Five Tips for Trolling Single-Handed

No one’s going to dispute the effectiveness of trolling, but in many cases, this tactic requires having a knowledgeable crew aboard. You have a time window to fish, and no one to go with? Then you may well find yourself trolling single-handed. When that’s the case, these five tips will help.

1. Rig up your boat for the endeavor. Autopilot is invaluable if you plan to troll alone for all the obvious reasons. Beyond that, “side-rigger” rod holders like you see on this boat will help keep the lines spread far apart and minimize tangles. You’ll also want to invest in a cordless proximity kill switch, so you can move around the boat freely but if you fall overboard the engine will still shut down.
2. Only use rigs that can be reeled all the way to the rod tip, because leadering and netting a fish single-handed is incredibly difficult. This may mean choosing diving lures as opposed to rigging in-line sinkers, or choosing lures that have all the lead built-in. Either way, make sure you can reel them all the way up to the boat.
3. Limit your spread. If you usually troll five or six lines, cut it back to three. Not only will it relieve a bit of stress when making turns, it’ll mostly eliminate the need to clear lines when a fish is on and lowers the possibility you’ll need to deal with a double hook-up.
4. Choose lures that have single hooks, not trebles (or swap out the trebles for singles). There are a number of reasons for doing this. First, you’ll reduce the chance of getting a hook planted in a hand or finger. Second, you won’t have to worry about the twisted, tangled mess that can occur with the mesh when you net a fish that has one out of two trebles in its mouth, and it thrashes in the net. And third, you’ll be able to quickly shake undersized fish off the hook so you can get right back to minding the boat and the other lines.
5. If you don’t have autopilot and you hook into a big fish, before trying to bring it in turn the boat so it’s heading down-sea. If you can keep the wheel more or less centered, the wind will keep the bow down-sea and at least prevent any abrupt U-turns (which will obviously lead to tangles and/or driving over lines). If the bow is into the wind or if the wind is on the beam, on the other hand, a sudden gust can shove it around suddenly and lead to disaster.

In addition to these things, remember to get a bit more choosy than you might otherwise be about the weather conditions. Fishing alone is always a bit of a risk, but doing so in rough seas is just plain fool-hearty.