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| How do you troll the shallows? My favorite lures are Kickin Minnow, SS Shad, and Tippy River Darters. Fishing them in the upper 2' of the water colume at around 5 MPH. |
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Posts: 1247
Location: On the Niagara River in Buffalo, NY | I use Wiley Muskie King Jr. 5 1/2" Jtd crankbaits short lined 15 ft from the boat in the shallows. If the water is clear I sometimes pull out the old Pikie Minnow 2600 Series Jtd and go back 50 ft.
Capt. Larry |
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| Thanks Larry. I'm from Indiana, It's good to know different tricks to change up with. |
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Posts: 574
| Troll cowgirls or spankys with a bottom bouncer type keel weight to keep it down, and stop line twist.. |
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Posts: 46
| Wileys, terminator T3's, 8" believer's on the shallow eye, super shad raps and even ernies trolled with no line out are all great baits for shallow trolling. As you move your baits closer to the boat, loosen the drag up so the rods don't get ripped off the boat and let the fish get away from the boat before you pick up the rod.
Occassionally when trolling shallow water with lines less than 5' the fish are airborne before the drag goes off.
What a great way to catch fish.
Good luck this spring
Rich Wren
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Posts: 3242
Location: Racine, Wi | Good stuff mentioned above, but don't forget your suicks (and to work your arms out in the off season for pulling suicks), and gliders that have natural swimming actions. I get a bunch of fish early in the year trolling spawning bays with slammer drop bellies on 15-30' of line depending on weed height and add an ounce or two of lead as well if the weeds are low to get right over the tops of them. Make sure you keep checking them (or watch your boards if running them on boards) as the smallest weed will kill the action, so it keeps ya busy. |
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Posts: 131
| Big Daddy's and SST's from MM Baits at 5 plus m.p.h.. |
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| My two favs: Shallow Invader and Hellhound. |
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Posts: 1296
Location: WI | Spinnerbaits work great in shallow water at 3.5 to 4mph. |
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Posts: 1530
| we short line woodie,s on boards. . 40ft in the release clip. the new minne mee sahads we short troll them 18 ft on corner wash rods, or 20ft on the boards. at 6mph they sound like a rifle shot when released.. also big ole creek chubs in the wash. |
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| Don't overlook the Fat Belly Rattler watch you tube video trolled at 3.2 mph just 8 inches below surface, great action bait whether trolling or casting see it at www.tonygrantoutdoors.com |
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| Thanks for all the ideas. It is really good to know the speeds that you use on certain lures. To me speed is what trolling is all about. It's much more fun to get a musky casting, but speed gets them to hit alot of times. Speed you just can't get by casting. |
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Posts: 219
Location: Ohio | How much line do you let out with the fat belly rattler? I like to troll ac shiners and j-13 rapalas in the shallows(4-6fow) |
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Posts: 1023
Location: Lafayette, IN | Rick, have you ever pulled any of your Hoosier handmade Gliders? They look pretty irresistable and stay shallow if constantly moving. Just another thought. -Steve |
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| Up here in the Ottawa area we have been trolling spinner baits for over a decade. Lately we have started to change out the blade at the end of the arm with a number ten and with some of the heavier spinner baits, especially in the fall, with a number 13.
You have to be careful, spinner baits with light wire will not hold up.
With the larger blades, the spinner bait will ride higher and shed weeds better, not to mention the muskie calling ability of a bigger blade with its louder thump.
Bill
huskiemuskie.ca |
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| interesting topic for sure, was wondering if anyone has had success trying trolling topwater prop baits over shallow weeds? Kind of a weird idea but similiar to salt water fish eating baits trolled on flat lines on the surface. |
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Posts: 3242
Location: Racine, Wi | Guest - 2/23/2011 1:58 PM
interesting topic for sure, was wondering if anyone has had success trying trolling topwater prop baits over shallow weeds? Kind of a weird idea but similiar to salt water fish eating baits trolled on flat lines on the surface.
I've run them but not often. Up to this point I haven't had any action on them as the lakes I fish tend to have a lot of floating weeds by the time I run them, so they become a pain to run. I know they do work row trolling though up north over open water. I'm sure they would get bit if I ran them more, especially off of boards. |
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Posts: 3518
Location: north central wisconsin | Interesting topic, though 'shallows' is definately a relative term. I've seen responses here from those running anywhere from 0' to 40' on effective trolling setups for their shallow applications. With that said, if you could add what depth you consider the deepest portion of the shallow set you've outlined, it would help the discussion. Getting older, with shoulders not getting any healthier, I have been learning to troll these shallows on the flowage until i find fish, so i don't wear my body out before a pod of fish is located(a caster at heart).
For me, here on local flowage x, shallows consist of many vast 3-4' flats/shelves with abrupt drops into the channel or out of creek arms. I have struggled with short line trolling rigs getting bit in this murk when under 4', as board rods get more action. I always thought it could be because the water was so dark that the sudden presence of the boat was spooking them. I now wonder if my lines weren't short enough. Perhaps I need to start running some smaller divers closer to the bow with 2-4' of line plus leader...(talking spring here, and spring here is just post spawn).
We have had luck in the sumer trolling blades and topwater in these extreme shallows, but some precision is lost with running boards, no doubt. I have not experimented much with the lipless rattle baits, and need to start. For the guys that use them often, are you having success post spawn once the water is ranging from 55-64 with them as well? That said, can someone post a video of the new Tony Grant rattler? Curious the see the action of this lure.
Good topic for a February afternoon.
Jason Schillinger
Edited by Reef Hawg 2/23/2011 3:53 PM
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Posts: 3242
Location: Racine, Wi | Jason,
In my spring time post spawn set up, I always have one crank and one shallow raider in the wash. The raider is usually about 2-4' plus the leader and the crank is usually 6"s off the leader. You see some really cool hits if you watch them in the water (not sure how stained water would work for the visual aspect) and like someone mentioned above, you'll usually have the fish come right out of the water before you even hear the clicker go off when they eat the wash rods. The shorter the weeds, the longer the leads for the most part during that time of the year, as I'm trying to get the baits right over the tops of the weeds for the most part (1' above or so). This is when the gliders really rock to as you don't have floaters to foul up the hooks. Plus, you can cook pretty fast with the gliders.
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Posts: 123
| Here on LSC Woodies are a must for your box, For keeping them high I like to run the 6 1/4"ers clean (no lead) 25' back of the boat that will keep them up top and they do get smashed. In-line's work great also and you can run them back further 45' or better with lead 5-6' ahead of them to reduce the line twist.
I have tired top water baits Poes and top raiders but the problem I find down here is them dang birds start to hover over and take shots at them so I have not had a long time running them I used them with boards having the boards on the inside of the weed line and my lure running over the weeds or just out side of them but like I said the birds make me worried and I don't want to deal with them. |
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| leo musky dawg at 2 feet away from the prop wash |
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Posts: 4080
Location: Elko - Lake Vermilion | I don't doubt that the fat belly rattler will boat some nice fish every yr.
Also,... Not many folks use small RATTLE baits in N.Mn. from opener to 70* water temps....... but I do....... Great lure no matter how you use it... Just know WHEN to use it......
Tony, save me a few for Cave Run,.....and beyond.....
See ya later, Jerome
Tony Grant - 2/23/2011 6:49 AM
Don't overlook the Fat Belly Rattler watch you tube video trolled at 3.2 mph just 8 inches below surface, great action bait whether trolling or casting see it at www.tonygrantoutdoors.com |
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Posts: 330
Location: Pittsburgh, pa | I run 5 1/2" Wileys about 4mph with 10 feet of line. |
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Posts: 1247
Location: On the Niagara River in Buffalo, NY | Joe M, I'm back 5 ft more then you at 5.2 mph in the shallows! But then again when there deep I use 60 lb Lead Core out 150 ft at 5.2 mph to get that 5 1/2" Wiley down an extra 10 ft to 25 ft down,was the ticket last summer!
See you in June at Chautauqua or maybe April at Saltfork!
Capt. Larry |
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Posts: 463
Location: Sw Pennsylvania | wileys 5.5 and 6", leo shayla shads, and tuff shads, and shad raps with 4 to 15 feet of line out. I usually run atleast 3.5 to 4.5mph
Edited by allegheny river kid 2/25/2011 5:12 PM
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Posts: 463
Location: Sw Pennsylvania | Another lure i've done good with the past 3 years are the mordas minnow 6" jointed. Got a 50" on one last year. |
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Posts: 1106
Location: Muskegon Michigan | I have been short line trolling since 1996. Sometimes just a foot or two back. Lots of good shallow cranks some already mentioned like the Wileys and Woodies. Lots of other great lure out there. Lokes , Mordas minnows, Slashers, Hoginators, Artifacts, Lappers, Terminators AND THE LIST GOES ON. Most any lure can be pulled on a short leash as Muskies just dont seem to be very boat shy when a boat is under power. This is because baitfish panic from your prop vibration. This erratic behavior is what triggers Muskies to strike prop wash lures like they do. When I designed the Slasher it was for shallow running . They run on average two feet higher then Lokes and Wileys with the same feet of line out. For Certain applications this really makes a difference. Like Larry says however shallow baits can be run deep using weights, lead core, down riggers and diving planers like Dipsy divers. My typical set for trolling an edge in 10 feet of water is a slasher back 12 feet running right over the 8 foot contour on the weed tops. then a Loke back 12 feet just off the edge then another Loke back 17 feet and a deeper running bait like Mag Rippin Shad or Tuff Shad the farthest from the break. but again short to keep it off the bottom. I try to follow the contour with my spread.
St. Clair it totally different. Depths are much more constant and we are searching for packs of Muskies feeding of schools of forage. To maximize our effectiveness we use big planer boards to spread it out wide. Sliders and main lines running short 12 to 30 feet back with small inline weights keep baits over weeds and suspended fish. Sliders add a second lure to each rod doubling the number of baits in the water. This has many times been the deciding factor for us in putting big fish in the boat. Back when Ontario only allowed one rod each My wife and I ran one board rod per side with 30 foot slider on each rod giving us 4 lures. Lots of big fish came that year on those sliders.
St. Clair has seen the addition of the double 10 bucktail trolled. My wife won big fish for 2010 on a Spanky bait trolled shallow over 20 feet of water. Be advised when trolling bucktails, If the manufacturer is not installing a nylon spacer in between the clevis and the first bead they will(NOT) hold up. W e found out the hard way that 4 mph trolling will burn up good quality bucktails really fast. The lures come back without blades as the clevis disintegrates. Spanky baits solved the problem with a nylon bushing . Im not sure if any other companies have done this yet but before you burn up a perfectly good bucktail check it out.
Another great shallow lure not mentioned is a large flutter spoon. Kingfisher
Edited by Kingfisher 2/27/2011 12:23 PM
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| Thanks again for the responces, esspecially on speeds. I run around 5 MPH most always at Webster and most others I see trolling don't run near as fast. I guess one more question I have is should I slow down in cool water temps like just after ice out. |
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| Steve, I never have tried using Hoosiers trolling, but I am going to now. Thanks for the idea. |
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Posts: 1106
Location: Muskegon Michigan | R Swain - 2/27/2011 2:58 PM
Thanks again for the responces, esspecially on speeds. I run around 5 MPH most always at Webster and most others I see trolling don't run near as fast. I guess one more question I have is should I slow down in cool water temps like just after ice out.
I dont think I have ever run over 3.5 on Webster. I run a lot of shad style baits there like Rippin shads and Tuff Shads. They have best results under 4 mph. Colder water ? Ill slow down to 2.7/ 2.9 and zig zag a lot . this speeds them up and stalls them. Lots of strikes on those stalled lures. Mike |
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Posts: 184
| One thing I learned on a trip down south last year to get my Wiley's in really shallow was to take my rod tips out of the water and angle them up. This let me run my baits farther back from the boat in shallow water. It sounds so simple now but at the time I had to call a friend and we chatted about trolling the shallows (<5') and he offered this advice. It only worked b/c there weren't any floating weeds. Despite what others have said I troll shad baits very fast if the fish aren't in a real feeding mood and need to be triggered. Reaction type hits, like using a rattletrap in spring for bass. Same sort of deal for me. |
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Posts: 76
| Rick,
I'll be at the swap meet next weekend. Lets talk more on this there.
Don |
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Posts: 921
Location: Apollo, PA | Mike,
I really like your crank lil claws shallow........... thats why i buy them |
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Posts: 906
Location: Canada | Kingfisher - 2/27/2011 1:21 PM
St. Clair it totally different. Depths are much more constant and we are searching for packs of Muskies feeding of schools of forage. To maximize our effectiveness we use big planer boards to spread it out wide. Sliders and main lines running short 12 to 30 feet back with small inline weights keep baits over weeds and suspended fish. Sliders add a second lure to each rod doubling the number of baits in the water. This has many times been the deciding factor for us in putting big fish in the boat. Back when Ontario only allowed one rod each My wife and I ran one board rod per side with 30 foot slider on each rod giving us 4 lures. Lots of big fish came that year on those sliders.
PM sent
Edited by CU301DSV 3/4/2011 1:39 PM
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| Hope to get out in the next few days and try some of this stuff!rermys |
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Posts: 184
| Are sliders legal in NY where I fish? Always wondered about that b/c of the # of hooks. |
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| Got out on Webby some this weekend with no results, but was good to get out. |
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Shallow Trolling