Let me give you some examples. Bluefish swarmed in the chum slick off the New Jersey coast as we worked to produce a television show. The action was steady. Put a bait out there and you were battling a bluefish. While all this was going on, I took another rod with a swimming plug, streamed it off to one side, and put the rod in a holder. This was my lone soldier—a different bait that merely sat out there while our focus was on catching bluefish.
Suddenly, a mako shark appeared in the slick. I had another rod rigged “just in case one showed up” and the mako ate that bait. After a brief skirmish, the mako broke off and disappeared, so we went back to bluefishing. I was slugging it out with a nice blue when the skipper told me the lone soldier rod was bending double. “It’s probably another bluefish,” I countered. “Let’s land this one first.” When I finally picked up the rod, the mako had inhaled the swimming plug and it added a whole new dimension to the show.
For a significant number of years, I have been fishing that lone soldier every chance I get. Off the Mississippi Coast red snapper were the targeted species. Since we had them chummed up off the bottom, I wanted to take a couple on fly. Every time I put the fly in front of a fish, the lone soldier rod formed a U and I had to pull the fly away from a fish. After two or three of these sequences, I kept the lone soldier in the boat while I channeled my energies on catching red snappers on fly.
On the trolling scene, if you are dragging natural baits or even artificial lures, it’s easy to add something totally different such as a trolling feather. It may surprise you that fish sometimes pass up all the goodies in the spread and grab the feather or plug or whatever the lone soldier happens to be.
The bait of choice when we were fishing tarpon in deeper channels was live mullet. Rolling tarpon confirmed that we were in the right spot, but other than a few half-hearted strikes, the tarpon were not feasting on mullet at the moment. That’s when we put out another rod with a sinker and half a fresh mullet on the bottom. A few minutes later, 160-pounder (the captain’s estimate) was airborne with a circle hook in its jaw. Once again, the lone soldier paid off.
There are countless variations on the lone soldier concept. It could be an outfit with lighter line or a lighter abrasion leader. Even if the situation doesn’t allow you to stream a different offering, keep one handy. If your primary approach is not working, shift gears and try the one you have in reserve. Once you’re willing to experiment and offer fish a varied menu, the results will probably surprise you. The lone soldier has worked for me more times than I can count and I know it will work for you.
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