Fishing, how to prepare gear for late summer trolling

By light trolling we mean the fishing technique that we can practice all along our coasts from late August until late winter, but actually no one forbids us to practice it all year round, but during the indicated period the presence of predators makes it more fruitful. The prey we are going to go after will be dolphinfish, setters, mackerel, mackerel, garfish, starfish, walleye, and the small red tuna whose fishing is strictly regulated and prohibited in most cases.

Trolling: what you need

What is needed? It depends on whether we intend to fish with a rod or a more rudimentary hand line. In the first case, let’s assume that you are already in possession of a light trolling rod (okay with 4-8 lb. power) and a reel, even a pit reel of size 5000. The reel should be spooled with 0.08 or 0.10 braid, a very strong and ultra-thin type of wire.

To this thread will be tied, by means of a knot called an “albright,” a 6-8 meter piece of fluorocarbon of 0.25-0.30, at the end of which there will be a small snap-hook swivel that will be hooked to our artificial. The choice of fluorocarbon is mandatory if we want to have a truly invisible terminal that is resistant to pulling, twisting and rubbing. This is a simple and basic mount that is durable and capable of bringing even significant fish on board if we use quality materials.

In case we opt for a hand line it will be necessary to obtain a cork board around which to wrap at least 120-150 meters of 0.60 nylon. The terminal will be connected to the main line by a swivel without a snap hook, and it will be no smaller than 0.40 otherwise we risk cutting ourselves trying to catch the fish, and in any case we recommend having gloves on hand at all times.

Trolling – the artificials

For dolphinfish and tombarelli, the choice may fall on small fishing minnows, particularly recommended are those with a silver-blue or silver-green coloration that resemble the liveries of the forage fish on which these predators feed.

If, on the other hand, we are trolling close to harbors or reefs, a viable solution may be silicon artificials, which are very catchy for saddled bream and starfish, but beware that in the inshore, the surprise of the big bass or the important greenhouse fish may be just around the corner.