30 PM, my plan was to buzz across to Love Point and look for breakers, but a few flying Seagulls and diving Turns at Podickory Point cut me short. Marking a few fish on my depth finder on the outside ledge of an long, underwater shelf, I picked up a spinning reel and tied on a 3/4 oz bucktail above a chartruse Bagley's 20+ deep diving lure and started trolling at idle speed. Just as I set the drag and started to tie up another rig, WHAM! The first rod went down. Heavy fish. Thought I had a 20+ pounder at first, but laughed when I got it up close to see a double-play with two nice keepers, 24" and 26". I had fished 30 seconds and caught my limit. I kept fishing, doubling up twice more, and releasing another 9 fish before the sun went down. They were all big fish, and great fun on my medium action spinning outfit and 14lb test line. -S