Trolling with NO luck

[IWork2Fish]

I need some help. I can’t seem to catch a walleye trolling since I got a boat and started fishing a lot. I would have thought at least one hookup by now with all of my effort.

I can stop and catch walleye with lindy rigs. I have been able to catch everything else trolling: perch, 9 pound northern, crappie, and bass.

I have tried pulling spinners with bottom bouncers, floating raps, jointed raps, shad raps, and tail dancers. I just bought 2 more trolling rods that I was thinking of putting lead core on them so I can fish the raps deepers. Using the trolling book the only thing I can get down deeper is the deep diving tail dancers. Right now the 2 trolling rods I have are setup with 10 and 12lb mono.

I have a 150 4 stroke and just bought a 48 inch drift sock in order to slow it down. It seems with an 18 ft alumacraft trophy the trolling motor only gets me .1-1.5/1.6 range and the 150 can’t get me below 2.3 unless I am back trolling into tons of wind and getting wet. Am I now trying to go slower and everyone else is trolling faster?

I just feel discourages since I have spent about $1,000 between rods, crankbaits, etc. I have debated on spending the next $3K for a kicker, but I am not sure that will really change my luck.

[BobT]

In late July to early August you could try speed trolling. I've done this with speeds up to about 5mph pulling shad raps. Give plenty of line so you can feel it ticking the bottom. You'll need to use crankbaits that will dive to the depth you want to target.

[solbes]

I go through periods of good succcess and then some dry spells too. Don't get too frustrated with it. Have you tried different lakes, or is most of your trolling on one lake only?

Don't be afraid to try new things. I used to troll pretty fast, and pretty loud (2.7-3.0 min with 90 horse 2S). I was often right on the outside weedline. Some success but never a pattern that I could go to. I got queiter and slower with my Yamaha 4S 75 and fished deeper. Success went up. Got better yet using my electric going 1.6 or 1.7, which I thought was too slow to give adequate action to the lures. Also now I'm much deeper than I used to fish. So for me, it seems the walleyes are easily spooked and not as aggressive as I once believed.

I would try 10lb Fireline to get you an extra 10-20% depth out of your existing lures. Cheap to do and with lots of line out your lures will go pretty deep and have better feel. Bump the bottom on occasion. Try running shallower at times.

[slurpie]

sounds like you need some confidence, You sound frustrated You should be able to find some trolling what you have. If you can stop and catch them with a lindy look for a rapala that will get you to that depth or slightly above. To me trolling usually is to target the more aggressive fish in the school.

[Borch]

Some of the best trolling of the year will be coming up in the next month or so. Especially after the sun sets. Should definitely help with confidence.

[fishermatt]

My best speed as of late has been right around 3 mph, with occasional bursts up to about 4 then back down.

Are you trolling during low light hours? The lakes I fish are fairly clear (disk readings of 8-15 feet) and I have found it a lot harder to get walleyes trolling during the day on these lakes, but from a couple hours before sunset to after midnight there is usually something out there willing to snap.

Is the lake you fish known to have a decent trolling bite? Some lakes for whatever reason just aren't easy to crack.

Also, the fish are usually in 1 of 2 places, either right on the edge or else up on the flat. Some days you need to be right on the edge within 30 feet of the break in order to get fish, and other times (like last night) you need to be up on top of the flat away from the break a ways.

[Jim Almquist]

Another way to slow down your boat is to trim the motor up a little so the thrust is not straight back but up a little. You will lose a little boat control but it might just get those speeds were you want them. You will find that you will catch more if you change speeds of your lure when you are running over a flat area because sometimes they will follow the lure until there is a speed change and will smack it cause they think it is trying to get away.

[slabchaser]

we had some of the same problems last week. Dad has a new boat much smaller motor but the eyes still wanted a really slow troll. Our best luck came at 1-1.5mph with the trolling motor and try using some crawlers we got a lot of hits on them. I agree you are dicouraged right now. Go out with the midset that you want to enjoy your time on the water, the sound of the water the scenery and things could start falling into place. You are psyching yourself out. just let it happen. We need the temp to drop a little but are coming up on a magical time for fishing. keep at it.

[IWork2Fish]

Thanks for all the tips so far.

I am not discouraged yet, just disappointed. I am not going to give up. I figure if I can put other fish in the boat I will overcome this too. I just have read many posts, watched others do it and tried different things with no luck.

I just need to learn more and get help from all the pros on here. I am really so new to walleye fishing and it may be some small things I am doing wrong that would really change it all. I first thought it was depth and speed issues. Now I am thinking its not that.

As for lakes I have trolled most of the ones I have recently been on: Forest, Turtle in Shoreview, Mile lacs, Upper Turtle in WI, Green in Chisago, Long Lake in Shoreview, and probably a few others I am forgetting. I have tried the night, daytime, and when we had the full moon here a week or so ago. I have missed some fish and wondered if the missed ones were walleye. I have been able to get Crappies pulled in while trolling so I don’t think its due to hard of a hookset, etc.

The odd thing is I can mark fish and catch the northern, bass etc. However, all of the walleye I have ever caught were not marked on my Lowrance. I am not sure if they are just moving around fast or stuck so close to the bottom. One thing that may be part of the cause is I mark fish and try to focus on those areas (Points/Breaks/Depths, etc.)

I am starting to think I have 3 options

1) Go back over to WI where I can run 3 poles and it will give me a lot more to experiment with. I don’t think there are any decent walleye lakes close though.

2) Beg someone on here to let me go out with them for a few hours to see how its done so I can have a better chance of learning… LOL

3) Spend more money and higher a guide for a ½ or full day

[Learning2Fish]

Its not just you having problems catching fish while trolling. The lakes around here have been really slow and producing fish. Little walleyes are always more active than the larger ones. Sometimes the smaller fish will hit your bait before the larger ones even have a chance.

also try a lake that has a more of a chance for walleyes. What lakes around you have less species that will hit a rap when trolling. Bass, northern, bullhead, catfish, sheephead and so such. Also fish in shallower waters tend to be more active compared to the fish in deeper water.

My best luck have been on shallower running shad raps and countdowns in the lakes that i fish. Also color is a big key in many cases. My first color is the silver/black then perch color.

Are you fishing really clear water or darker green? If your fishing greenish water then maybe a firetiger and if clear then you might wanna try fishing back further from the motor. Myself i use 8 pound fireline and continously hold my rod instead of a rodholder. That way i can feel when the lure bounces off the bottom, over a fish, or even gets a weed on a hook to lose the vibration.

1. Hold the rod

2. let enough line out so you can feel your rap working vibrating.

3. Change speed of boat/change lures for actions.

4. Dark water use alot of action and rattling.

5. Clear water natural colors with more line out.

6. Lure size might wanna try smaller for more bites.

7. Make sure the rod is senitive (i use a med light)

Myself instead of hiring a guide, invite a friend out that way you have 2 poles instead of one and saves a bunch of money. There are alot of little things that come into play. Also let the weather be stable for 2-3 days instead of going out right after a cold front.

If nothing else take a bunch of food with, toss a line out and enjoy eating, relaxing in the boat in hopes of a bite. Another big thing is ask around any of the locals. A large portion of them are more than willing to give you any information you ask.

Good luck and have fun.