help?

[Katrina Seath]

Hello everyone, trying to figure out a good speed to have at the ball. Usually we fish 2.2-2.7 on the gps and the sub troll reads around 1.5 is this to slow? I have to kick the speed up to around 3.5 on the gps to reach over 2 at the ball. This just doesn't seem right. Headed out of muskegon in the morning and headed north so any help would be great, mark

[cbowens67]

Yes you have to go faster at the surface. If your only reading 1.5 at the ball your to slow. With lake currents in mind i have had to go up to 5 on the surface to get 2.5 at the ball and also as slow as 1.5 surface. ur ball speed is the factor you need to go with. Try keeping it at 2-2.5 sometimes up to 3..... the change in speed sometimes will trigger a strike. Hope this helps. Tight lines and good luck Carl

[anthonyyost]

It sounds like you are trolling with the current, trolling into the current let's you slow the boat down while keeping your downspeed up. IMO anything over 3.5 gps speed is too hard to troll. Too much blowback on the riggers, too hard on the dipsey rods.

[Far Beyond Driven]

My Subtroll always reads lower than GPS speed, even when rolling into the current. Find a number that works for you and repeat as needed. Mine spends 90% of the time parked at 2.0 but was as high as 3 today looking for steel.

[Nailer]

Yes you have to go faster at the surface. If your only reading 1.5 at the ball your to slow. With lake currents in mind i have had to go up to 5 on the surface to get 2.5 at the ball and also as slow as 1.5 surface. ur ball speed is the factor you need to go with. Try keeping it at 2-2.5 sometimes up to 3..... the change in speed sometimes will trigger a strike. Hope this helps. Tight lines and good luck Carl

Carl, welcome to the site.

[blahblahduchunter]

Learn to not even look at your gps speed. Always watch your down speed. I try to keep mine between 2.2-2.5 but occasionally they want it even faster

[fishsniffer]

i pay attention to down speed til were running all high lines then i watch surface speed

[anonymous]

I normally try to keep my speed at the ball 1.8 or above and experiment from there. My subtroll normally reads lower than the gps as well.