Trolling For Muskies

[motley man]

Any advice on trolling for muskies? Can't throw those lures anymore and wondering what lures and tactics to use. Is it just like northerns or is there a key depth and lures. Any help out there.

[goblueM]

i'm no expert on trolling for skis,

however - changing speed/direction is always good

they often suspend over deep water - watch your electronics

finally, dont be afraid to troll at night with depth raiders or believers, even topwaters

bulldawsg are popular for trolling, as they can easily be pumped with the rod

[50inchpig]

it really just comes down to putting in your time, changing baits, and mastering control of your boat. trolling quite a bit the past couple seasons i've learned that any bait can be effectively trolled, you don't need much line out, and trolling patterns are usually painfully simple, so think broad and don't make it complicated. replicate what works and you might find a pile of fish.

shallow cranks over deep water was one type of trolling pattern working on sham this time last year, if you're in the motley area. like casting, fish aren't in just one type of habitat, they're everywhere. i've caught fish trolling water anywhere from 4 to 35 feet, err on the high side as far as bait depth and use a little bit shorter line than you think you should.

jakes are a great trolling tool for all seasons, probably would be a good bait to use to build confidence. i know guys who troll jakes as one of their main tactics all year long, and it's becoming a prominent part of my attack too. start with a jake along the weedlines of your favorite lake and go from there. do loosen your drag a little bit and don't stop your boat right away when you get bit. try it and you'll probably be pleasantly surprised.

big joes, bulldawgs, surface baits, minnowbaits, etc are all very trollable.

and yes, for the elites out there, trolling fish count every bit as much casting fish, and are just as fun.

[john skarie]

Mid-Aug through Sept. is Rad Dog time on most MN muskie lakes.

But some Rad Dog Spinnerbaits, get the 2 oz tandem models.

Buy your favorite colors. (mine are Black/Orange with flame blade and White/Red with nickel blades for trolling).

Experiment with length of line out and speed.

Basic rule, 3-4 MPH and a full cast length of line out.

Drag doesn't need to be any tighter than enough to keep your drag from slipping while turning sharp corners.

This can be very effective in 2-3 ft of water to outside the weedlines.

JS

[RK]

Hiya -

Count me as one of those who really knows better, but still doesn't troll as much as he should...

I kind of think there are 4 flavors of trolling: longline flats trolling, open water trolling, breakline longline trolling, and shortline trolling. You can combine different pieces of each depending on the situation.

- John Skarie gave a really good summary of a great way to troll flats and weed edges, and moreover he knows what he's talking about - he's very good at it. Spinnerbaits are a great way to cover mid-depth flats when the weeds start to die back. I'd add to that jerkbait trolling. Big Daddys, Sledges, Bobbie baits and well-tuned suicks can all be trolled. In each case the bait's somewhere between 50-100 feet back and you snake troll edges and flats with baits that run fairly high in the water column. Hit points, turns, clumps of thicker weeds, etc.

- Open water trolling is just what it sounds like. In lakes with a cisco forage base (and some lakes where perch and panfish suspend over open water) OW trolling is really overlooked. I tend to use planer boards a lot when I OW troll, just to get baits away from the boat. Fish seem to get spooky when they're not around cover. I use mono when I pull boards, because it holds in releases better, and the best boards to use, IMHO, are the orange Church Tackle Walleye Boards. One mistake I think OW trollers make is thinking they have to troll deep if they're over open water. It's easy to troll under fish. I think most of the OW fish I've caught have come on baits running 2-6 feet down. I like Jakes 20-50' behind the board, Bomber Long-As, Shallow Raiders, Ernies on short lines, etc. Don't count spoons out either...

Breakline trolling is more of a bottom bouncing, running edges at a specific depth deal. It can be tough on weedy lakes unless you really know the breaklines well (marking them with a GPS or marker buoys helps) because you always have to account for the distance between your boat and bait, and constantly do the math on the angles as you follow a breakline. Works great on rock or sand breaks though. Lures here are whatever you need to get to the right depth - Believers, Ernies, Depth Raiders, Jakes, whatever.

Shortline trolling or prop wash trolling is, to me, the best way to fish tight to weed edges. You run baits 10-30 feet back so the bait really closely follows the boat's path. You don't necessarily want the bait IN the prop wash but more next to or under it. Muskies DO get attracted to the prop wash for some reason, and you get a reaction strike when the bait comes zipping by them. It's a fun way to troll - with 5 feet of line plus a 4 foot leader, a big fish hitting is quite a collision. By far my favorite shortline bait is a Sledge jerkbait, but I've caught fish on Terminators, Wiley crankbaits, Jakes, Ernies (which are a very good shortline bait for sure) and spinnerbaits too.

As I said, you can combine different types of trolling if you have more than one person in the boat. If I have 3 people open water trolling, we always run a bait (usually a Sledge) in the prop wash. Or you can troll deep diving cranks and put one bait out off the edge and up high behind a board...or a spinnerbait 10' behind a board up on the flat. Infinite ways to mix and match. It gets to be a fun puzzle to put together.

Hope this helps you get started. I hate to plug a book I wrote, but the book I did with Jack Burns a couple years ago (Pro tactics: Muskie) has some pretty detailed info on trolling during various seasonal periods. Might be worth tracking down.

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

[Deet]

I usually troll only if I can't find fish by casting. I know this is bad practice, but I just don't have much confidence in trolling. HOWEVER - Friday night I was fishing by myself waiting for a friend to meet me at the landing. It was very windy and I expected fish would be shallow. After struggling with boat control for 45 minutes and not seeing any fish, I decided to make things easy during my wait and troll. About 2 minutes or 200 yards into my troll, my Grandma (bait, not grandmother) got pounded. It was a huge rush, the first musky I ever caught while trolling. It was only 36", but I had a blast from the time it hit until the time I let her go. I can't imagine the force of a big pig striking with the boat going 4 or 5 MPH. I gotta start trolling more often.

50inchPig -

What do you mean "...and use a little bit shorter line than you think you should." Why should one do that?

[50inchpig]

when most people start trolling they cast out behind the boat, let a bunch of line out, then let more out. they get paranoid their bait isn't getting down far enough, so they let more and more line out, pretty soon they're in the weeds and confidence is blown because they don't feel like they're fishing right.

so running a shorter line than you're naturally inclined to do, for most people, will make your whole presentation more efficient, probably shorten the learning curve quite a bit if you're new to trolling a lot.

and i'm totally trying the rad dog thing JS suggested, sounds like a great tactic anywhere but a super way to search shallower water.

[Nick Kuhn]

Trolling is something I rarely do, but should do more. Part of the problem is I've never landed a ski trolling, but I have caught lots of good sized pike doing so. Might mean I'm not trolling shallow enough.

[nater]

I still don't troll as much as I should even after hearing many reports of people catching multiple fish trolling. I've personally haven't caught any fish but boat partners have had good luck with it.

Last year in Sept I decided to troll this expansive weed flat that averaged 6-8 feet. I grabbed a jerkbait and my brother grabbed a supermodel. I started trolling in a zig zag pattern down the line to examine it and in the first 10 minutes the supermodel just behind the boat maybe 30 feet basically bulging got nailed.

I like the rad dog idea as well!

[Shoot2Kill]

I was fighting one of the worst winds I've ever fished in on July 2nd....my little 16 foot Lund looked like it was on the deadliest catch with the bow pointing into the waves for a few hours while I stood in the middle of the boat just to keep from falling out. I was only out there because I needed a break from the inlaws and dind't want to go back...haha...so I kept at it, against better judgement.

After about 3 hours of that I couldn't take it and headed to the other end of the lake, looked in my MN muskie map book and the comments in the book about a certain spot made me clip on my shiney new Krave and start trolling. Within minutes of it being down it got smashed! She was only 40" but the hit, her head shakes, and fighting her all the way back to the boat sure made her feel like a hog. I was instantly hooked on trolling. Sure felt good to get her after the beating I took from the wind. I've tried quite a few baits since that day, but I don't give it a long enough chance since I was spoiled on that 40.

Some great tips in this thread that I'm looking forward to trying out.

[john skarie]

To add to Rob's post on Jerk-bait trolling, it's very effective to actually jerk the baits as you troll in the fall.

Instead of letting the baits just run behind the boat, stand-up (if you try this sitting down you will realize very quickly why I say stand), and jerk your rods forward every 10 seconds or so.

Works best with suicks, wade's, big daddy's and such.

Run about 2 mph, or slower, and get ready for a violent strike.

This works well late in the year because weeds are dying down, you can go over the tops of them without to much snagging.

Very fun, but tiring way to troll.

JS

[10,000 Casts]

we don't troll a ton but when we do we open water troll and troll off the breaks. We use mostly 13" Grandmas, Jakes and Depthraiders. They seem to go down 18-22 ft at 3-3.5 mph with 75-100 feet of line or so out. Loosen up the drag a little and turn the clicker on and put the rods in the holder and listen to a ball game or eat some breakfast/lunch/dinner. Use your electronics and look for baitfish or even better yet, Muskies... It's not uncommown to catch fish over 80 feet of water. We also like trolling around humps that top out around 20-30 feet with 60 feet plus all around them. Trolling is also good to dry and warm up the hands a bit in October.

[jkahler]

Rad Dogs, Musky Mayhem Cyco Spin, Funky Chicken spinnerbaits, and 10" Believers are my favorite things to troll.

10-30ft of line out, one rod straight back off the transom, and one on each side of the boat is how I set up. I haven't had any luck with planer boards yet, but I'm experimenting with running topwaters behind them (the board catches the weeds and keeps the lure running clean).

One thing many people don't realize is you can really learn the water and find places to cast by trolling. I have cast an area and had action, then trolled it and caught one.

My first and only 50"er was caught trolling when I put the motor in neutral to reel in and check the lure for weeds. Half a turn of the handle and bam! Fish on. Trolling across open water to fish another break and we got a 35" last year. Anything can happen at just about any time.

[HugoBox]

There's already a bunch of good stuff. The only thing I'd add is to not run through an area or along a weedline once and assume there are no fish if you don't get bit. If you have a spot that you know holds fish they may not bite until you've made multiple passes and maybe from different directions.

Also, another tip I learned from 50Pig is to use different color trails on your GPS on new trips.

[MNBIGBEAR]

When you guys say "open water" is there any rhyme or reason to the areas you choose to do this? or do you just pick a line and cross your fingers? I believe there is a huge number of big muskies that follow cisco schools during the summer and have dabbled in open water trolling but have had no luck. Tons of good info on this post already. My dad cant cast musky baits for very long and think this might be the way to finally get him into a big muskie.

[jkahler]

I don't have much experience with the whole open water/suspended deal, but what I do is fish out from structure (like an island), or around the mouth of rivers, creeks, etc.

The day we got the 35" in open water was a cold front and super windy. It was a few hundred yards from a productive weed flat.