Trolling Terms?

[NCLaker]

I am pretty new to trolling. Read some threads that I am not completely sure what they mean.

Long Lining?

Flat Lining?

Dead Sticking?

I know what dead sticking is for hardwater fishing, but not open water.

[Mille Lacs Guy]

Long lining is just running your lures straight off the back of the boat with no planer boards, snap weights etc. Just the lure, typically a crankbait straight back. For example when I longline troll I typically run shad raps anywhere from 40 to 100+ feet back with fireline on a long and limber trolling rod (at least 7'6")with fireline. I prefer to use a linecounter reel as well.

Flat lining is the same thing as long lining, at least by my definition.

Dead sticking is not necessarily a trolling term but it is basically a rod that you don't hold onto and is in a rod holder. Typically a long (8'6" or longer) rod with a very soft tip and a moderate to slow action so the fish can't feel resistance when it picks up the bait. Deadsticking is more common where you can use two rods. Typically deadsticking is done with livebait on a rig or a jig.

Hopefully this answers your questions.

[NCLaker]

Thanks ML Guy!

[PerchJerker]

Yep, good answers.

I use the terms flat lining and long lining interchangeably too.

I also use the term contour trolling, which is following a specific breakline or weed edge or something like that. For me contour trolling is almost always flat lining.

I also use the term open water trolling. To me that term basically means I am fishing for wslleyes that are relating to bait or are hanging off of structure, and I target the bait and the fish more than the structure. Lots of techniques come into play here, planer boards and leadcore and flatlining are some of the more popular ones.

My all-time favorite trolling term is tail-piping. Regardles of what you may think, it means closely following another boat on their trolling run. Tail-piping comes into play in two situations, one is if you're working a tight edge or contour that holds fish, the other is when you're in a situation where there's a lot of boats working the same water (ie. mille lacs at night in the fall) --- you can tail-pipe someone and let him clear all the on-coming boats out of your way.

[BobT]

I use the term long lining in a similar way however my understanding is that flat lining was a subcategory of long lining where long lining might include the addition of weight to control depth and flat lining would not. For example, we used the flat lining technique on Lake Superior when we would tie on a flutter spoon with no sinker. This kept the spoon running just under the surface. It's a specific type of long lining.

Bob

[hhguide]

I agree with what bob T said.

[deadminnowcatcher]

i to agree with bob

[BobT]

I think the reason we used the term flat lining the way we did was because the line is literally flat out behind the boat. Subtle difference but that's where we got the idea.

Bob