Speed can make or break your trolling success, and yet there’s not one single speed fishermen rely on day after day. Variables such as your heading (up-sea or down-sea), weak or strong currents you must cross, winds that vary in direction and strength, and the height of wave swells all affect your trolling speed daily.

“The best way to control speed is to watch your skirted baits and keep bumping up faster and faster, until your baits start to spin,” says Capt. Anthony Mendillo, of Keen M Sport Fishing in Isla Mujeres, Mexico.

Trolling in the Clean-Water Alley

Optimal trolling placement for baits often requires finding that clean-water alley behind the boat. Bigger boats produce bigger wakes, so you need to go more slowly to get those pockets of clear water.

“Smaller center-consoles need to troll faster to produce a wake with any white water at all,” says Adam LaRosa, owner of Canyon Runner Sport Fishing in Point Pleasant, New Jersey. 

The Ripper tournament fishing team, based in Tampa, Florida, and composed of Darren Impson and Matt Taylor, fishes out of a 36-foot Yellowfin with triple Mercury Verado 350s.

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“Outboards tend to kick out more white water than inboards,” says Impson. “The faster you go, the more white water you are going to push back into the baits, and the less the fish are going to be able to see your baits.”

Don’t be afraid to play with varying speeds all day long, especially in rough sea conditions, to best present your baits.

Try Professional Trolling Patterns and Speeds

We typically fish at 9 knots, looking for that instinctive bite. Our main troll presentations include fresh bait behind plugs, using fluorocarbon leaders to get more strikes. 

When fishing with naked ballyhoo (no plugs or skirts), we troll even slower, at 4 to 5 knots. A naked ballyhoo should skip perfectly as long as it’s rigged correctly, and there is no better trolling bait out there. 

Pick Up Your Trolling Pace

Anglers can get heavy with the throttle when conditions allow and they want to pick up their trolling speeds. New Jersey captains Dulanie and Lambros troll specific speeds when targeting marlin. 

If you are not using baits, you can pull plastic plugs faster, to 10 knots. “Any [speed] faster than 10 knots, [and] you typically have to fish with trolling weights and wire line in order to keep the baits down below the surface,” says Impson.

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