Tube and Worm Trolling Using the 15 Minute Rule

By Captain Bob Johnson

How to catch striped bass utilizing the 15 min. rule.

I take advantage of the fifteen minute rule frequently when striped bass are shoaling, or disseminated throughout a sizeable expanse of water. Perhaps I am observing bass which are hanging in deep water, or perhaps the striped bass are feeding down a long expanse of beach. In either case, when fish are distributed within a substantial area, the 15 min. Rule has proven itself as an effective application for creating a productive trolling pattern.

After marking just one striped bass I will then put lines in the water. I will commence trolling in a particular direction, virtually always parallel to the seashore. That way I troll along the depth in which I marked that initial bass.

I’ll then simply troll for 15 min’s, retaining a close eye on the fish finder the whole time. If after fifteen minutes I have not lured a bite, captured a fish, or seen any more stripers on the fish finder, I resume my search parallel to the beachfront along the same depth until finally I begin seeing stripers once again.

If I do capture a striped bass during the first 15 min’s, attract a strike, or mark additional stripers on the sonar, then my 15 min. time clock is reset. Recently, a typical situation I have come across is locating an expanse of ocean, as much as a mile long, that has had bass along the complete stretch. The areas to the east, west, north and south of this stretch of water oftentimes have no stripers at all.

The 15 minute rule helps me to recognize the productive expanse of ocean in the following way.

Let’s say I’ve already been finding and catching fish regularly on the troll for the previous half hour. During the previous half hour I’ve trolled a relatively straight course east through a 1/2 mile stretch of ocean. It has now been fifteen minutes since I have landed a bass, lured a bite, and marked anything on my fish finder-indicating that I’ve arrived at the last part of the fishy expanse of water.

The subsequent step will be to reel the lines in, and cruise westward, returning to where I commenced marking, and landing stripers. I’d retain a close eye on my sonar while cruising, remembering any striped bass marks that may show up.

If I mark bass on my westerly trek to where I first began marking stripers then terrific, the fish are still holding along the very same expanse of water. This is the best scenario, specifically for folks just learning how to catch striped bass.

Without doubt there will be those moments when I fail to locate bass during the journey westward. And upon motoring more than a mile west of the first spot where I originally began marking fish, I will still fail to find any life on the sonar. In moments like this I’d assume that the biomass of striped bass has moved either shallower or deeper. I’d then transition into shallower or deeper water and start a new search.

Unquestionably, the ability to uncover stripers with reliability is the very first stage to understanding how to catch striped bass.

Captain Ryan Collins fishes for striped bass and Bluefin tuna off Cape Cod, MA. Visit his blog, myfishingcapecod.com for insider tips about how to catch striped bass and giant tuna.

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Tags: boating, cape cod, Fishing, giant tuna, how to catch striped bass, how to catch tuna, outdoors, recreation, sports, striped bass, striped bass fishing

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