Here is a video of all things trolling, filmed on beautiful Loch Lomond. Downriggers, fish finders, bait heads/mounts, reels, rods, lures, lines, techniques and experience. Get yourself a cuppa and learn from one of the best.
At the store, the customers that we meet that are into trolling on Scottish lochs always seem friendly and open to sharing their knowledge about what they do. You would expect the anglers in this niche sport to be heavily guarded and secretive but this is not the case. An alien language to most, even accomplished anglers, trolling involves traditional techniques and equipment enhanced with on-point futuristic technology. To the unaware, the idea of trolling on a loch for a whole day just seems boring, because they think there’s nothing to do but sit in the boat and watch the rod tips – How wrong they are, (how wrong I was)!
“Boring!”
James Kinnear, team member at Angling Active, took me out on his boat launched from Balmaha on Loch Lomond for a day. I was prepared for a slow and reasonably relaxing day on the loch armed with my video camera to get a couple of shots of the day and focus on the benefits of the Hummingbird Helix fish finder that James has had for a year now. As the equipment started to come together before even leaving the jetty I quickly realised the complexity of the day ahead. “Boring, yeah right” – The entire day passed in a flash, having traveled amongst the gorgeous islands of the loch, learning about the features in the loch, the huge number of fish species, and being educated in this completely new sport to me. There wasn’t time to sit, nor have our lunch, nor even was there any element of boredom whatsoever. This fun-filled action-packed day on James’ boat could not have opened my eyes any more to this exceptional discipline of fishing we have on our doorstep and I couldn’t wait to share this video which all of a sudden turned into a masterclass in trolling. James was less than surprised that I was impressed, and not that a salmon fly angler would ever admit it, with the notion of “big” game fish like trout (some will call ferox), seatrout and salmon he has peaked my interest and who knows where this will lead.
HUMMINBIRD HELIX 9 CHIRP MEGA SI GPS G2N FISHFINDER
The how?
Yes you need a boat, there’s no sugar coating that this can be an expensive requirement. As the old cliches go, that I won’t dare recite in the purpose of keeping this post positive this early on, a boat is a thing to throw money at. Choosing “the right” boat however will make your new hobby and lifestyle very enjoyable. If you already have a boat or you can share ownership with a few friends, then you are on your way. It doesn’t need to be new, most of the trolling boats on Loch Lomond are over 20 years old but they are maintained properly and look fantastic.
The equipment James has on his boat is specialist, but there’s nothing unobtainable, and to be fairly brutal, yet complimentary, allot of his gear is old but well maintained. Proving that if you shop carefully with the right advice from people like James, then you have invested for long term returns in your fishing.
Not just finding fish.
On the flip side of this older gear, at the end of last season James decided to invest in a brand new Hummingbird Helix 10 fish finder. This technology combined with James’ knowledge has made his successful fishing more enjoyable, more productive, less frustrating, ultimately safer and would you believe it more economical. “More economical?” you ask – the Helix is not cheap, but with the addition of this fish finder, he loses less equipment snagging on the bottom and avoids running aground because he can see every detail of what’s unfolding below him and adjust his depths in seconds. Not only this, James has found that the incredibly detailed mapping feature of the Helix has set him a new personal challenge to explore the loch in search of new terrain. Once he’s mapped an area whilst trolling along, the helix is now a street map for him to follow contours, get a detailed understanding of ledges/shelves, and he can avoid shallow danger areas. He has found particular areas that just don’t exist on broader maps and can revisit them safely and confidently even if the loch water level has dropped.
Visual perks
A lovely addition to James’ fishing is getting home and reviewing the footage on his Waterwolf camera. Fish don’t seem to be shy of the camera mounted just above the bait or lures, in fact on the film above there is footage of a pike attacking the camera, mistaking it for food. What James does is learns from the footage about how a fish came off or how it attacked the lure, and for fun, he can actually prove how big the “one that got away” was.
