I'm looking for some assistance with trolling. I'm using wire on a 4.0 Senator and trolling the western sound at speeds between 2-3 mph. I typically use large swimming plugs and periwinkles with some success. I've been trolling with the reel engaged and drag set very loosely. When a fish is on, I tighten the drag while maintaining trolling speed. Is this the correct or preferred method? Would this negatively affect my hook up ratio? I seem to loose a lot of fish that hit the periwinkles - they seem to hit short on the trailer. If I keep the reel in free spool with the clicker on, the clicker continues to go with more line going out, which is kind of annoying. I didn't want to keep the drag set tight for fear of blowing out the drag system on the reel. Any thoughts?
MC
MC