Trolling a mack

[ccacher1]

Is there a trick to not killing your mack 5 minutes into trolling it? I went out last weekend and blew through my bait because they kept dying on me or becoming very lifeless. I started thinking about it afterwards and thought maybe it was because I was hooking them from under their chin up through the nose, thus forcing their mouth shut so water can't flow through it and through the gills. Maybe cross hooking their nose is a better call? Any tips would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

[ctfphoto]

Nose hook the greenbacks sideways (in one side out the other leaving the mouth to freely open or close) through the nose. The should stay alive for hours fly lining this way.

[ccacher1]

Originally Posted by ctfphoto

Nose hook the greenbacks sideways (in one side out the other leaving the mouth to freely open or close) through the nose. The should stay alive for hours fly lining this way.

Okay, thanks for the tip. I figured that having their mouth forced shut was part of the reason they were dying so fast.

[ctfphoto]

Originally Posted by ccacher1

Okay, thanks for the tip. I figured that having their mouth forced shut was part of the reason they were dying so fast.

You got it, they should last forever, at least until the seals get to them.

[William Novotny]

Only pin the mouth closed on anchovies.

[alanw]

Sometimes when I nose hook them sideways, the hook will spin and the tip will get buried in their gill plate just from them swimming around. Hooking them through the roof of their mouth and out the top of the nose seems to avoid this problem, and they can still last hours.

Anchovies I nose hook them sideways, but I rarely troll them so I don't have too many problems with them dragging along with a wide open mouth.

[cell128]

Were gonna be trolling macks too. This might sound dumb but I'm fairly new to this. If a dog should get to it does it spit the hook or should I cut the line right away in an attempt not to get flipped?

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[William Novotny]

Originally Posted by cell128

Were gonna be trolling macks too. This might sound dumb but I'm fairly new to this. If a dog should get to it does it spit the hook or should I cut the line right away in an attempt not to get flipped?

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Not dumb at all. If a dog grabs your bait chances are he will strip it off your hook clean or bite it in half. They are pros at stealing bait. Rarely a juvenile will get hooked and you can usually horse them in and deal with them or call it a loss and cut it. Your drag should not be fully buttoned down to the point you get flipped. Just pretend it's a 50# yellow and have some fun