[heimskr]

It feels almost sacrilegious to say since I've been a caster my whole life but I think I'm gonna give trolling a try.
Seeing SO many posts about the trollers catching lots of fish (troller11's post saying he's caught 80......80!!! musky this year when I've only boated 3 really got me thinking. H3ll it was almost giving me nightmares!!!).

Since I am a fisherman and catching fish is the goal I should keep all avenues open.
So any advice for a newbie troller would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Canuck]

Big baits...4.0 on your GPS, south shore and 18 FOW. Bucktails have been HOT! G'luck!

 

[BASSTEK]

Trolling the south shore is fun and you will probably put more and bigger fish in the boat. I think when You get one casting it is more rewarding. Plus Anchor bay is a lot closer to home for me. Good luck and have fun.

 

[heimskr]

QUOTE(BASSTEK @ Jul 19 2009, 10:07 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Trolling the south shore is fun and you will probably put more and bigger fish in the boat. I think when You get one casting it is more rewarding. Plus Anchor bay is a lot closer to home for me. Good luck and have fun.

I agree, casting is much more rewarding. That's why I prefer it and haven't tried trolling before.

 

[eaglelarry]

I wouln't get lock in to 1 speed (3.5 to 4.0 mph). granted, LOT"s of musky are caught at that speed.
Lots also caught while walleye and perch speeds. If they aren't biting at 4 mph don't be afrasid to back it down and try slower speeds.
The bigger they get , the more fickle they get.
Straight line trolling isn't the only way either, zig-zag,turns all are required on the right day and time.

 

[gimmeteeth]

Why not troll until you locate them, then cast where you catch fish?

Agreed with EagleLarry: I've caught most of my toothy critters at 3.5mph+. but caught my biggest 2 muskies and my largest properly hooked pike at 2.2mph. Mostly late in the fall, when the water was very cold, granted, though the biggest musky came at the beginning of October, when it was still warm.

 

[6667supersport]

Ive been thinking of doing the same thing, trying trolling a little to locate some fish. Its awful tempting when U see all the posts from a lot of different people catching good numbers of fish and good sized fish.

 

[troller11]

QUOTE(BASSTEK @ Jul 19 2009, 10:07 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Trolling the south shore is fun and you will probably put more and bigger fish in the boat. I think when You get one casting it is more rewarding. Plus Anchor bay is a lot closer to home for me. Good luck and have fun.

i hear ya on that,why i was beating up the mile roads during the hatch. nice fish not a far run to catch em

 

[snowman]

I'm going to go out Tuesday after work trolling for 'skies. Wanna go? I'll show ya my set up.

 

[heimskr]

I'll have to check on that one. But if I can I would love to come!

Hey troller you get 81 yet? or am I behind?

I do like the idea of troll till you get one, mark it & then cast the snot out of the spot.

 

[gimmeteeth]

QUOTE(heimskr @ Jul 20 2009, 08:51 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>I do like the idea of troll till you get one, mark it & then cast the snot out of the spot. my emphasis

That's a great way of putting it, really. Remember, it takes something like 2-3 turns of the reel per second to crank the lure in at typical trolling speeds of 3.5 to 4 mph. That's pretty good crankin'.

Also remember the same body baits will run higher cast than trolled -- diving lip gets 'em well down trolled, even without weight.

Also, it's not easy to "zero in" on the spot when moving so fast. Have to be quick marking the spot, and then make an educated guess as to how far back the fish actually saw the bait. Nonetheless, I think muskies tend to hang out in concentrations that cover some area, based on my observations of catching them within a few hundred feet of the same spot time and time again.

I like to put a swivel chain on the front end of my leader to catch weeds and prevent line twist when trolling, followed by a 2ft leader section, followed by a 4ft section, which I can remove to get a castable leader if I want to cast. It goes snap on the end of main line, snap swivel to which I attach another snap or snap swivel that hangs down to hold weight (if I wish to add any) and the swivel chain, followed by the 2ft and 4 ft leader sections, each of which have a snap swivel on the back end and a snap on the business end.

Important to have really good, heavy duty rod holders (like Down-East Salty) when trolling. Muskies will destroy flimsy tackle.

 

[heimskr]

Whats a swivel chain? Using all that hardware you have to be using huge , heavy swivels/snaps to trust that many possible failure points. I prefer the KISS concept especially when it comes to possible failure points.

I believe the same when it comes to the skies hanging out in one area, the spot on the spot concept. I've hit breaks and within a 100 yard or so yard area had all the follows or hits and nothing else even though I worked a 1/4 or 1/2 mile section.

Finding the spot that the musky came from will be part of the fun that's for sure!

I do have weights to attach, up 16 ouncer's if that becomes necessary.

As far as rods go I have a bunch of heavy salmon trolling rods that were routinely used for big kings so I think they'll work. Tho' one I think is a bit soft so I may not use it for skies.

I take it you guys are using boards? I just got a big john 6' double reel mast with 2 rivera boards for that.

 

[gimmeteeth]

I don't have planer boards. Small boat. May pick up some heavy-duty Off-Shore inline planers to get a better spread.

A swivel chain is swivel with several large swivel beads. I've got them at Lakeside and Professional Fishing. Great for preventing line twist and catching floating weeds.

All the components I use are pretty heavy-duty. Keeping the lure clear of floating weeds and avoiding line twist (especially when using bucktails) far outweigh the possibility of failure at one of those points.

 

[heimskr]

make sense especially the swivel chain!

 

[troller11]

QUOTE(heimskr @ Jul 20 2009, 08:51 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>I'll have to check on that one. But if I can I would love to come!

Hey troller you get 81 yet? or am I behind?

I do like the idea of troll till you get one, mark it & then cast the snot out of the spot.

at 85 muskies for the season my last 2 times out were on other peoples boats ill have mine out sat/suday this week for sure hopefully can add to my numbers

 

[heimskr]

QUOTE(troller11 @ Jul 20 2009, 02:57 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>QUOTE(heimskr @ Jul 20 2009, 08:51 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>I'll have to check on that one. But if I can I would love to come!

Hey troller you get 81 yet? or am I behind?

I do like the idea of troll till you get one, mark it & then cast the snot out of the spot.

at 85 muskies for the season my last 2 times out were on other peoples boats ill have mine out sat/suday this week for sure hopefully can add to my numbers


Nice. Hopefully I can start to post #'s like that next year with a combo of trolling and casting. That's should almost be illegal....it's like having your cake & eating it too!

 

[heimskr]

Alright! My first foray into trolling was a success thanks to snowman! Great guy! I learned a lot and had more fun than I was expecting. The anticipation is excruciating! He let me grab all three fish, which I felt kinda bad about. I'm of the opinion that you alternate but he said go for it.

We ended up catching 3 fish, 2 small pike and a small musky to close out the day.

3 toothy critters in one day is much, much better than I've done in a single day. I'm good for one but that seems to be about it.

I can honestly say I'm hooked on trolling and will use it on a regular basis now. It wont replace casting but it will definitely be a tool that I'll put to good use.

Here are the pics that snowman took.

Thanks again snowman I had a blast and I look forward to taking you out on my boat for some casting.

 

[snowman]

Glad you had a good time and we found some fish. The two Pike were caught near Brunner Island trolling a 12" black/gold Jake about 3.5 to 4mph maybe 15 feet back. The Musky hit out from my canal on a 8" blue/silver Jake maybe 30 feet back. Both fish on boat rods. Nothing in the wash, nothing on boards but did have a good hit on a board. We started slow and didn't pick up speed for maybe 1 1/2 hours. One of the Pike hit directly in the middle of that big Jake. Had to come straight up underneath it. All fish swam away.

Trolling is easy but its the little tricks everyone has that make a difference.

 

[Zib]

heimskr,

Where did you get that shirt? I WANT ONE!

I will were it to work on Casual Fridays & really piss some people off.