trolling speeds

[Quinn]

what speed (mph) should I be trolling small crank baits for walleye this spring.......also what speed should i be trolling lindy rigs with a leech or crawler..........are they the same or different? I will be fishing mostly rocks and weeds 8-20 fow

[PerchJerker]

I think a good starting point is 2.0 mph, +/- .2 mph until you find out of it's working. If you're using stick baits then maybe a tad slower, if you're using shad baits then maybe a tick faster.

And, it really depends on water temperature. If it's warmer that 55 degrees maybe try a little faster, if cooler than 55 degrees maybe try a bit slower.

Without knowing your lake or situation, 20 fow seems pretty deep to me at this time of year. I'd think more like 6-12 fow would be more typical???

[stifler51]

2.0mph sounds a little fast for leeches. U dont wanna interrupt the natural swim motion of the leech. if u pull leeches too fast they spin in the water or flatten out completely. slower is better with a leech but u wont cover as much water as what u would want to trolling but is a great way to present a leech over an area of water rather then just casting one spot over and over.

[meatfish]

I agree with stifler51 on the leech speed.I work a leech at a crawl(I like my line to be almost straight up and down) and let the natural swimming action of the leech do the work for me, it works great!

[paceman]

I usually fish all my live bait rigs pretty slow. Unless I am using a spinner than just fast enough to get a good flash vibration. Like others said, almost verticle.

[Sandmannd]

Live bait I troll anywhere from .2 MPH to 1.5 MPH depending on the bite. Cranks I start at around 2 MPH.

[PerchJerker]

Good point, I was talking about trolling crankbaits, I missed the part about rigging with crawlers and leeches.

For rigging you should be very slow, like 0.6 or under. If you are using spinner rigs then you probably need to be going 0.8 or more to get the blade to turn.