Fishing Northerns

[LuckBites]

I fish northerns quite a bit in the Summer and have always caught fish trolling tipped spinnerbaits or using raps over weeds. Seems like this time of year there's more luck to be had on the outer weed edges with deeper baits. What are some baits you've found succesful on deeper structure? Are the Rapala DT's good?

[Guest]

Cisco Kids, Depth Raiders, Magnum Rapalas as well as #18's, Jakes and Grandmas are all good. Troll em on the outside weed edge, crank your speed up to 5mph and HOLD ON!!!

[Dan Thiem]

8" sucker minnow under a big float along the weeds.Usually 8-11-feet deep with float set at about 3-6 feet.

[Bushwacker]

Tom,
What size of lakes are you doing that kind of trolling on? It seems that I can never find any notherns large enough to take baits of that size during the summer except on the big lakes like Mille Lacs or Winnie. It sounds like a fun way to fish!

[soldoncass]

I have a question about that method of trolling. Do you actually hold the rod with those big baits going that fast, or do you use rod holders? I tried a larger size deep runner, trolling reasonably fast a couple times, but couldn't do it very long holding the rod.

[Guest]

spoonplugs 15-18 feet deep 2.5 - 3mph on the up wind side of the deep holes. Don't forget to hit the top of the bars and let the spoonplug sit on the bottom on the inside turns.

[Jarrod32]

I, too, like fishing for northerns this way. I prefer the spinnerbaits...I can get them right into the top of the weeds without getting snagged up.

There are some smaller and mid-sized lakes that hold nice northerns...Sallie and Melissa around DL, Marion around the Otter Tail area...just a few examples. There are lots of good lakes for northern.

[LuckBites]

Thanks for the replies! I was out last night on the weedlines and had luck in 12 ft with rattle raps, shallow shads & DT10's. I need to venture out and try some of these suggestions! I've fished open water for muskie's but a little new to targetting northerns the same way.

[Guest]

This will work on any lake as long as you can stay on the outside edge of the weeds. Lakes with fairly straight breaklins work the best for obvious reasons.

Bait size is not an issue with pike!!
Even the small fish will hit on the largest of baits.

I usually hold the rod. I hold it with my left hand accross my body to take some pressure off and to absorb the shock. I have gotten bruises on my ribs and chest from fish hitting hard...OUCH!!

I just do not trust rod holders with this type of fishing. A big fish will more than likely break the holder.

You also only need to run the bait back 20-50 feet, sometimes more, sometimes less. There have been many articles written about fishing this way directly in the prop-wash even. Seems large predators are attracted to either the prop or the noise.

It's a total rush when one hits. I liken it to holding onto a rod with a brick tied to it and having someone throw the brick out your car window doing 55. WHAM!! Even the snakes feel like monsters.

[Borch]

When I was younger we used to troll big spinnersbaits and cranks in the prop wash going fast(3.5+ mph). The hit would usually just about rip the rod out of your hands.

Borch