Musky Trolling Question

[lawman]

Finally got my boat set up with a kicker and want to start trolling for Muskies next year. Will be pulling all sizes of baits. I am good with reels but I would like advice on rods and line info for strictly trolling. As far as rods...length, one or two piece? As far as line...braid, dacron, florocarbon? Any help would be appreciated.

[Esox_Magnum]

I use the same set up's I cast with, 9' Tackle Industris rods with Revo Toro 60' and 80# braid....I don't troll alot so no need for special equipment taking up room in the boat.

[mainbutter]

I don't do a ton of trolling, but I got to fish with a guy who trolls a lot.

Basically it seemed the same as most musky setups except he splurged and got some line counter reels.

8' rods, 80lb braided line, fluorocarbon leaders

When I troll (for any species) I use the same rigs I use for casting.

[Shawn Kellett]

Shimano TDR's are the ticket for trolling. They're pretty inexpensive and have an over the counter warranty. You can get 3 of these for the price of 1 rod you'd cast with. Get some MH and H action's for the range of stuff you'd be pulling. Thornes has them in stock typically.

[jkahler]

I use my old 7'6" rods and Abu 6500 reels with 80lb PowerPro. I use a Saltist and a heavier rod for bigger baits like a 12" Big Game.

The Down East rod holders are the way to go. The Folbe holders are good too.

[RK]

Hiya -

Some random thoughts...

- Shawn's right on about the rods. TDRs and Shimano Telora Dipsey Diver rods are great trolling rods, and cheap as all get out. Shelling out major $ for a trolling rod is nuts...IMHO.

- Take the money you save on rods and spend it on a couple reels. A good drag is worth it. I've pretty much gone over to Shimano Tekota line counters, and they're awesome. You can get the 600-size, but I have some 500s too and they're fine. Not like muskies take 100 yd runs... I also have some Okumas, and even the cheap ones (Magda 20D or 30D) work fine, and they're about $40 on sale at Fleet Farm, so that's nice. But if you can afford the Shimanos...get 'em. Line counters aren't a necessity, but they're sure nice.

- I use braid for everything EXCEPT planer boards. I use 20# or 25# mono (Berkley Big Game) on boards. The stretch helps keep fish hooked while you reel in the board, and it holds better in the line releases.

- I've used RAM 2000 rod holders for years and never had one fail. I started using them after I saw them on Doug Johnson's boat, because if he can't break them, nobody can...

Hope that helps.

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

[10,000 Casts]

good tips above...

I have an 8'6" Lamiglass XH that I bought hoping to use for double 10s and it loaded up way to much on the 8 to now in is my casting mag dawg and trolling rod. It has a bit of a slower action and it is super sensitive. My only worry is when will it break.. But it's lasted 2 years so I'm happy at this point.. My buddies just use the same stuff they cast with. I've gone to using 36" flourocarbon leaders to keep the weeds from collecting closer to the bait. My buddy has the Rams and ther work great and I have the Scottys.

[RK]

Hiya -

Couple thoughts on leaders... For trolling around weeds or over open water, I use 130# fluorocarbon. It has less to do with visibility than fish friendliness though. I hate how stranded leaders - especially seven strand - slice up fish if they roll, which they tend to do when you hook them trolling, especially in cold water. Fluoro gets chewed up on rocks though, so for Lake of the Woods I use 175# 49-strand wire. It's about 3x softer than seven strand, and doesn't kink nearly as badly. I can use one leader for days without it kinking, while with seven strand I was usually changing leaders a couple time a day.

One of the annoying things with trolling weedy lakes is getting lures fouled with weeds. A few ways to combat it:

- Take a 5/0 treble and snip the barbs off, then hang it from a split ring on the front swivel of the leader.

- Put your rod tip in the water

- My favorite - take a 8 or 10" piece of weed trimmer string and tie it in an overhand knot above your leader so the tag ends stick out to the sides. Deflects an amazing amount of weeds away from your bait but doesn't actually collect any. Learned it from a st. clair troller, and it works awesome.

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

[john skarie]

The shimano rods are very nice for trolling cranks. I use a 9 1/2" model with a line-counter and 25 lb. mono for all my cranks.

This is the only set-up I've never lost a fish trolling with. If you get one on it's a done deal. I'm also using barbless hooks on my cranks.

For spinnerbaits you want a heavier tipped rod with no-stretch line so you can detect when you have weeds on. The rod will vibrate when lures are clean and go "limp" when fouled.

The stiffer rod and no-strech line will also give your spinnerbait a little more action when you speed up or make sharp turns. Baits will rise or fall quicker and be more pronounced in the way the look of the lure changes.

I don't own any tekota's, yet. I've used Rob's though and they are very nice. Until my diawa's [PoorWordUsage] out on me though they will have to do.

JS