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Posts: 778
| Crankbaits, shallow running, mid depth, and deep, are typically the trolling lures of choice. To a lesser extent, some might use bucktails and spinnerbaits over a huge weed flat. But my question here is, has anyone had success trolling some of the other lure choices such as a surface prop bait, a large plastic or even a big spoon? Or something else? Kdawg |
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Posts: 2305
Location: SE, WI. | Yes, Yes, and Yes....all baits are Trollable....speed and depth control = Success! JD |
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Posts: 633
| I think it was a seminar by Dick Pearson where he was talking about his wife trolling Bobbie's, and just randomly giving them a sweep, and catching Muskies. I saw a guide dropping off some clients after a half day, and they were trolling pounders all the way to the dock. |
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Location: Eastern Ontario | More than a few in the past on trolled Globe style baits. When camcorders first came out I would set a camcorder on a tripod in the back of the boat and troll a globe in the evenings on a flat calm lake and catch the strikes and many misses on tape. I still have the tapes somewhere but nothing to still play them on. |
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Posts: 20245
Location: oswego, il | Nobody does it that I have ever heard but I would bet creeping along with a slow topwater like a Hawg wobbler, da rat or a similar bait at night would be productive. |
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Location: MN | Used to do very well slow trolling blades at night on deep weedlines. Have also done well trolling big rubber especially if the fish are pegged on the bottom. Trolling rubber saved a late fall trip for me last year. |
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Location: Eastern Ontario | I knew a guy years back that trolled suicks in water shallower than I would run my boat at what almost looked like watersking speeds he said the suick was the only thing that would stay down and not blow out . He won more than one tournament I was in catching lots of fish but it was scary to watch especially when I knew where most of the big boulders lived. |
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| Last summer I took my fishing kayak out for the first time casting for muskies. I had gone up a creek but cut it short because the floating weeds just made it too frustrating. I then hit spots on one lake and decided to paddle through the next small lake in the chain and hit spots on the river. Rather than just paddle, I put the rod in the rod holder on the front deck and tossed the Nite Walker top water behind the kayak. After about 15 minutes of paddling hooked into a musky. Unfortunately, I did not set the hook and when I got the fish about 10 feet away, it got off. I was more than a little surprised it hit but it was fun. I never tried the top water when I motor trolled but made my mind up to do that this season. |
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Posts: 1285
Location: Stevens Point, Wi. | Caught1 and lost 1 trolling a flaptail @ 1mph with the trolling motor on a flat calm, hot afternoon over a large weedbed. |
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Location: 31 | We've caught a lot of muskies on different waters trolling top waters... 100+ or so. I only discovered this technique back in the mid-90s because my son couldn't cast very well, I told him to just let it out behind the the boat and hang on. He was reluctant but after his first 50" we were sold, I remember him comparing it to watching a bobber... when the bobber goes under set the hook.
The best type top water bait we found was larger homemade prop style that we modeled after a through wire Tally Wacker. Although the globes looked fantastic, due to their front spin design we had issues with them fouling on the smallest of floating weeds. The prop style simply work better for us because when the tail would foul most times all it took was a quick pop to get it going again. I bet a flaptail would work great, we tried about everything else including hog wobblers, which didn't work well because they are too slow-moving... probably the most unconventional lure we caught a muskie trolling on was on a Creepinstein, but that was just lucky because it fouled out on floaters easily.
Couple tips; calmer the better at 1.2 MPH, water surface fairly clean of floaters, larger flats/shallow areas, stiff rods, tight drags, sticky sharp hooks, braided line, setting the hooks with the motor is almost mandatory unless you are holding the rod. I've caught a lot more muskies casting top waters than trolling them, but enjoyed catching them trolling more. It’s awesome to see the happy hump, increasing the throttle a little bit and then see a good one come sideways almost out of the water and smoke it. |
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Posts: 793
Location: Ames, Iowa | I troll traditional large tandem spinnerbaits or 9-13 inch Slammers, Grandmas. Last August got a 37 trolling over a spine with a Rumbler 50 feet behind the boat. I want to try trolling closer to the boat. |
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Posts: 229
Location: Plover, WI | ToddM - 3/28/2019 4:06 PM
Nobody does it that I have ever heard but I would bet creeping along with a slow topwater like a Hawg wobbler, da rat or a similar bait at night would be productive.
There are times when I will throw a flaptail behind the boat and then troll it while I cast a bucktail in the early morning or evening. Hasn't worked yet, but hoping it will some day. |
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Posts: 1100
| Love trolling gliders, e.g. Phantom are awesome trolling. |
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Posts: 20245
Location: oswego, il | I have also trolled gliders and spinnerbaits, if you are on a chain and in the no wake zones between lakes it's a good way to get a shot at a bonus fish. |
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