Is it to early to be trolling?

[swfisher]

lakes around me are already 70 degrees is it to early to troll

[PerchJerker]

It's never too early to troll. Cooler water, go slower, use stick baits with less action. Warmer water, go faster, use shad style baits with tighter wiggles and more action. Low to mid 50's is typically the line between cool and warm water.

Some springs I make a trip to Lake Erie in early to mid April, usually the water is in the 40's and we crawl along with deep divers at 1.3 to 1.6 mph. The local guys get on the water out there as soon as the ramps open and troll along the ice flows.

I fish a tournament in western Minnesota the 2nd weekend of June every year and the trolling bite is usually red hot at that time, usually with small shad rap type baits. You usually want to be over 2.5 mph --- sometimes 3.0 mph ---- at times all the way up to 3.5 mph.

So, give it a shot. It's a great way to cover water and search for active fish. Good luck.

[uglystick007]

We troll from opener to ice up. You just need to adjust speed and depth. My buddies best ever walleye came opener trolling some dead weeds in 3 ft of water.

[palisade1kid]

I've been trolling since openers for eyes.

Like it was mentioned before that water temp dictates you speed and bait size.

As the water warms you should get bigger with your baits and the speed should increase.

Mid June is the best time of the year outside of the fall,like late Oct.&early Nov.

[Team Otter]

Perch Jerker hit the nail on the head. There is no such thing as too early; just need to adjust.

[captshorelunch]

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lakes around me are already 70 degrees is it to early to troll

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No

[Muddog]

Opening day is when I start trolling. I start with shallow lakes and in July no lake is to deep.

If you haven't been trolling, you've been missing some of the best fishing of the year. Everything is shallow now and trolling is the way to go.

I've had my best luck so far this year at 2.5-3.5 mph. That includes opening day. Last Sunday I was trolling 3mph and reeling in as fast as I could to check my crankbait for weeds and a 32" Northern hit my crankbait. It was going at least 5mph!

No it is not to early. Your late.

[Team Otter]

Spoken from the mouth of the consiment troller. I love it!

[PierBridge]

Thanks guys It looks like I'll have to crank up the speed a little I've always kept the speeds slower until later in the summer, I know haven't been anywhere close to 3 mph yet.

Thanks again, Pier.

[Borch]

Speed is a very difficult thing to nail down. Let the fish show you what they want and vary speed until you find the right speed. I've caught eyes in Oct/Nov going 2.7 mph and going 1.7 mph in July/Aug. But generally they do prefer a slow speed when water is in the 40-50 degree range.

I'm a troller. Just ask anyone. The past three open water periods I've caught 90+ percent of my eyes on cranks. They work day or night.

[palisade1kid]

I'm working 1.3-1.5 right now and I'm still getting short strikes and the hooks are up front.

Once they start to inhale the bait then I can pick up the speed to 1.7-2.0

You need to know I'm in 10 FOW with a 1/4 oz jig so any faster & I'm way outta the strike zone.

I suppose I could go to a 3/8 or 1/2 oz but why change when it works just fine for the way I'm fishing.

Some cranks need to go faster to get deeper.

[Mike Walerak]

Are you asking about trolling crankbaits? If so, the magic water temp in lakes seems to be 50 degrees. Any colder and it seems like you have to go ultra slow. In this case I would rather jig. In rivers I have caught them in as cold of water as 37 degrees. River walleyes seem to be more willing to chase baits in cold water.

On another note I caught a chunky 23" walleye trolling 4.5 mph last friday. I thought it was going to snap my rod holder when it hit.

Good Luck,

[PerchJerker]

I caught a 23 incher on shad rap on Saturday, the entire shad rap was in the fishes mouth, diving bill and everything. We had to use jaw spreaders to even see the bait and get at the hooks.

[Team Otter]

Save the bait money for gas money.

[Muddog]

I hear you. Every two trips out I have to fill my six gallon tank. That 25hp Nissan must burn 1/2 gallon an hour.

[Bassboy1645]

Ditto! Lady at the bait shop up here recommended we didnt get leeches and that it was still to ealry to be throwing cranks and trolling anyhtign for that matter. We proved her wrong by catching a bunch of 22-24 inch eyes wihtin a weeks time up here. Whats even more suprising?? The fish Im finding are on reefs already but its too early for that yet...

[Muskycrazy]

Trolling a local river last weekend for Musky and my fishing partner catches a 26" Walleye on a 8" Crane Bait . Long , thin & hungry after the spawn I guess . If anybody tries to tell you your presentation for Walleyes needs to be delicate , guess again .

[Markley]

What crankbaits and lures do you guys use for trolling? Thanks.

[PerchJerker]

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What crankbaits and lures do you guys use for trolling?

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I use all of them.

Sorry to be a smarta$$ but it's close to the truth. I have my favorites that get more use than others, but I have a bad habit of collecting crankbaits, and I switch up and change out my baits a lot so they all get a lot of use.

A real key is knowing how deep you want the bait to run, as that will rule out a lot of baits or push you into more specialized techniques like leadcore line or planer boards, etc.

Good basic crankbaits include shad raps and shallow shad raps, husky jerks, and similar baits from other manufacturers. I also like reef runners and little rippers, salmos, and rogues. There's tons of other ones out there too. I guess a good rule of thumb is it's hard to go wrong with anything that says rapala. A great multi-species bait that produces a lot of fish is the jointed shad rap.

[tunrevir]

Like PJ said there are alot of baits out there but some get technique specific. Buy the ones you can use for the trolling you will be doing. Along with the cranks if you want to get the most out of the lures in your box get a trollers bible and apply the techniques in there which will help you refine your presentations as well. I like the thundersticks, raps, wally divers, bombers, smithwicks, shallow and deep shad raps, reef runners, thunderstick juniors, husky jerks, x raps, salmos, ect., they all have a time and a place but it sure is fun looking for those next hot cranks each year!

Tunrevir

[Muddog]

I'm from south central Mn. Most of the fish in this area are taken in 10 fow or less. Shallow runners are the way to go. Crankbait like small Fatraps, Lipless crankbaits and spoons. Shallow stickbait at times. With warmer water next month I will use alot of Spoonplugs. I do troll Shadrap type lures when the water is warm but I find in this area there are other lures that work much better.

[Team Otter]

Right on. Blade baits are a nice option too.