Skip to content
FishingHQSearch

Trolling

Method · Last reviewed 2026-08-10

Towing lures or baits behind a moving boat to cover large volumes of water and locate scattered fish.

Safety: boat safety — can cause serious injury or death. 3 more points apply here.

What each one does, and what reduces it ↓

Trolling is a search method. Its purpose is not subtlety but coverage: a boat moving at a few kilometres an hour, towing several lures at different depths and distances, passes a bait in front of far more fish than a stationary angler ever could. On a large lake or an open coast, where fish are scattered and features are few, that is frequently the only realistic way to find them.

The technical content of trolling is almost entirely about depth control and spread. Lure depth is a function of speed, line length, lure design and any added weight or diving device, and the whole craft is in knowing — and being able to repeat — where each lure is running. A troll that produces a fish is only useful if you can reproduce the depth and the line that caught it.

It is also a method with a real safety dimension, because it takes place from a moving boat with multiple lines and multiple sets of hooks in the water.

What it is

Fishing by towing one or more lures or baits behind a slowly moving boat, usually at two to six knots depending on the fish. Depth is managed by four things at once — boat speed, the length of line let out, the lure's own diving characteristics, and any device added to take it down, such as a downrigger, a diving planer, a paravane or plain lead. Several rods are usually fished together, spread across the wake at different distances and depths, so that one pass covers a slice of the water column rather than a single line through it.

What it is for

To locate scattered fish over large areas of open water, and then to present lures at a controlled depth for as long as it takes. Trolling is first and last a search method: on a big lake or an open coast, where fish are dispersed and there are few features to fish to, a boat covering water with several lures at several depths passes a bait in front of far more fish than any stationary angler can. It is the standard approach on the big lakes for pike, ferox trout and salmon, on the Great Lakes for salmonids, and at sea for tuna, wahoo, dorado, bass and mackerel — anywhere the fish move and the water is large.

Setting it up

  • Record what you are doing — speed, line length, lure — so that a take can be reproduced rather than remembered vaguely.
  • Spread lines at different distances and depths until fish tell you which combination works, then converge on it.
  • Match speed to the lure's designed action; almost every lure has a speed range in which it works and a speed at which it stops.
  • Keep lines clear of each other on turns, which is when tangles happen.
  • Watch the water and the electronics as much as the rods — trolling is a search, and the search is informed by what you see.

What it catches

18 more

What you fish it with

How it works

A towed lure finds an equilibrium depth determined by its lift and drag against the tow. More line out means more depth for a diving lure, up to a limit; higher speed generally means shallower running and a faster action. Downriggers break that relationship by carrying the lure down on a separate weighted line released on a take, which is what allows precise, repeatable depth control independent of speed.

Conditions

Trolling suits open water with room to manoeuvre, moderate conditions, and fish that are dispersed rather than stacked on a mark. It rewards features that can be followed on a chart or a sounder — a contour, a drop-off, a weed edge, a temperature break, a tide line — because a pass that follows one of those is a pass along the edge fish are using rather than across it.

It is poor in confined, snaggy or heavily weeded water, where multiple lures at multiple depths means multiple things to lose. It is unpleasant and genuinely unsafe in a swell that makes handling several rods and several sets of trebles difficult, and that limit arrives well before the limit on the boat itself.

Common mistakes

  • Trolling without recording depth and speed, so a successful pass cannot be repeated.
  • Running lures outside their working speed range, so they tow inert.
  • Turning too tightly with multiple lines out and tangling the lot.
  • Assuming a lure is running at its rated depth regardless of line diameter, speed and line length.
  • Handling hooked fish and multiple live lines at once, rather than clearing the other rods first.

Advantages

  • Covers far more water than any static or casting approach.
  • Presents lures continuously at a controlled depth.
  • Effective for locating fish in featureless open water.
  • Multiple lines multiply the coverage further.

Limitations

  • Requires a boat and, for depth control, additional equipment.
  • Presentation is much less precise than casting to a located fish.
  • Multiple lines with treble hooks create a real handling hazard.
  • It is easy to fish all day at a depth where there are no fish.

Terms you will meet

Downrigger
A weight on its own cable that carries the lure to a set depth, with the fishing line held by a clip that releases on a take. It breaks the link between speed and depth, which is the only way to fish a precise depth and a precise lure action at the same time.
Spread
The arrangement of lures behind the boat — how many, how far back, how far out to each side, at what depths. A spread is designed rather than assembled, and the reason for each position is usually to keep the lines from meeting on a turn.
Outrigger
A long pole angled out from the boat's side that carries a line clear of the wake and away from the others, widening the spread. Standard on offshore boats and the reason a sportfisher looks the way it does.
Planer or paravane
A device on the line that dives, or that pulls the line sideways away from the boat, to reach a depth or a lane the lure could not reach alone.
Harling
The Scottish and Scandinavian river version: lures worked from a boat held on the current or rowed slowly across a salmon pool, so the lures swing across the holding water rather than being towed through open water.

Where people fish it

44 places FishingHQ holds name this among the ways they are fished, across 26 coasts and systems. Being named here describes what sources report, not that the method is permitted — check the local rules before you fish.

18 further coasts and systems are not listed here. Browse every place FishingHQ holds.

Why the fish change when you leave the rock: one mark, three pieces of ground

Why the fish change when you leave the rock: one mark, three pieces of groundA cross-section through the sea bottom at a single fishing mark, with the shore at the left and open water at the right. At the far left, rock stands above the water: the mark a shore angler fishes from, labelled beneath it. From the foot of that rock the bottom falls away steeply and irregularly, drawn as a jagged line — reef and broken rock. Beyond it the jagged line continues but flattens: rough ground. Beyond that again the line becomes smooth and gently deepening: clean ground of sand and shell. Each of the three is named where it lies. A dashed horizontal line across the upper part of the figure is the surface of the sea. Above the water at the left, a short bar with an upright stop at its end shows how far a cast from the rock reaches — out over the near edge of the reef only, and ending well short of where the reef itself ends. Three numbered markers sit on the surface further out. Marker one is over the reef, with a line running out to a lure disc, showing a lure worked or trolled along the reef edge. Marker two is over the rough ground, with a heavy line dropping vertically to a weight resting on the broken bottom — a kayak holding in one place. Marker three is over the clean ground, with a bar above it showing the direction of a drift and a heavy line trailing behind and below to a weight tripping across the sand. A line of text above the surface states that this is the same mark, and three different fisheries. What each position produces is set out in the three captions beneath the figure rather than on it.THE ROCK YOU STAND ONA CAST FROM THE ROCK REACHES THIS FAR123REEF AND BROKEN ROCKROUGH GROUNDCLEAN GROUND — SAND AND SHELLSAME MARK — THREE DIFFERENT FISHERIES
  1. 1. Over the reef and broken rock, with a lure worked or trolled along its edge. The same fish a shore angler catches from the mark, over the same ground, from the other side of it — and out along the parts of the reef a cast never reaches.
  2. 2. Held in one place over the rough ground, with a bait on the bottom. This is where the fish that live in the broken rock come from, and it is the position that produces conger and bull huss rather than pollack.
  3. 3. Drifting across the clean sand beyond the rough, with a bait moving over the bottom. Everything here is a fish of clean ground, and at most marks it is the half of the fishery a shore angler has no access to at all.

Why the fish change when you leave the rock: one mark, three pieces of ground

Reading the ground · Draft — not yet checked against an external reference

This drawing has not been checked against any reference outside FishingHQ. It is a schematic of what the surrounding text describes, and the text is what carries the detail.

Describe this diagram in words

A cross-section through the sea bottom at a single fishing mark, with the shore at the left and open water at the right. At the far left, rock stands above the water: the mark a shore angler fishes from, labelled beneath it. From the foot of that rock the bottom falls away steeply and irregularly, drawn as a jagged line — reef and broken rock. Beyond it the jagged line continues but flattens: rough ground. Beyond that again the line becomes smooth and gently deepening: clean ground of sand and shell. Each of the three is named where it lies. A dashed horizontal line across the upper part of the figure is the surface of the sea. Above the water at the left, a short bar with an upright stop at its end shows how far a cast from the rock reaches — out over the near edge of the reef only, and ending well short of where the reef itself ends. Three numbered markers sit on the surface further out. Marker one is over the reef, with a line running out to a lure disc, showing a lure worked or trolled along the reef edge. Marker two is over the rough ground, with a heavy line dropping vertically to a weight resting on the broken bottom — a kayak holding in one place. Marker three is over the clean ground, with a bar above it showing the direction of a drift and a heavy line trailing behind and below to a weight tripping across the sand. A line of text above the surface states that this is the same mark, and three different fisheries. What each position produces is set out in the three captions beneath the figure rather than on it.

How this drawing was produced

Drawn from the structure that recurs across thirteen Cornish kayak venue pages read for this figure. RENDERED AND INSPECTED, and looking at it changed the figure three times. The shore angler's reach ran to the same x as the first kayak position, which made the drawing say the kayak adds nothing there; it stops short of the reef's far edge instead, because the venue pages put fish out along the reef beyond casting range. The drifted bait was drawn vertical like the anchored one, which lost the distinction between the two positions; it trails behind and below the kayak now, so a reader can see one is moving and one is not. And the three species lists were IN the drawing until the render showed every one struck through by the line it belonged to — the reef zigzag, the anchored line, the drifted line. They are the stage captions now. No depth, distance or gradient appears in the figure.

Safety

Boat safety — Can cause serious injury or death

Trolling means multiple lines with multiple treble hooks in the water behind a moving boat, and an angler moving around the deck to handle them. Falls overboard, hooks in hands during a landing, and propeller contact with trailing line are all documented.

What reduces it: Lifejackets worn at all times, engine out of gear before anybody handles a fish at the side, one person managing the boat and one the fish, and lines cleared before landing rather than during.

Precautions that always apply here

  • Wear a buoyancy aid or lifejacket. Cold water incapacitates strong swimmers within a minute, long before swimming ability matters.
  • Tell somebody where you are going and when you expect to be back.
  • Carry a charged phone in a waterproof case, or another means of calling for help.

Where to go next

Related techniques

Skills behind it

Compared with

Sources and evidence

Why the 39 connections on this page are here, and the sources

What it catches

What experienced anglers do — 26 connections

Widely and independently recommended by experienced anglers and specialist sources. This is real angling knowledge, not proof: controlled evidence for it is limited, and FishingHQ records it as convention rather than as a demonstrated effect.

  • African tigerfish

    Established angling practice for this species, recorded as convention. The note states the property of the animal or its water that makes the method the answer.

    • IGFA International Angling Rules and World Record Requirements — International Game Fish Association (Angling or fisheries organisation)Relied on for: Recognition of the species as an established sport fish and the angling methods and tackle classes conventionally used for it.States this directlyPassage read and verified
    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated practice connecting this species and method.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Albacore

    The page names trolling feathers, jets and skirted lures as the primary technique, and trolling is how the fish is found before it is fished for. The commercial pole-and-line and troll fisheries use the same principle.

    • IGFA International Angling Rules and World Record Requirements — International Game Fish Association (Angling or fisheries organisation)Relied on for: Documents which fishery and which technique takes this species.States this directlyPassage read and verified
    • FishBase: a global information system on fishes — Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds. — FishBase Consortium (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Independently corroborates the species' recreational capture and range.Background and mechanism onlyPassage read and verified

  • Arctic char

    A practitioner claim about how Salvelinus alpinus is commonly fished, following from where and how it feeds.

    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated practitioner accounts of fishing for arctic char.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Practitioner treatment of the methods used for arctic char and comparable species.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Atlantic blue marlin

    A practitioner claim about how Makaira nigricans is commonly fished, following from where and how it feeds.

    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated practitioner accounts of fishing for atlantic blue marlin.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Practitioner treatment of the methods used for atlantic blue marlin and comparable species.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Atlantic mackerel

    An established way this species is taken recreationally in north-west European waters.

    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Shore and boat practice in north-west European sea angling for the species and method described, presented across multiple independent contributors.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated practice connecting this species to this method, recorded as practitioner consensus rather than as tested fact.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Atlantic salmon

    Established angling practice for this species, recorded as convention. The note states the property of the animal or its water that makes the method the answer.

    • Trout & Salmon — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Established salmonid angling technique and its application to this species.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated practice connecting this species and method.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Barracouta

    Taken on trolled and cast lures, jigs, feathers and spinners across the southern oceans, and on fish baits. A wire or heavy trace is not optional: the front fangs cut monofilament as a matter of course.

    • FAO Species Identification Guides for Fishery Purposes and the FAO Species Catalogues — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Identification, distribution, habitat and fishery description from the FAO species identification guides for fishery purposes.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: The widely restated practitioner account of how this species is fished.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Barramundi

    Established angling practice for this species, recorded as convention. The note states the property of the animal or its water that makes the method the answer.

    • IGFA International Angling Rules and World Record Requirements — International Game Fish Association (Angling or fisheries organisation)Relied on for: Recognition of the species as an established sport fish and the angling methods and tackle classes conventionally used for it.States this directlyPassage read and verified
    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated practice connecting this species and method.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Chinook salmon

    A practitioner claim about the principal marine method for the species.

    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated practitioner accounts of trolling and mooching for Pacific salmon in coastal waters.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Practitioner treatment of trolling technique for salmon and other pelagic species.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Coral trout

    A practitioner claim about how Plectropomus leopardus is commonly fished, following from where and how it feeds.

    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated practitioner accounts of fishing for coral trout.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Practitioner treatment of the methods used for coral trout and comparable species.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Eastern little tuna

    The page names it a common coastal gamefish that fights far above its weight on light tackle, which is a description of a coastal troll rather than an offshore one.

    • Catch and effort of the shore and skiboat linefisheries along the South African Eastern Cape coast — Brouwer & Buxton, South African Journal of Marine Science 24, for Rhodes University, 2002 (Scientific literature)Relied on for: Documents which fishery and which technique takes this species.States this directlyPassage read and verified
    • Marine Recreational Fishing Regulations in South Africa — South African Association for Marine Biological Research (SAAMBR), summarising the Marine Living Resources Act and its regulations, 2023 (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Independently corroborates the species' recreational capture and range.Background and mechanism onlyPassage read and verified

  • Golden perch

    Established angling practice for this species, recorded as convention. The note states the property of the animal or its water that makes the method the answer.

    • IGFA International Angling Rules and World Record Requirements — International Game Fish Association (Angling or fisheries organisation)Relied on for: Recognition of the species as an established sport fish and the angling methods and tackle classes conventionally used for it.States this directlyPassage read and verified
    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated practice connecting this species and method.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Great barracuda

    The record notes frequent incidental capture while fishing for other species, and a trolled bait spread is the commonest way that happens.

    • IGFA International Angling Rules and World Record Requirements — International Game Fish Association (Angling or fisheries organisation)Relied on for: Documents which fishery and which technique takes this species.States this directlyPassage read and verified
    • FishBase: a global information system on fishes — Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds. — FishBase Consortium (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Independently corroborates the species' recreational capture and range.Background and mechanism onlyPassage read and verified

  • Japanese amberjack

    A practitioner claim about how Seriola quinqueradiata is commonly fished, following from where and how it feeds.

    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated practitioner accounts of fishing for japanese amberjack.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Practitioner treatment of the methods used for japanese amberjack and comparable species.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • King mackerel

    A practitioner claim about how Scomberomorus cavalla is commonly fished, following from where and how it feeds.

    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated practitioner accounts of fishing for king mackerel.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Practitioner treatment of the methods used for king mackerel and comparable species.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Lake trout

    Established angling practice for this species, recorded as convention. The note states the property of the animal or its water that makes the method the answer.

    • IGFA International Angling Rules and World Record Requirements — International Game Fish Association (Angling or fisheries organisation)Relied on for: Recognition of the species as an established sport fish and the angling methods and tackle classes conventionally used for it.States this directlyPassage read and verified
    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated practice connecting this species and method.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Mahi-mahi

    The record states the fishery is built around locating floating structure rather than known ground. Trolling is how that structure is searched for and how the fish holding under it are first met.

    • IGFA International Angling Rules and World Record Requirements — International Game Fish Association (Angling or fisheries organisation)Relied on for: Documents which fishery and which technique takes this species.States this directlyPassage read and verified
    • FishBase: a global information system on fishes — Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds. — FishBase Consortium (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Independently corroborates the species' recreational capture and range.Background and mechanism onlyPassage read and verified

  • Murray cod

    Established angling practice for this species, recorded as convention. The note states the property of the animal or its water that makes the method the answer.

    • IGFA International Angling Rules and World Record Requirements — International Game Fish Association (Angling or fisheries organisation)Relied on for: Recognition of the species as an established sport fish and the angling methods and tackle classes conventionally used for it.States this directlyPassage read and verified
    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated practice connecting this species and method.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Muskellunge

    Established angling practice for this species, recorded as convention. The note states the property of the animal or its water that makes the method the answer.

    • IGFA International Angling Rules and World Record Requirements — International Game Fish Association (Angling or fisheries organisation)Relied on for: Recognition of the species as an established sport fish and the angling methods and tackle classes conventionally used for it.States this directlyPassage read and verified
    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated practice connecting this species and method.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Nile perch

    Established angling practice for this species, recorded as convention. The note states the property of the animal or its water that makes the method the answer.

    • IGFA International Angling Rules and World Record Requirements — International Game Fish Association (Angling or fisheries organisation)Relied on for: Recognition of the species as an established sport fish and the angling methods and tackle classes conventionally used for it.States this directlyPassage read and verified
    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated practice connecting this species and method.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Northern pike

    Established practice on large lakes and reservoirs, independently described.

    • Pike and the Pike Angler — Stanley Paul, 1981 (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Trolling for pike on large waters.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • Angling Times — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Contemporary trolling practice for pike as described by multiple independent contributors.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Sauger

    A statement about how a species is fished outside Europe, resting on restated international practice rather than on the British angling literature.

    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated descriptions of regional angling practice, recorded as consensus rather than as scholarship.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • IGFA International Angling Rules and World Record Requirements — International Game Fish Association (Angling or fisheries organisation)Relied on for: International recreational angling practice and the record framework that documents which species are pursued and how.Background and mechanism onlyPassage read and verified

  • Skipjack tuna

    The record calls it a routine and welcome offshore capture and the fish offshore lure fishing is learned on, which places it squarely in the trolled-lure fishery rather than in a specialist one.

    • Catch and effort of the shore and skiboat linefisheries along the South African Eastern Cape coast — Brouwer & Buxton, South African Journal of Marine Science 24, for Rhodes University, 2002 (Scientific literature)Relied on for: Documents which fishery and which technique takes this species.States this directlyPassage read and verified
    • Marine Recreational Fishing Regulations in South Africa — South African Association for Marine Biological Research (SAAMBR), summarising the Marine Living Resources Act and its regulations, 2023 (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Independently corroborates the species' recreational capture and range.Background and mechanism onlyPassage read and verified

  • Vendace

    The record's phrasing is careful and is preserved here: trolling small lures is part of the Nordic recreational picture around vendace rather than a directed fishery for them.

    • Northern Norway sea-fishing tour operators and camps — Specialist Nordic sea-fishing holiday operators and registered fishing camps (Practitioner report)Relied on for: Documents which fishery and which technique takes this species.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • Freshwater Fishes of the British Isles — HarperCollins (New Naturalist 75), 1992 (Reference work)Relied on for: Independently corroborates the species' recreational capture and range.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Wahoo

    A practitioner claim about how Acanthocybium solandri is commonly fished, following from where and how it feeds.

    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated practitioner accounts of fishing for wahoo.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Practitioner treatment of the methods used for wahoo and comparable species.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Yellowfin tuna

    A practitioner claim about the principal method for the species.

    • IGFA International Angling Rules and World Record Requirements — International Game Fish Association (Angling or fisheries organisation)Relied on for: The characterisation of trolling and the tackle classes used for large pelagic species.Passage read and verified
    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Practitioner treatment of offshore trolling technique.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

Related techniques

What experienced anglers do — 1 connection

Widely and independently recommended by experienced anglers and specialist sources. This is real angling knowledge, not proof: controlled evidence for it is limited, and FishingHQ records it as convention rather than as a demonstrated effect.

  • Lure fishing

    How the discipline classifies it, rather than a claim about how it is fished.

    • Pike and the Pike Angler — Stanley Paul, 1981 (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Trolling within predator lure practice.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Trolling within sea angling practice.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

What you fish it with

What experienced anglers do — 5 connections

Widely and independently recommended by experienced anglers and specialist sources. This is real angling knowledge, not proof: controlled evidence for it is limited, and FishingHQ records it as convention rather than as a demonstrated effect.

  • Crankbaits

    Depth from the lip is only reliable at a known speed. Trolling is the only technique that holds speed constant for hours, which is why crankbait depth ratings are quoted for it.

    • Angling Times — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Specialist treatment of which bait or lure family this technique is fished with.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: The independently restated practitioner pairing of this technique with this family.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Improved clinch knot

    Which knot a kind of fishing conventionally uses is established practitioner knowledge that converges across independent traditions and independent state agency guides, and it is labelled as consensus rather than as tested result. Nothing here ranks knots by strength: see `why-knot-strength-tables-disagree` for why that number does not exist.

    • Knots Every Angler Should Know — Iowa Department of Natural Resources, 2015 (Government fisheries body)Relied on for: A state fisheries agency's knot guide: which knot is set out for which connection, and the fishing it is presented for.States this directlyPassage read and verified
    • Learn to fish: tying the knot — Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, 2025 (Government fisheries body)Relied on for: The same connections set out independently by a second state wildlife agency, written separately and agreeing on purpose and material.States this directlyPassage read and verified

  • Multiplier and baitcasting reels

    That a practice conventionally depends on a piece of equipment, drawn from published description of practice rather than from testing.

    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Long-running published description of British sea angling practice, including reels, casting, rough-ground technique and terminal arrangement.FishingHQ's interpretation of what it saysCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated descriptions of equipment convention and its use, recorded as practitioner consensus rather than as scholarship.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Spoons

    A spoon needs continuous water speed to work, and a trolled boat provides it more evenly than any retrieve. This is the pairing that made trolling for salmonids and pike a distinct fishery rather than casting from a moving boat.

    • Angling Times — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Specialist treatment of which bait or lure family this technique is fished with.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: The independently restated practitioner pairing of this technique with this family.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Swimbaits

    The swimbait page describes a low-catch, high-quality approach built on a single substantial meal. Trolling covers the water that approach requires without the casting fatigue a lure of that size otherwise imposes.

    • Pike and the Pike Angler — Stanley Paul, 1981 (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Specialist treatment of which bait or lure family this technique is fished with.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • Angling Times — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: The independently restated practitioner pairing of this technique with this family.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

Skills behind it

What experienced anglers do — 3 connections

Widely and independently recommended by experienced anglers and specialist sources. This is real angling knowledge, not proof: controlled evidence for it is limited, and FishingHQ records it as convention rather than as a demonstrated effect.

  • How a reel drag works

    Drag behaviour under sustained load is the central reel consideration in trolling practice.

    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Sea angling practice on tackle and presentation in tidal water.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • Freshwater Fishing — Macdonald & Jane's, 1975 (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Comparable reasoning from the freshwater tradition, independently arrived at.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Retrieve speed and the pause

    Trolling speed is set and held deliberately, which isolates it from the other retrieve variables.

    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Sea angling practice on tackle and presentation in tidal water.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • Freshwater Fishing — Macdonald & Jane's, 1975 (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Comparable reasoning from the freshwater tradition, independently arrived at.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • What a drag is, and how to set one

    A link from a practice or a piece of equipment to the explanation of what it is for. The two records are halves of one answer and the edge is what lets a reader arriving at either find the other.

    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Contemporary UK sea angling practice as reported by practitioners, including tackle matching, casting and terminal arrangement.FishingHQ's interpretation of what it saysCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated descriptions of what each component does and how it is set up, recorded as practitioner consensus rather than as scholarship.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

Backed by research — 2 connections

Supported by peer-reviewed research or fisheries science. The sources are listed and can be checked.

  • Scombroid poisoning, and why some fish must be chilled immediately

    A method or discipline joined to the mechanism that changes how it is conducted. Written where the method's own practice differs because of the mechanism — a different bait, a different season, a different handling routine, a decision not to eat something — and refused where the mechanism is merely true of the fish being caught.

    • Fish and Fishery Products Hazards and Controls Guidance — US Food and Drug Administration, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, 2022 (Standards body)Relied on for: Hazard analysis for fish and fishery products, including scombrotoxin formation with time and temperature, ciguatera, and marine biotoxins in molluscan shellfish.States this directlyPassage read and verified
    • Biotoxin and phytoplankton monitoring — Food Standards Agency, 2026 (Government fisheries body)Relied on for: Biotoxin and phytoplankton monitoring in shellfish harvesting areas and the basis on which areas are classified and closed.States this directlyPassage read and verified

  • Thermoclines and stratification

    A link from a practice, an environment or a geography to the mechanism it rests on. It asserts that the mechanism is load-bearing here rather than merely relevant, which is the test applied throughout this file.

    • ICES Advice on fishing opportunities, catch and effort — International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Hydrography, stratification, salinity structure and stock distribution across the European sea areas assessed, which is the physical basis for the mechanism named.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • NOAA National Ocean Service education on estuaries and the National Estuarine Research Reserve System — National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, United States (Government fisheries body)Relied on for: Estuarine and coastal process: salt wedges, stratification, tidal exchange and the way water of different densities behaves where it meets.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

Compared with

What experienced anglers do — 2 connections

Widely and independently recommended by experienced anglers and specialist sources. This is real angling knowledge, not proof: controlled evidence for it is limited, and FishingHQ records it as convention rather than as a demonstrated effect.

  • Lake Geneva

    Two records a reader will hold together, joined where the comparison teaches something neither states alone.

    • Pike and the Pike Angler — Stanley Paul, 1981 (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Predator angling practice on large waters, including deep-water location, trolling and the handling of very large fish.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • Pike: Biology and Exploitation — Chapman & Hall (Fish and Fisheries Series 19), 1996 (Scientific literature)Relied on for: The biology, growth, feeding ecology and habitat use of pike across its Holarctic range.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Lake Vänern

    Two records a reader will hold together, joined where the comparison teaches something neither states alone.

    • Pike and the Pike Angler — Stanley Paul, 1981 (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Predator angling practice on large waters, including deep-water location, trolling and the handling of very large fish.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • Pike: Biology and Exploitation — Chapman & Hall (Fish and Fisheries Series 19), 1996 (Scientific literature)Relied on for: The biology, growth, feeding ecology and habitat use of pike across its Holarctic range.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

How FishingHQ labels evidence is explained in the evidence policy.

Share this page