flatline clips

[yellowfin37]

Going to give trolling a go next week and plan on picking up some flatline clips to run two lines from the transom. What are thoughts on these? (lures <umbrellas, stretches, spoons?>, useful at all?, worth the effort?)
TIA,
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[PortlyRedhead]

All of my bluefish / striped bass trolling lures run much better directly off the rod tip.

You really have to tighten up the clips to keep a Stretch in them.

Run your flat lines close and your outside lines farther back and you'll be golden.

[mastergaffer]

stager your baits i run my fair baits about 150 to 175 feet back and my others any where from 25 feet to 70 feet

[mastergaffer]

cj the bass are here when are we going fishing????

[jbones11]

Go right off the rod tips brother...you're gonna be real hard pressed to find some clips that can take that much drag without popping out constantly. Good luck.

[cc19]

i think the flat lines are more suited for speedsters and big blues. like the others have said you will have better success running your spread further back and slow, 2 to 3 kts range.

[yellowfin37]

All feedback greately appreciated and duely noted.
Thanks all!!!
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[Sturgeon General]

Hey I'm also going to try trolling umbrellas & bunker spoons this fall...

It was recommended to me that you troll these from side riggers (in the gunnel rod holder) so that the rod is parallel to the water.

I don't have side riggers, a friend was going to loan them to me, but I did try the other day an umbrella rig on braid with a drail right down the middle with the rod vertical and it seemed to do fine -- it hit bottom at around 22-24 feet. Next time I'm going to remove the drail and see if it works better...

Flat line clips... put them as far lateral/wide apart on your transom as possible... as mentioned before unless you set them really tight I don't think they would work very well with Stretch's or bunker spoons... I've used them more for trolling surface lures such as cedar plugs or feathers.. blues like cedar plugs, too..

[yellowfin37]

Talking with a friend doesn't see much use for the flatline clips simply b/c the speed is much slower and the lure action is much different from that of the offshore trolling spread in that offshore is top, obviously, and striper is down deep. Totally makes sense in relationship to the weight and design of the two categories of lures.
Just got a pair of rods that seem a little heavy, but with the speed of 2-3knt and the weight, I think we'll be good. Plan on hitting it heavy next week and giving this a whirl for a couple of days.
One last ?...
Any tide preference involved with trolling?
Thanks again all,
B-

[seaprojoe]

It's a common trolling rig for stripers in the Chesapeake, where it's been used forever. Consists of a 3 way swivel, with a very heavy (8-16 oz) jighead on a 4 ft leader off one of the swivels. Most common is a large umbrella jig, but can be just a heavy jig with a large shad body, etc.

On the other swivel is a 10-15' leader with (most commonly) a small bucktail w/worm...could be shad body, eel, tube lure, whatever you like...just want something with action/movement.

The heavy jig keeps the baits deep where the stripers are, and also keeps the trailing bait in the strike zone. Run properly, the heavy "mojo" jig bounces along the bottom, looking like an injured fish.It's best run off a rod with a flexible tip, so the heavy "mojo" jig can bounce along the bottom. use 30-80 lb leader ...depends on your preference.
Easy way to troll deep for stripers. And like everyone says, go slow.

[seaprojoe]

I meant parachute jigs (not umbrella jigs) for the heavy jigs in the earlier post.

[yellowfin37]

SPJoe,
I figured that was what you meant. Don't have any parachutes yet, but should be the end of the week. ;)
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