For all you trolling gurus how important is it to calibrate your line counters? I am not much of a driller and I don’t feel as tho I will be trolling anything deeper than 20ft the only real reason I bought them was for when im mapping lakes throw them out and if u get a bite great if not no big. It is my least favorite way to fish but if I’m on the water I might as well have a line wet. Maybe someday I will learn to love it and get more serious
IMO, the calibration happens every time you are on the water. I’ll start at 125’ on the counter and if I catch fish, I know to return to that length. The number on the counter is merely a reference point to note when you find the distance that provided success. Trolling is my primary way to fish.
I calibrate mine.
Helps a lot especially when trolling suspended, 4 rods +.
10 minutes per reel.
I should re calibrate this spring. Thanks for the reminder.
Just remember the line is measured from the reel not the top of the water. So a 7′ rod will be different then a 10′ rod. Also the angle that you have your rod in the holder affects the amount of line out.
Linecounters will get all your baits “close” to the same depth but like mentioned they are just a reference to return the bait to after catching a fish.
I used to overthink this too. I would calibrate each rod individually to read +/- 1′ at 100′ before cutting the line from the bulk spool.
After neglecting things for 4 years and redoing everthing I just went and filled them as full as possible with the exact same lengths of backer and line – I marked off 400′ in my yard with post markers every 100′, then unspooled the line lengths between the posts before loading them into the reels.
This method went faster than treating them individually and I’m reading 150′ +/- 2′ @ 150′. They all read a bit under at 100′, but consistent. If you want the line out to match the counter, they need to be really full. Larger wider LC reels are more accurate over a wider range of line setbacks.
Calibrating per se isn’t really necessary, the biggest factor is getting your reels consistent between rods and filling them FULL.
Just remember the line is measured from the reel not the top of the water. So a 7′ rod will be different then a 10′ rod. Also the angle that you have your rod in the holder affects the amount of line out.
Linecounters will get all your baits “close” to the same depth but like mentioned they are just a reference to return the bait to after catching a fish.
Throw in wind, currents, line brand, leader length, snap size as further variables.
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
