Trolling Help (very basic)

[Hory]

Hey there, I recently purchased a smaller 14 foot shallow lund to fish out of. As a very young child, I remember trolling from similar boats in our hometown river (5-14 feet of water most places) with just basic Spinning rods and various Rapalas, and other types of shad raps and having decent luck for Northerns, Walleyes, and Smallmouth. Do you have any helpful hints about ANYTHING surrounding the topic? (boat control, speed, line choice, lure choice, amount of line to run out, etc.) I have done a lot of trolling on larger bodies of water with much larger boats and leadcore line and downriggers, but attempting this out of a small 14 foot boat in current with my spinning rods seems to be VERY different. I tried this the other night with a buddy and managed to catch a few small bass and walleye (probably just luck) using Berkley Flicker Shads and shallow Rapalas. The majority of our time was spent trolling upstream along some steeper rip-rapped areas that dropped off from a steady shelf in the middle of the river. We definately weren't overly efficient or productive though. Thanks for any tips or pointers!

[KTapper]

First off I would rig the boat up with rod holders if you haven't yet. Then I would invest in a trolling rod with a line counter it helps so much in trolling your cranks at a consistant depth I like to run 10# powerpro. You may also want to invest in some planer boards if you are trolling in shallow water to get the cranks out from the boat. Oh and remember you can never have to many crankbaits.

[PerchJerker]

Line counters are a good idea if you're doing a lot of trolling, especially precision trolling ---- and I have several linecounters that I use a lot ---- but in many situations I troll with a low profile casting reel that is not a line counter. Not using a line counter gets the bait out there quicker because you can cast, it's smaller lighter and more comfortable to hold, and if you're fishing in a situation where you're ripping through weeds or bumping bottom, or maxing out the depth of your crankbait, you don't get much benefit from a line counter reel.

I use a no stretch line like power pro on all my trolling setups (except planer boards where I use mono). A no stretch line will let you know as soon as you hit bottom or pick up a weed, and you can often clear weeds by ripping the line.

Even if you don't use a line counter, try to pay attention to how much line you have out --- ie. a long cast or a short cast, or how much more line you stripped off after your cast, etc. In trolling you want to be able to repeat what's working.

Speed control is one of the most critical things in trolling and you really want to be able to repeat your speed. A simple handheld gps can be a big help in this area. Vary your speed until you find what works, and don't be afraid to kick it up at this time of year - 3.0 to 3.5 is not too fast in the height of summer.

Hope this helps a bit, and good luck.

[stifler51]

Precision Trolling book is great to use trolling crankbaits and a line counter reel. I use an 8'3" med rod with a line counter reel on it and 10# Fireline. I always use a line counter, even when im trolling a bottom bouncer, for the simple fact that u wanna keep the bouncer at a 45 degree, well simple your in 15 FOW let out 30 feet of line and u have a 45 degree.

If i had to pick which items i wouldnt want to troll without

- Line Counter

- Pricision Trolling book

- GPS of some sort whether on a depth finder or handheld

- Some way of telling depth, either a vexilar or a fish finder.

- Lures, doesnt really matter just something u like and are confident in. My lure of choice is either Rapala Shad Raps or Salmo Hornets

[Jim Almquist]

Trolling in current and trolling in the lake can be a lot different and most of that depends on the flow of the river because it will have a affect on the amount of depth you will achieve with different plugs. If the river is small and narrow you might only have a small section that you will be able to troll without hitting bottom. The way you describe what you are doing is exactly what we would do in the Mississippi river just south of Lake Winnibigoshish. Troll upstream with #9,#13 and jointed Rapalas. The color patterns that we liked were the silver and the orange. Just let out enough line so that you are not hitting bottom and if the depth drops let out more line but this is the part that is dependent on the current. We would catch almost every type of fish in the river and the only problem was getting hooks in the fingers from handling so many fish. One little trick that will help put more fish in the boat is to make sure to change your lure speed by giving it a quick pull or slowly let your rod tip drop back. You will be surprised how many more bites you will get.