Trolling By Myself

[paddleroc6]

Howzit everyone,

Im new to offshore fishing, so here it goes.

Believe me I have friends, but sometimes I have the itch to just launch, throw out my lines, and go trolling by myself. Most of the times I cant accomodate a friend to come along since my work schedule is "of" of most normal people. Im a 3am to noon work schedule.

I have a 19' Glasspro, twin 48's, all the necessary safety stuff.

My question is: How do you drive, clear lines, fight the fish on a hookup? What are the steps on safely and sucessfully landing the fish?

Any advice greatly appreciated! Much Mahalos in advance.

[TAILCHASER75]

im always avail. to fish i live in waikiki glad to help out you keep the fish i just enjoy the water! i have not ever gone by myself but am experinced

[beauchat]

I havent fished by myself but I would say that the first thing i would do is keep driving fora little while to make sure I have a good hookup. Id then drop it down to a slow idle (or even a little faster than that to keep the lines straight) and bring in all other lines before they tangle and mess s**t up. Then set yiour boats course and start reeling the fish up. Im sure it would depend on if you had hydrauilc steering too. If not id say crank a little, straighten the wheel, crank.....and so on.

[patfishhi]

Originally Posted by paddleroc6

Howzit everyone,

Im new to offshore fishing, so here it goes.

Believe me I have friends, but sometimes I have the itch to just launch, throw out my lines, and go trolling by myself. Most of the times I cant accomodate a friend to come along since my work schedule is "of" of most normal people. Im a 3am to noon work schedule.

I have a 19' Glasspro, twin 48's, all the necessary safety stuff.

My question is: How do you drive, clear lines, fight the fish on a hookup? What are the steps on safely and sucessfully landing the fish?

Any advice greatly appreciated! Much Mahalos in advance.

Qualifier: I've never claimed to be too bright and most would probably agree. So take this with a grain of salt... Its fun and challenging and obviously much riskier. As far as steering the boat, with an I/O with power steering I can lock the wheel in and she'll go straight. If going up sea need to at least get the beam to the sea and then all is good, with outboards and hydraulic steering not sure if that will work all that well.

If clearing lines when a fish is on, I try to as soon as possible get the rod with the fish on to a corner pole holder, avoids all the others until I can clear them as well. When leadering a fish (especially larger) make sure your wraps are not doubled unless you are 110% sure you can control the fish. Stand up style I undo the harness about 10 feet from leader (if the fish warrants a harness). A mate saver around your neck is a good idea as well, but if you get pulled over (when solo), boat in gear and cut the leader you are probably still screwed. As soon as the fish is secured (gaffed) get the boat out of gear!!!

Launching and retrieving: 1 line from bow to stern cleat long enough to go around 2 cleats on the dock at the lowest of tides. When launching; bow line pulled to 2 arm spans and loosely tied to trailer, easily floats off of trailer and easy to secure to dock. With all of that said its best to find a buddy.

[navyaircrew]

dude, if you tend to fish alone... I'd go with a 400lb wind on leader with a french clip swivels on the end... Then i'd run 6 foot leaders... no need to wrap by the time you reel the fish in towards the boat, it's AT gaff'n range... as far as clearing lines, unless it's a marlin.. i leave them all out... head the boat down sea with boat in gear, not much more than 2 knots.... in heavy seas, stay home and play Xbox... my two cents

[shinchan]

It's been a while but I used to fish solo with an 18ft Glasspro out of Waianae. I know this might look stupid but I got a sailing safety harness from West Marine(West Marine: Ultimate Safety Harness Product Display) and rigged it with enough 2" flat webbing to reach just beyond the corner pole. I looped it off to the seat base or the cleat nearest to the wheel. If you fall off for whatever reason you'll only go as far as the corner pole and can pull yourself up grabbing the shotgun. Could be a lifesaver...

As far as setup, I fished 3 lines (2 outrigger and 1 short middle) with 2 rigged aku poles ready to go on the corners. Less lines= easier turning, less tangles, less cursing. On strike keep the boat in gear for a while and clear lines only if marlin. With the Glasspro, I like to go upsea 'cause I hate to be "fishtailing" downsea and swerving all over the place. It's best to fight a large fish in the shotgun right next to the wheel so you can steer and crank at the same time- you can chase down or let him pull the boat especially if you have a marlin- make sure its nearly dead before sticking 'em- no fish is worth getting injured over.

I can understand your reasons for fishing alone- I've been in piles with ahi jumping all over the place, people hooking up left and right and my friends say "My wife says I have to be home by..." or "I gotta be at work at..."

A partner, though, make things a lot easier, especially cleanup...

[chuck merkel]

I don't fish alone, but I would agree strongly with the safety harness. My cousin on the Big Island typically fishes alone and he puts the harness on whenever he is fighting a fish. He also carries a bang stick. An autopilot makes is easy when fighting a fish - just point your boat where you want it to go and set it. Without an autopilot you will have to experiment with your boat to see where it rides best. My first boat (Force 18) rode well in a following sea. My current boat has an autopilot and any future boats will also have one. If fishing alone you might also consider some kind of kill switch for your motor. Even at idle you are not going to catch your boat if you go over the side.

Hope this helps.

[Addicted2fishin]

If you are new... don't ever fish by yourself for safety reasons. It might sound like an adventure but a single mishap is all it takes to make you want to quit fishing altogether.

Fish with a buddy.


I fish by myself a lot. But at the beginning I always had a partner until I felt confident to do a solo mission. It is hard to crank up a quadruple hook up and sometimes wish for help but all you can do is man handle each fish. No such thing as 80 lb test mainline or 200 lb leaders. You'll lose fish, you'll lose confidence and most importantly you'll lose fingers.

Fish with a partner and learn the ropes. Then after a few months to a year... go solo.

[Herefishy]

I've single handed trolling at least a half a dozen times, and everytime it was a bitch. Too make a long story short, I'll never go offshore trolling by myself again. To freaking stressfull and dumbass dangerous for me. Too many serious shit can go wrong, and without backup ones ass can be grass. My suggestion is "Don't go offshore trolling alone". Aloha

[kaimikai]

just my 2 cents ....safety harness .....if you got funds,an auto pilot is your best friend for keeping you straight......but a buddy is by far the best way to go....shit happens on the water and another person onboard can really help.....tight lines....

[jonesd055]

Already a lot of good info here. I go out solo occasionally but usually only because someone fags out or no one can go. Sometimes the desire to go fishing outweighs the risks but that's something I guess each person has to determine for themselves. Fishing/boating can be dangerous but walking across a wet tile floor can be too. To me it boils down to making the trip as safe as I can.

I usually try and run the boat with all five lines, it's a hassle but in my mind the more lines in the water the more chances I have of catching fish. I'm still getting my spread figured out so tangles happen but I've also caught while sitting there untangling my lines....Auto pilot would be the bomb but I don't have it so setting the spread and catching mean the boat is cruising all over the place, I try and slow down to a crawl at those times.

When I hook up I clear all the lines and rods get the fish to the boat/gaff/pin the fish against the hull/give it a couple whacks with the bat then bring it in the boat.

I also have my kook solo vest that I wear. It's one of those automatic inflating PFD's, I have an EPRIB, portable VHF & whistle clipped to it. I also wear a knife. I keep a lines from the bow going to the stern on both sides that can be reached from the water.

I also try and pick days when the weather is mellow and to be aware of my surroundings, other boats in the area, etc...

I used to try and wear the engine kill clip attached to my PFD but to me it turned out to be more dangerous with getting tangled. A good solution would be one of those wireless engine kill switches, I think they cost about $200.00
Here's a link to one I was looking at:
Autotether Wireless Lanyard for Boating Safety

Whatever your decision is good luck, be safe and put your info up on the Hawaii boat Ho thread (still gotta put mine up there) and maybe you wont have to go solo.

[Sam Seafood]

Take someone with you,it could save your life.Aloha