TROLLING AFTER HEAVY RAINS

[loaferoatan]

Question for the collective wisdom of this forum:

Is it better to troll in 300-1000 ft of water directly after a few days of heavy rains (have a six line spread with ilanders, mann's, dusters, yozuri) or is it better to wait a few days

A friend of mine says there is too much fresh water at the surface, but I've been under the impression that as soon as the clouds part and the rains stop, get out there

Mainly looking at catching wahoo, tuna and dolphin

Thanks in advance
AE

[sportfishingusa]

I like to troll during the rain storm. lol

heavy rains dillute rather quickly in an open ocean scenario compares to a creek or brakish or saltwater.

there is a lot of open space and a few inches is not going to make the surface of the ocean brackish by any means.

i find that when the rain comes in spurts that i have just as much luck as i do when it is nice out..

not talking about marlin fishing here and mainly tuna but i find that the fish dont mind being wet.

the only thing i would do is watch the colors of your skirts if you are trolling them as the low light condition with effect the refraction of light throughout the baits and into the water..

if you want to troll a little deeper to get under the fresh water raining down just add some weight to your ballys or use bigger heavier jets and bullets for trolling sub surface.

there is really no point to wait out rain and if you want to wait it out by all means.. if it is just a rain then i would be all over fishing through it and into it.. if it is a horrific storm from and heavy winds you will be forced to stay at the dock.. but i must admit.. when it is 95 and sunny and that rain storm moves in with just heavy rains and no wind.. i completely love the cool down!! take off the foul weather gear and sit out there in boardshorts and love life!!

so all inall i would recommend fishing thru it.. like i said.. the fish are in the water.. think they mind getting wet!??! lloll

[loaferoatan]

I like to troll during the rain storm. lol

heavy rains dillute rather quickly in an open ocean scenario compares to a creek or brakish or saltwater.

there is a lot of open space and a few inches is not going to make the surface of the ocean brackish by any means.

i find that when the rain comes in spurts that i have just as much luck as i do when it is nice out..

not talking about marlin fishing here and mainly tuna but i find that the fish dont mind being wet.

the only thing i would do is watch the colors of your skirts if you are trolling them as the low light condition with effect the refraction of light throughout the baits and into the water..

if you want to troll a little deeper to get under the fresh water raining down just add some weight to your ballys or use bigger heavier jets and bullets for trolling sub surface.

there is really no point to wait out rain and if you want to wait it out by all means.. if it is just a rain then i would be all over fishing through it and into it.. if it is a horrific storm from and heavy winds you will be forced to stay at the dock.. but i must admit.. when it is 95 and sunny and that rain storm moves in with just heavy rains and no wind.. i completely love the cool down!! take off the foul weather gear and sit out there in boardshorts and love life!!

so all inall i would recommend fishing thru it.. like i said.. the fish are in the water.. think they mind getting wet!??! lloll

right now we're at the tale end of a tropical depression mixed in with cold front. The air temp is 80 and the water temp is 80-84. It's been raining here for two weeks now (looks to be clearing up today a bit) AND it's HEAVY and rough! I have a river running through my yard. Roatan is special because I can literally be 3000 feet of water in 5 minutes. No exaggeration. I know the water temp is ideal, but really curious about my friend's fishing knowledge. We are the same age, but he's been fishing longer than I have. I tend to agree with you and am very anxious about getting out there and catching the wahoos (a 64lb was recently caught nearby), but looking to optimize my fish catching experience (gas prices and all). thanks for the speedy reply BTW
AE

[sportfishingusa]

right now we're at the tale end of a tropical depression mixed in with cold front. The air temp is 80 and the water temp is 80-84. It's been raining here for two weeks now (looks to be clearing up today a bit) AND it's HEAVY and rough! I have a river running through my yard. Roatan is special because I can literally be 3000 feet of water in 5 minutes. No exaggeration. I know the water temp is ideal, but really curious about my friend's fishing knowledge. We are the same age, but he's been fishing longer than I have. I tend to agree with you and am very anxious about getting out there and catching the wahoos (a 64lb was recently caught nearby), but looking to optimize my fish catching experience (gas prices and all). thanks for the speedy reply BTW
AE

not a problem as at all man.. if they are there i would get my arse right out there.. lol

i would also use a lot of heavy bombs and get those baits down deep..

try the planer set up and get your baits deep.. if it is fishable get right out there man!!!

[Patudo]

If the rains have been heavy, freshwater runoff can push bluewater further offshore, sometimes for many miles. If you know your wahoo marks will continue to produce even in green water conditions (maybe with a change in techniques fishing deeper lures or live baits etc) then by all means stay there, but if they don't you may have to run further offshore to look for better water. If you can find a colour change between green and blue in conjunction with a temperature break and associated trash line it should be a good place to start. One benefit of rains is that they can dump a lot of floaters (logs, general junk etc) in the water which is a navigation hazard but when the water cleans up can often be good for holding dorado and other tasties (triple tails ).

[loaferoatan]

If the rains have been heavy, freshwater runoff can push bluewater further offshore, sometimes for many miles. If you know your wahoo marks will continue to produce even in green water conditions (maybe with a change in techniques fishing deeper lures or live baits etc) then by all means stay there, but if they don't you may have to run further offshore to look for better water. If you can find a colour change between green and blue in conjunction with a temperature break and associated trash line it should be a good place to start. One benefit of rains is that they can dump a lot of floaters (logs, general junk etc) in the water which is a navigation hazard but when the water cleans up can often be good for holding dorado and other tasties (triple tails ).

a friend just called, caught a nice 25 pound wahoo without even getting all of his lines out.....time to get the boat in the water
cheers
AE

[SLAYER25]

during the storm is the best tiem the fish the pressure drops and the fish come to the surface to feed. This year during the beach haven tourny we marked fish all day with out a touch the second the storm cell hit bang the fish came up like crazy 4 lines got bamboozled bad news was is was honking 60 knots so all the lines were out of the water. luckly one fish hooked up and ended up being 130 alison to win the tourney

[babalaza]

I always hated to troll while it was raining. I don't care from saltwater while the boat is running but for some reason the teardrops were never my friends. My best fishing trips have been under rain. Tunas go crazy when its raining, its just plain awesome. As long as it's still safe to stay out there even though the seas are ugly, if it's raining I'm there. Shirt off, everything inside the cabin, you can even get on a divers suit if you don;t like rain (been there). The ride to the fishing grounds will suck, but it doesn't matter, after knowing the tides and the boat you know what limits you have. If I need to go at 12-14 knots to the spot then so be it. Just be careful with the lightning.

Days after heavy rains never caught anything special, there's wayy too much plants and such on the surface. Fishing isnt famous either, as water gets dirtier and cloudier (river influence in my case).

[rich]

The biggest yellowfin I caught was on one of those spotted shower days and we were in the middle of one of those showers. It was a yellowfin that cored out at 93lbs. Man was he pretty.

[Sea Draggin]

I like to keep a bar of soap on the boat during June. I used the afternoon showers to wash off the morning dolphin slime. Normally the minute it stops, they turn back on big time.