forward trolling with a drift sock

[Zarkohl]

I read somewhere on this site about forward trolling with a drift sock off the FRONT of your boat. I am trying to figure out how to rig this up. Thanks.

[18 inch Crappie]

Easy I do it all the time. I use a large Cabelas sock with about 6 ft of rope on it with a clip on one end and the other end tied on the sock. Clip it on the Drivers side front cleat. The sock should be about the middle to 3/4 back on th eside of the boat. Any more and it can get into the motor. You just have to know it is there when you stop, it floats out and you can get snaged in it. It might take a while to get the hang of it but for $50 it works.

[Zarkohl]

Thanks for the reply. I read that some people have used a harness, like you use when pulling a water skier, attached to both sides of the boat. Either way, seems to me that a drift sock under the boat why going forward would get all tangled up. How is the steering?

[18 inch Crappie]

Na Dude, just use one rope off the front cleat, you will be fine. Steering is a little off but your pulling 10 gallons of water off one side. You get used to it after 10 min.

[Borch]

When I've used them steering wan't a problem. The front of the boat is slow to respond by the back swings that much quicker.

I have always just tied off the front driver's side cleat as well with 6-8 ft of rope out. Other than landing fish it's out of the way all the time. Just remember to pull it before you take off. It's tough to get the boat to plane with it still in the water.

[LMITOUT]

I tried it with a single, larger driftsock right off the bow. They will swing from side to side and make steering a straight line more difficult and I was actually "crab walking". That sock was too big for my boat for drifting live bait also, so I bought the next size down (~30") and that trolls better without as much steering effort and crab walk.

I have heard that that the double set up (one on each side of the boat with a special harness) is the best as it's always balanced left to right. A lot of pro's use this set-up.

[rich4walleyes]

Tamer is the one that has the 2 bag system for trolling. It works really well and makes steering very easy.