How to use a marlin trolling pattern for fishing

So, you've mastered the knot tying process for fishing, and you already know how to catch live bait, so now what? You need to know how to troll... this animated tutorial from Marinews will show you how to use a marlin trolling pattern for fishing. Just watch the simple animation to improve your marlin trolling patterns.

Marlin trolling relies on a pattern of lures to maximise strikes. Many marlin seem to be drawn like a magnet to a particular lure and are rarely scared of the boat. For marlin, four or five lures in the pattern is enough as things can be very difficult if a jumping fish takes the lure close to the boat and then weaves its way out through the other outfits.

When marlin trolling, a teaser, bird or similar device that adds action in amongst the lures can help draw extra strikes. From my experience, it is hard to beat a teaser beating and flashing just in front of the first big fish lure. How the lures are arranged is a matter of preference and a bit of experience, however the pattern shown here works very well. Some anglers like to work the lures in matched pairs down each side of the boat while others like to have a long side and short side. With a short corner rod matched with a short lure in the outrigger and a long corner rod matched by a long line on the rigger.

The fifth lure is usually set down the middle of the pattern and behind the other lures with the rod in the rocket launcher, this is known as the 'shotgun' lure.

The advantage of this pattern is that it is almost tangle free and allows for manoeuvring around fish attractors, schools of bait, islands or whatever without fuss. All lures are set on top of the wake rolls behind the boat. The wake roll optically enhances the appearance and the movement of the lure to any fish swimming below. The effect is like putting something in the centre of a glass lens. Lures can be set in the second, third and so on wake rolls.