How fast is too fast for trolling live baits?

[SoCalEDC]

Originally Posted by fishnfoool

It depends on type of fishing you're targeting. Just don't go faster than the fish can swim is my advice.

I don't think I could outrun any of the fish I target if i wanted to. They all eat the nomad at about 4-4.5mph and that's when im working fairly hard since that thing creates so much drag.

My primary concern is killing the bait or causing it to spin. If I am trolling a live bait I can probably manage 4.5mph with a fairly relaxed tempo, and that's ideal because I can cover a lot of ground, but if the bait is dead or spinning like a flasher it negates the purpose lol

[Uncle_Tomas]

Originally Posted by SoCalEDC

I don't think I could outrun any of the fish I target if i wanted to. They all eat the nomad at about 4-4.5mph and that's when im working fairly hard since that thing creates so much drag.

My primary concern is killing the bait or causing it to spin. If I am trolling a live bait I can probably manage 4.5mph with a fairly relaxed tempo, and that's ideal because I can cover a lot of ground, but if the bait is dead or spinning like a flasher it negates the purpose lol

I would say keep it simple and don’t over complicate things.
You are trolling nomads at 4.5 mph because they don’t have the right action when trolling slower.
Live mackerel already comes with desired “action” so the speed in my opinion is not that important. Do mackerel move around at 4+ mph most of the day?? They don’t.
I believe both of my YT out of LJ ate my mackerel while slow trolling or drifting.

Good luck!

[fishnfoool]

Originally Posted by SoCalEDC

I don't think I could outrun any of the fish I target if i wanted to. They all eat the nomad at about 4-4.5mph and that's when im working fairly hard since that thing creates so much drag.

My primary concern is killing the bait or causing it to spin. If I am trolling a live bait I can probably manage 4.5mph with a fairly relaxed tempo, and that's ideal because I can cover a lot of ground, but if the bait is dead or spinning like a flasher it negates the purpose lol

Use a barrel swivel to prevent spinning.

[JohnMckroidJr]

Originally Posted by fishnfoool

Use a barrel swivel to prevent spinning.

Swivels are standard on my rigs, but it does little. Even with ball-bearing swivels, when there is enough tension on the line, the swivels don't match the rate of spinning. It helps but does not prevent the problem.