I have recently done lots of trolling for pike and bass. Was wondering if the rod help vertically or horizontally, in regards to the water makes a difference. Also, a tourney on my lake allows live bait. If it didn't, we would win every time, because my friend and i are the only ones that use lures. We maximize our potential by throwing lures on two of our rods, and live bait on the others. what rig works best for having them set the hook by themselves initially? also rod vertical or horizontal? thanks

Definitely not my area of expertise, and I don't know that I've ever trolled for black bass, but I do occasionally troll for Walleye and have caught bass with this method.  I use a rod holders which keeps the rods at about 45 degrees while I control the boat.    I catch a variety of fish with crawler rigs, not sure how  they would do for bass but I have to believe they would work.   

 

Good luck, and if you figure something out I'd love to hear about it.  

 

 

Trolling; high rod tip creates slack line in the wind, loss of control and lifts the lures in the water column to run shallower. Diving lures run deeper and track better with the rod tip toward the water surface.

Livebait usually requires a stationary plateform to present the bait effectively or a controlled drift. Circle hooks prevent gut hooking with Livebait.

Tom

Keep the rod tip low when trolling, otherwise you will have a larger bow in the line (which makes it impossible to have any control over the lure) and loss of diving depth, causing a loss of control.

 

Circle hooks will set themselves with livebait.

As mentioned above, a low rod position keeps more line underwater,

which minimizes wind-resistance and affords better depth control.

FYI: A trolling rod positioned parallel to the horizon is referred to as a 'flat line'.

 

Roger

Tournament that allows trolling and live bait? Let me know where and send the entry fees directly to us.

Seriously, horizontal rod for trolling is best under most conditions, a release clip close to the transom can help when using multiple rods and space is limited. Live bait, use a big circle hook, make sure its not too heavy a guage, and inline (why do they make offset circle hooks?!) and the hardest part for LMB guys, don't rear back, reel tight until the rod bends over hard, then shake 2 or three times while maintaining pressure (optional).

12 hours ago, reason said:

Tournament that allows trolling and live bait? Let me know where and send the entry fees directly to us.

Seriously, horizontal rod for trolling is best under most conditions, a release clip close to the transom can help when using multiple rods and space is limited. Live bait, use a big circle hook, make sure its not too heavy a guage, and inline (why do they make offset circle hooks?!) and the hardest part for LMB guys, don't rear back, reel tight until the rod bends over hard, then shake 2 or three times while maintaining pressure (optional).

 

Lol, its a private lake in NEPA, its like 50 acres and half of it is 1' deep after some guy blew a hole in the dam dam. Its funny watching 50 year old men using live bait in a huge bass boat in a pond with only a tm, and here are two kids in a small jb with lures.