My only luck with stripers has been trolling with umbrella rigs. It seems that I get a lot of strikes when I’m turning the boat to make another pass were I have marked some fish. My question is does this mean I’m trolling to fast? I have the boat going as slow as it will go! Or do I possibly not have my lures deep enough? I would appreciate any ■■■■■■■■ or pointers! 
Thanks!
How fast are you trolling? Most go 2 - 3 mph. Zig zagging is a very common trolling technique that often will produce a strike (it is done in fresh and salt water).
chris scout 202 john150
My trolling speed is about 2.4 mph on GPS. Why does the zig zagging make the fish strike?
21 Scout
You are not trolling too fast. I typically troll u-rigs at 2.8 to 3.0 on the gps. Sometimes faster, almost never slower. If you are trolling straight back off the corners, you may be catching fish that the boat does not shadow when you make your turns. I typically troll four rods, two off the corners and two off the sides. Most of my big fish come off the side rods. My theory is that fish are sometimes spooked by the boat passing overhead and that may be your problem with strikes coming only on the turns. Also, how far back are you pulling them?
Tight lines and continued success.
I agree with WhaleDriver. The spooking of fish from under the boat (or close to) is one of the reasons planner boards are so effective. The zig zag also covers a lot of area, and changes the speed, the inside of the radius is going much slower than the outside. One group hustling and looking like they are swimming like all get out, the inside group, dying and dropping.
Whale driver, I use only two U’s, but would like to go with four. My rod holders are set up (on each side) with one straight back and the other leaning out. Is that how you do it? Or do you send it out on a planner?
A line counter also helps you send out a specific distance (but eventually you will no how many back and forths or the level line guide will give you the right distance). For me, one goes 100, the other 60. Now I might try that on each side ??? 
chris scout 202 john150
Thanks for the ■■■■■■■■! I think I will try the planar boards and put the rigs back farther from the boat.
21 Scout
chrisg, I use Smith “Rod Riggers” that I bought at Boaters World for my side rods. I shortened the safety strap so that there is absolutely no chance of having a rod pulled out of them. They are a little pricey, but they work great. I use them in the forward holders and place them in the holders so that the rods face a little forward from perpendicular. On a particularly slow day, I will run a fifth line down the center out of one of my transom rod holders. This is usually run about 30 feet beyond my corner lines. The side lines are usually run about 30 feet in front of the corner lines.
Side lines - 70 feet back
Corner lines - 100 feet back
Center line- 130 feet back
I have not tried any planers. I can see where they would be great for live bait or pulling single artificials. I’m just not convinced yet that they will work well with u-rigs because of the weight of the u-rigs. Try them for me and let me know how you do.
As soon as the fish go deep, I usually pull two lines off of downriggers, and they are set with the down rigger poles off the side of the boat instead of straight back. On a particularly slow day, I will pull four lines, two lines off each downrigger, but a hit on the bottom sometimes causes a tangle with the top line.
As you can tell, I love to troll. For stripers on Lake Murray and for the big stuff along the ledge off shore.
Tight lines.
Whaledriver, you have mail (I think!
chris scout 202 john150
Chris, the e-mail did not come through. Try again.
Whale Drive … you have mail (again …maybe?)
Call me 803 593 7280 work
803 441 8772 home
803 646 3501 cell
chris scout 202 john150
Let me ask a dumb question. My boat has outriggers and I only use the 1-2 times each year when in saltwater.
Has anyone ever tried running umbrellas off of outriggers or would there be too much strain from the rigs for the outriggers??
1999 Sea Pro 210cc
Suzuki 225 EFI
tprice, this is an interesting question. I have outriggers for my boat as well and have wondered the same thing. Mine are plenty strong enough to pull u-rigs, but my concern is that there will be slack in the line after it is pulled from the release clip resulting in lost fish. I may try it this fall and see what happens.
Whaler, I thought about that also. I was just trying to come up with a way to pull more lines without tangles and get some away from the boat somewhat also.
I may give it a try one afternoon and see how it works out.
1999 Sea Pro 210cc
Suzuki 225 EFI
tprice, if you try it, let me know how it works out…I’m very interested.
We are going to look like a bunch of off shore pirates in the lake! It ought to work fine. Keep us posted
chris scout 202 john150
I need to find some other use for the outriggers anyway.
To me it woud let you spread out umbrella rigs and cover those fish that “dodge” the boat.
I just wonder if the outrigger clips will hold the umbrella rigs ok
1999 Sea Pro 210cc
Suzuki 225 EFI
question related to this thread…i often go fishing alone and am wondering about the amount of rods one is able to actively fish at once from a boat…for some reason i get the number of 2 in my head but i may be wrong…because i would like to troll with more than 2 if i am allowed but i sure as heck do not need a DNR fine…
anybody know the answer here?
There is no limit to number of rods if you are in a boat, however if you are fishing from land it is limited to 2 rods per person.
There was some type of legislation a couple of years ago to limit numbers of rods on a boat but I think the NSBA and others along with many unhappy voting fishermen(crappie, striper, catfish) made a loud scream and it was defeated very easliy.
1999 Sea Pro 210cc
Suzuki 225 EFI
The number of rods is more a question of how many you can manage. Slow trolling herring on planner boards, I will often have 2 out each side, one flat line out the back and 2 or 4 down lines from the boat. If the bite is on you can’t do this and remain saine. On a slow day it’s a piece of cake.
Urigs,… I am only guessing 3 - 5. Whaledriver would be the expert on this one
chris scout 202 john150
I am about the same as chrisg, I use 2 planer boards on either side
and 1 or 2 flatlines/balloon rigs way back. I will also use a couple of
down rods on the front sides of the boat.
If the fish are biting you will work yourself to death which is fun, if not it lets you put more baits in the water.
Only other big problem is when you put out a lot of rods it keeps me from changing locations due to the loss of baits.
I was out a few weeks ago on Hartwell one am and hit schools of fish and for an hour all I could do was pull in fish, untangle lines and try and get baits back in the water, it was almost like work.
When pulling umbrellas I can run 2 very easy when I am alone, if I have someone with me I can run 4 with no problem.
1999 Sea Pro 210cc
Suzuki 225 EFI