trolling for gills

[indianahooker]

how many of you troll for gills?  i used to but have gotten away from it.  if i started again, what new lures are you guys using?  anything different than long lining?  i hear the term "pushing cranks" a lot.  not sure if thats the old bell sinker three way rig or not.  anyone successful doing that?

[fishcrazy]

I like to troll mepps spinners. No real need for weight just adjust speed accordingly. Only BIG gills hit those

[bigr]

I've had luck trolling small tube jigs and small twister. 32oz with lite line trolled slow.

[Piggyn]

I make my own spinner rigs.

[indianahooker]

you know, i guess i forgot about the spinners.  we used to tie up our own spinner rigs, on Erie, in the 80s.  i took cpt jimmy's Erie rigs and down sized them for gills.  i used that for at least one summer, and did good.  kinda got bored with trolling and abandoned it.  getting older and thinking about getting on it again. thanks pygin!  ill have to dig in some old boxes to refresh my memory on how to rig them. 

[staubsaugen]

curious what depths all of you trolled at? targeting suspended fish or fish on weed edges or where in bodies of water? speed? i know some have said slow, but how slow?
thanks for any help!

[bigr]

curious what depths all of you trolled at? targeting suspended fish or fish on weed edges or where in bodies of water? speed? i know some have said slow, but how slow?
thanks for any help!

Several questions you've asked. I could write a book on what goes thru my head to increase my odds of success. Without going into long details I suggest you choose whether you'll start fishing shallow over or near weeds. Try different speeds,for the most part that controls the depth, experiment with colors/sizes/baits then move out over deeper water and use electronics if you have it. Keep in mind water color/wind directions/your drift(troll)/line size and any thing else that may play a role.  There are many other considerations. Over time you'll put things together and more times than not you'll be successful. I keep a log book and make notes that have really help me remember things. Over my 55 yrs of fishing from keeping notes I can pretty much know what my chances are for success. Here is one negative indicators, East Winds suck most of the time.   

[Piggyn]

curious what depths all of you trolled at? targeting suspended fish or fish on weed edges or where in bodies of water? speed? i know some have said slow, but how slow?
thanks for any help!

I am generally targeting suspended fish in mid summer to late fall while trolling in my canoe.  I try to stay in the 1-1.5 mph range.  I let my finder tell me how deep to fish, since it varies from lake to lake.  On one of the lakes I fish I commonly see fish suspended in the 4-7' range over 9-15' of water, while in another they are 12-15' down over 25'+.  I assume that the thermocline dictates their depth at that time of year.  It's easy to figure out how deep your rig is running.  Start out deeper, and then gradually move shallower as you're trolling.  When you start contacting the bottom you know that's how deep your rig is running.  The depth your rig runs at will depend on the thickness of your line, spinner size, speed, and added weight.  I have several different sizes of bell sinkers, so finding the right weight is easy.  This year I am going to experiment with  circle hooks to see if the fish hook themselves, since it isn't always easy to drop my paddle and get to the rod in time, or reach over and grab my 2nd rod while fighting a fish on the 1st one.

I enjoy this approach, because worst case I get some exercise, best case I get the added bonus of a nice mess of fish.  Also, the overwhelming majority of the fish you catch will be keepers... and every now again you'll hook a lake monster! 

[izzy65]

never trolled for them but did a lot of drifts , maybe the same thing. did very well that way,

[indianahooker]

trolled little cranks today, for a while..  caught more bass than pan fish.  got real windy, so i quite and pounded shore, for bass. 

good info pygin.

[staubsaugen]

yes thanks piggyn!

[taxid]

Does anyone control drift for them with an electric motor with the extendable 20 foot fiberglass poles anymore?

A rod holder on each side of the boat with one rod in each.  Use a float and live bait.  Since the pole is 20 feet long you can go down a fair depth.

I was going to try it this summer on a nearby lake that is no deeper than 10 feet and long and narrow and only about 31 acres.

[rivereddy]

In my old age,  I've learned not to fight the wind I kind of let the wind push me along in my kayak and use a drop shot
set up to keep my bait near the bottom.  I have one light 6' pole in a rod rack on my yak and jig with a 30 '' rod that
sees time when the ice is on.  I will paddle to get upwind of the area I want to fish and then drift back over.Very simple and
very effective

fish on,

rivereddy

[indianahooker]

Does anyone control drift for them with an electric motor with the extendable 20 foot fiberglass poles anymore?

A rod hold on each side of the boat with one rod in each.  Use a float and live bait.  Since the pole is 20 feet long you can go down a fair depth.

I was going to try it this summer on a nearby lake that is no deeper than 10 feet and long and narrow and only about 31 acres.

i drift if the wind is calm.  other than that i anchor up. extendable poles(mostly 14-28ft) quill floats over a chunk of crawler on a hook.  i lay the poles across the toon railings.  very common to go out at sunup, fish till 10-11, and catch 30-60 gills.  that all starts when the seagulls show up in early summer, and goes till fall.

[stinkybaits]

I make my own spinner rigs.

They don't work!@ lmao