I tried trolling for lings and it’s been a disaster 
I used a 3 way swivel, one arm attached to a torpedo sinker, one with a treble and sliding snell hook and one attached to the main line. It was tangle paradise.. my bait was always twisted around either the sinker line or the main line. I tried only sending it down while moving, same thing.
What are your best trolling advices?

Get someone to show you the right gear and techniques in person = my advice.

There are guides who specialize in trolling  , or you can go the slower and cheaper route.   

Season's closed now, so set your sights on next May.

I suppose you can troll for other species to practice.  Or try your gear in the bay for stripers. I used to use a 3 way and it would wrap itself when I let it drop too fast. The leader without weight would get pushed up and wrap around the mainline. Other than going slow, I don’t know any other tips.

Switch to a spreader bar instead of a 3 way swivel. For Lings I like to use 50 lbs line to pull the big ones out of their caves. Then 25 lb breakaway line for the sinker.  It rarely tangles for me. https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/g-pucci-t-bead-spreader

This right here.  I use this rig for live bait drifting too, hardly ever get tangled. Spreader bar with heavy mono is the ticket.

To add to the great advice above: I never use a 3-way. I often use a slider for my sinker above the swivel clip, and bead chain or barrel swivels on the bait side. If I don’t have the slider pre-rigged I will sometimes use the small spreader mentioned above. I prefer the slider since in theory you have less weight interference between you and the fish. For lingcod and RF you may want a longer line (of lower test) to the weight than to the bait so you snag and lose the weight instead of your whole rig. But I still haven’t followed this advice and lost my rig again at FR yesterday.
In any case lowering slowly while moving has been the biggest change for me that got me out of those tangles.

I troll at least 95% of the time, and I agree that a slider is a much better option than a 3-way. Heavier mono for the leader can help too. Of course, moving while letting out line is essential, but you also want to be sure to move at a steady speed. A pedal kayak makes it a lot easier, but it's certainly possible to troll while paddling.

I'm a big fan of the crosslocks that were mentioned above, but I'm not sure those have much direct effect on reducing line tangles.

Get someone to show you the right gear and techniques in person = my advice.

There are guides who specialize in trolling  , or you can go the slower and cheaper route.   

Season's closed now, so set your sights on next May.

I can attest to your method... picked up a 39" 26lb ling cod this past Friday. Had to switch to another method to stop catching more.

Quote from: LoletaEric on November 30, 2024, 10:06:19 PM

Get someone to show you the right gear and techniques in person = my advice.

There are guides who specialize in trolling  , or you can go the slower and cheaper route.   

Season's closed now, so set your sights on next May.

I can attest to your method... picked up a 39" 26lb ling cod this past Friday. Had to switch to another method to stop catching more.

Well if you're a stealth guy it takes 3 strokes to pull 4.5kts.  figuratively.  Love dat paddle style...

Also forgot to mention most of my tangles occur on the turn around if I don't go wide enough...