Pole Holder or Not?

[dlm]

Okay, since it is a slow fishing report day I have a question that I hope will generate some interest.

How much do you use your pole holder while trolling, either with or without a downrigger.

I use a downrigger, and I hold my pole. Once and a while I will set it in the holder if there is something else I need to do, like help she who must be obeyed with landing a fish, pour a cup of coffee, etc.

I believe it was Mr. Moknots who said something in an earlier post about watching your rod like a hawk while it was in the holder. While true, I find this is not necessary when holding the pole, either sitting or standing. I get immediate feedback when something is messing with my lure and I can respond accordingly much faster than if the pole was in a holder. I can have the hook set and line released before I would have been able to get the pole out of the holder.

Also, I don't keep my rod bent as much as some do, maybe only about half to a third full bend, which makes it a little easier to hold the pressure.

Any thoughts, what do you do?????

[P8ntballrman]

if I'm trolling with a downrigger I put it in the holder and watch the rod.....it's just what I have always done and it has worked well in the past...

The only time I will hold my pole is when I'm fishing powerbait...... this is because I tend to release more fish then I keep and I don't want to give them a chance to swallow the hook. It still happens from time to time and I always end up keeping fish that have taken it to deeply....... but most of the time I can catch them in the jaw if I'm holding the rod.

[Salmonslayer2]

I like to put the rods in the pole holders. I never seam to get a bite when I hold the pole. I said that one time drifting down the north sanitam river and then I caught a fish.

[SilverBullets]

I use the holder on my downrigger boom. I also watch it like a hawk, but wait for the fish to get a good hook set before picking up the rod out of the holder. Many times they just hit it, and a speed change or turn will change the action of the lure enough to get them to come back for a solid hook up. Made my release clip wire a little longer, seems to give the rod better action when there is a good bow in it and a fish is on. I am constantly making up new rigs to try out for my dad and myself, so my hands are busy with that. I try to have the new rig baited, scented, and ready to go the second the old set up is out of the water. Also, having my rod in the holder frees me up to get the net when the other rod goes down.

[Pagorits]

I get lazy and put the pole in the holder. But I do love to feel the bump, bump, wham, when the pole in is my hands.

[salmontroller]

I know it can be exciting to be holding the rod when the fish hits, but I feel we lose lots of fish doing this versus in the holder...our natural reaction when hit is to set the hook now..many times before the fish is on..this is particularly true when fishing herring for chinook in our bays and rivers...they need time to chomp on it for awhile...most folks feel that initial bit and jerk back; most times losing the bite and fish.

[moknots]

Rod holder, nearly all of the time. I get twichy and pull the dang line out of the release when I get hit but don't hook up if I am holding it. I guess I get too excited. Wait... whats the point if you don't get excited!

[fish-on-bend]

Pole holder when downriggering and most other trolling. I can't imagine holding it while in the downrigger. Sometimes I hold it when top water trolling for browns. In Alaska earlier this month we backtrolled with flatfish and left it in the holder and held it when running eggs on spinners. I always hold it when jigging.:D (sorry I couldn't resist that one)

[dlm]

I agree, you really have to exercise some restraint when the fish hits the first time unless it hits and keeps pulling. In fact, two of the ones I caught Sunday morning hit and then came back, which was a mistake for them. It takes a little practice to understand what you are feeling, a short bite or a solid grab. Most times I am able to set the hook without tripping the release.

Next time the wife goes along we will try both methods and see what happens.

[trollin4trout]

Downrigging- always in the holder for me. Try to watch like a hawk but the sneaky things always hit the INSTANT I am distracted- turn back to look and pole hopping like crazy! They seem to have split second timing.

I "think" I would lose more fish by pulling back too soon if I was holding the pole. I always jump up when my pole starts dancing, but if it stops by the time I get to it- I just wait for another hit. I've had way to many total misses by yanking it off the release at the first sign of a hit. So.... 2 or 3 seconds of constant pole dance and they better get out of the way of that hook!

Saturday at Lawrence Lake the fish were taking the longest time to get hooked up. I had to wait for 2,3 or 4 or 5 hits before they stuck on the hook. Every time I got impatient, I came up empty. This happened all day long. Just wait....bump... wait.....bump bump......wait.....ding ding ding! Set the hook.

Just trolling- usually in the holder unless I feel the need to start teasing the lure- or if the fish are coming right and left real fast- it's fun to feel the hit, so I'll hold it and twitch it.

[adobe wall]

I always use the rod holder when fishing with downriggers. It's surprising that the fish can hit and be hooked and then unhook themselves without anything being visible on the rod though. I've thought about holding the rod when using the fish tv just so I can put some action on the lure when trolling- lot of driveby's and follows that I think if the lure did something different would provoke a strike.

Letting them chew on it isn't what is happening down below. The bump is a strike and the "chew" is a fish doing absolute somersaults trying to unhook itself. It may be while the fish is gyrating you get a second hook in it but I can tell you by the time it telegraphs enough to get the rod tip bouncing, you have a hooked fish. Problem is that the kokes can corkscrew right off, fast.

regards, aw

[joemomma]

Rod holder-they don't make a lazier fisherman

[Doc_Rhen]

Pole holder when downriggering and most other trolling. I can't imagine holding it while in the downrigger. Sometimes I hold it when top water trolling for browns. In Alaska earlier this month we backtrolled with flatfish and left it in the holder and held it when running eggs on spinners. I always hold it when jigging.:D (sorry I couldn't resist that one)

About a year ago we were bottom fishing out of Newport, jigging for rock fish and the like, my son hooked up just after I had dropped my rig to the bottom so I set it in the holder and helped him. When I looked back my pole was folded in half:eek:. I got my son in and then grabbed mine which had a fish both on the jig and the fly:D.

I pretty much always fish in the holder.

[fish-on-bend]

Doc--- I guess the pole holder on the ocean acted as an "auto-jigging" motion with the waves eh? Joemomma did you see that one? Sounds lazy enough to me.:D

[dlm]

..Letting them chew on it isn't what is happening down below. The bump is a strike and the "chew" is a fish doing absolute somersaults trying to unhook itself. It may be while the fish is gyrating you get a second hook in it but I can tell you by the time it telegraphs enough to get the rod tip bouncing, you have a hooked fish. Problem is that the kokes can corkscrew right off, fast.

regards, aw

AW, Great info. So many of the times I thought they were hitting and coming back, they could have been on the hook the entire time! Interesting. Info we would not have had without the camera. Let's here it for modern technology.:applause:

Great info and techniques on this thread. Thanks much to everyone.:wave:

[deeptrout]

this is an easy one. When alone I never set the thing down unless I have to have two free hands, when I have other people in the boat, I almost always need two free hands. If the people I am with are experienced or at least follow directions and learn by repitition, I can count on holding the rod most of the time. Holding a rod on a downrigger is possible, but when I am also netting others fish, starting and running the kicker, baiting hooks and changing the CD, I can't keep my hand on it all the time and using a rigger is a nice break. I don't know what will happen if I am allowed two rods, no way I can hold two rods and steer. Well, no way I want to try anyway.

[Meister Jäger]

Another vote for the rod holder here. There are many more productive uses for having my hands free - like eating a donut!:wink:

Overwhelming results, dlm. How do these match up with your expectations?

[dlm]

Meister,

I really did not have any expectations, just curious. I got pretty much what I expected as I have been watching the other boats and have seen nobody holding their pole while using the downrigger. And while the vast majority said use the holder, many had different techniques and/or reasoning for doing so. All of it educational, and that is why I posed the question.

I grew up without rod holders, trolling deep at East Lake and Detroit, and learning what different bites felt like. It's hard for me to put the pole down and trust the bent rod and boat movement to set the hook. Old dog... new trick kind of thing I guess.