This is the first of a three part article on trolling that I wrote for another site. It's geared for the novice troller, obviously. If there's any interest.. I'll move the other two parts over here.
TROLLING-- FROM TOP TO BOTTOM-- Part I
by Sluggo / NY (Chris Stack)
Trolling, by my definition, is simply a technique used to propel your offering by some means other than casting and retrieving. I suppose this could be done by walking the shoreline with a long pole sticking out over the water, but I’ll stick with the most commonly used system..a motor boat. Almost any boat can be used to troll with..my first being a row boat. I advanced to a small motor boat, then to a larger motor boat, then to an inboard/outboard ski boat (kept the family happy) and finally to a large Deep-V Lund. The boat, although an important part of trolling, is probably not the most important part. In my opinion, the most important factors in trolling are location, depth, speed and repetition.
Location
Obviously, you’ve got to find the fish to catch them. In mid to late summer, I know from experience that many of the huge walleyes of Lake Erie have migrated to the deeper eastern basin in search of cooler water and in chase of the schools of baitfish that are doing the same. The baitfish will generally suspend very close to where the thermocline forms..normally in the 50-60 foot range. I usually use this depth as a starting point and cruise in search of these schools using my fish-finder, a Lowrance X-97, which has the capability to read at fairly high speeds. Once I find good numbers of baitfish, I’ll slow down and set up to troll.
Depth
Let’s assume that we’ve located some huge schools of baitfish at 60 feet down in 90 feet of water..I’d start by setting my offerings from 40 feet down to 60 feet. I’ve found, for the most part, that suspended walleyes don’t feed downward…they feed upward! I almost always start off by deploying at least one downrigger..I’ll explain why shortly. I then put out a pair of dipsy divers..usually one with a stickbait and the other with a worm harness. For a final setup (assuming there’s two people on board) I might just run a long line with a snap weight attached. As I stated..all of these would be set to run in the 40-60 foot range. This is strictly a starting point and my setups will likely change as the fish tell me what they prefer.
Speed
For mid to late summer walleyes, I’ll normally begin my troll at 1.5 to 2 mph. My X-97 has a very accurate paddlewheel type speed sensor, and my GPS also gives out an accurate speed-over-ground readout. During dead calm conditions in waters with no current, these speeds will almost always match. Unfortunately, I’ve rarely seen Lake Erie go flat, and there’s a surprising amount of water current at 50 feet down. Remember the downrigger that went down first? That’s my bible when it comes to trolling speed on Lake Erie. I can tell much closer by the slope of my downrigger cable what speed my lures are running at than by any other means! Once I zero in on the speed I like, then we’ll use one of the other gauges as a reference and to hold our speed. As with our starting depth, this speed is also just a starting point. As we run a zigzag pattern, we’ll be able to hone in on the proper speed by paying attention to where and when our hits come. Hits on the inside on a turn dictate a slower speed, while hits on the outside are calling for more speed.
Repetition
This is one of the most overlooked factors I’ve seen while trolling. If something is working, why change! I pay very close attention to how much line was out, what speed I was running, which direction I was running as well as what lure was on..every time I catch a fish! If I get four fish running a downwind pattern, then turn around and run the same pattern upwind and get one fish..I’d say it’s worth pulling and running to repeat the downwind program. Repetition is a very important factor in trolling…not only do you want to repeat what worked when you catch a fish…you also want to avoid repeating what’s not working to further increase your chances!
Good Fishing, SluggoNY (Chris)
