Lures VS Live bait trolling

[rattlesnake68]

I'm curious. Are there any BTB kayak fishermen that troll mostly with hard baits (diving plugs) or pusher lures? I've always trolled with ribbon fish and mullet when BTB and never really considered trolling with anything else, except last year, my daughter and I tried large Bucktails with a fillet of mullet with surprisingly fast hookups and some great success. I've been watching some YouTube videos where people are claiming to catch just as many fish with hard baits as with live bait or "fresh bait". I've seen some large diving plugs online and was curious if anyone uses them regularly and with any real success? Just wondering if I'm missing out on another option, as Bucktails, from now on, will always go out with me BTB.

[RudderKing]

I use large and med size divers every time with great success as long as the fish are around. I always start out with one diver and one ribbon too test the waters but normally fish one of each the whole time because the divers go down further so you cover more the water column. Sometimes they won't touch the plugs and I run 2 ribbons or vise versa. But ill tell ya when u ruin out of bait plugs are always there. Normally I'm close to 50/50 catch radio between ribbons and divers. Oh and when it comes to buck tails I use them on my ribbon leaders and they up my catch radio. Hope this helps.

[Vlad_989]

I always troll one deep diver and one ribbonfish. There's been days when the diver caught all the fish and vice versa.

[rattlesnake68]

Thanks guys. That's what I'll do and its easy enough since I'm normally trolling a ribbon fish anyways. It won't be any trouble to drop a second line with a diving plug. I like the idea of covering different water columns at the same time.

[Prof. Salt]

Leaving the beach I pull plastics only, to avoid all the little sharks. At the rigs I might pull two ribbons or one ribbon and one plastic, and then adjust according to what is getting bit. Some days plastic definitely outperforms ribbonfish, and lots of days ribbons are the best choice ...until you run out.

[rattlesnake68]

Thanks Prof. Salt. That's very close to what Brooke and I didn't last year. We used Bucktails with mullet fillet attached to the hook running out past the breakers and once we were well on our way we switched to ribbon fish. Catching fish while trolling Bucktails is what got me curious about the diving plugs. My daughters, family, and I will be headed to the Mississippi beach in a couple of weeks and I've already purchased several diving plugs that I'm going to experiment with when we are out by Horn Island. I'm sure I'll have a YouTube video to show the results.

[kickingback]

Mind if I jump in here and ask what is some of the best plastic lures to use? Size? Color?
Thanks!

[MobyYack]

the bucktail is a good bait just about anywhere.....

[Prof. Salt]

Bomber Windcheater, and basically anything that sparkles or makes noise. If your wire and swivel isn't too noticeable the lure will get strikes.

[Fishtolive]

Yozuri Crystal 3D lure is a good one.

[kickingback]

Thanks fellers!
Is the size of the lure or how deep it dives a factor?

[RudderKing]

Thanks fellers!
Is the size of the lure or how deep it dives a factor?

The size of the lip on the lure deturmens how deep it dives . some lures float and dive from the surface and some sink and dive from where there at and you definitely need to know that or you could lose one or snag bottom. Also usually the bigger lures have a bigger lip and dive deeper

[kickingback]

LOL, I'm not a newbie to lures, I just need to know how deep you are diving your lures for kings. Are they at the surface? Are they 3' down? are they 10' down? I'm not gonna bring a 3' diving lure when I need a 10' lure instead.

Is the size of the lure or how deep it dives a factor or what depth diving or size lure do you recommend for catching kings?
Thanks.

[RudderKing]

LOL, I'm not a newbie to lures, I just need to know how deep you are diving your lures for kings. Are they at the surface? Are they 3' down? are they 10' down? I'm not gonna bring a 3' diving lure when I need a 10' lure instead.

Is the size of the lure or how deep it dives a factor or what depth diving or size lure do you recommend for catching kings?
Thanks.

Lol oh sorry thought you where asking . I let one of mine dive as deep as possible and the other cover around the center but really it depends on what my depth finder says but that's the norm

[kickingback]

Thanks. Anyone know if size matters? no funny answers please...LOL

[Fishtolive]

I think the bigger lure is the better at 8' to 10' depth.
Remember that my 9" Serbile lure worked good too but it will be costly if the shark hooks on it.

[Prof. Salt]

I wish the preferred depth answer was simpler, but the fact is that depth depends on where the fish are holding AND where the baitfish are holding.

Kings have big stomachs and an eye for a big meal, but there are also times when a surprisingly small lure is the preferred target. Whether it's matching the hatch or some other factor, I have had days when a 3-4" shallow minnow out fishes all else. I used to believe kings would never bother with such a small target, but now I know better.

Usually the giant lures will get hit at some point as they are pulled along, but sometimes the more "normal" sizes (7-8")get a better/more savage response. The Bomber Windcheater is a cheap and bland looking bait, but I have had so many of them destroyed by kings that I always carry a couple of them in my bag now.

[Duweezy]

Thanks fellers!
Is the size of the lure or how deep it dives a factor?

Kinda goes with that saying "Let the fish tell you what they want". Have a variety of baits. Once you figure what they want that day keep on keeping on!

[kickingback]

Kind of why I was asking...don't want to carry a bunch of crap I don't need. Thanks just the same. I'll figure it out.

[Duweezy]

Kind of why I was asking...don't want to carry a bunch of crap I don't need. Thanks just the same. I'll figure it out.

I would say a good general lure depth to start out with is 15' IMO. From the 40-60 ft of water here in Corpus that will put you in the top 1/3-1/4 of the water column. With a ribbonfish you can usually control the depth you troll at by speed/amount of line out.

[kickingback]

Bingo! You win the prize! THANK YOU! That's what I was looking for. I appreciate it very much! I will use your words wisely but not to test. Thanks again everyone from this newbie...

[YakMack]

I trolled with a mahi looking deep diver plug this last weekend at Sabine in 25' of water. Had a nice Jack get caught on one of the treble hooks.

[rattlesnake68]

Thanks for all the advise guys. I know TKF is always good for gathering useful information. I head out a 5:00am in the morning. Hopefully I'll have a couple of videos to post on Youtube. It's not Texas, but it will be the Gulf of Mexico and from a kayak. So, 2 out of 3 isn't bad. Good luck to everyone else fishing this weekend.

[kickingback]

I caught a smack on a Rapala shallow 6" diver black/sliver trolling out to rig on Wed. Hooked up to a king on same lure but came off during fight. Trolled at about 1.5 -2 mph during strikes. Thanks for the tips!

[dmanars]

Leaving the beach I pull plastics only, to avoid all the little sharks. At the rigs I might pull two ribbons or one ribbon and one plastic, and then adjust according to what is getting bit. Some days plastic definitely outperforms ribbonfish, and lots of days ribbons are the best choice ...until you run out.

This is exactly what I do. And I get the same results. some days not ta on ribbon-fish and my plastic kills it. Most days Ribbon fish out performs my plastics. Maybe I should invest in a plastic ribbon fish