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Posts: 742
Location: Grand Rapids MN | I want to hear how most of you tackle the open water trolling with an emphasis on mid-summer patterns. And how do you decide your routes. My first thought for the lake I will be fishing is to run just off the large sunken rock islands/reefs (15'-20' deep) and kind of connect the dots with some sunken humps found throughout the lake. My thoughts were the fish may cruise between structures and I could pick up those fish. I fish this lake some what frequent and when the water temps hit mid-70's and the sun is high, you don't find as many fish in traditional areas and the ones you do find are low 40's or smaller. Lake is fairly clear, 10'-11' visibility and holds ciscos, smallies, walleyes, and perch. That's the main forage. If there's a good video that addresses this I would love to hear what you have seen. I will attempt to attach a map of the lake to give you a better picture.
Thanks in advance,
Mike
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 moose lake.pdf (230KB - 376 downloads)
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Posts: 480
| Targa, if those midlake humps were mud that held insect bait that perch and walleye and cisco eat I believe you would be in business. The muskies may be suspended off the structure during the day and feed on the fish the feed on the insects as they emerge after dark. If you watch your sonar for the bait to come up and dont fish deeper than the bait. I would keep lure no deeper than 15 ft down. Troll baits that you can move fast (4-10 mph) and I bet you connect on some tankers. |
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Posts: 199
Location: Nebraska | Neat little lake! Do you have a GPS/chip to be able to "find" your way aroud the humps, or at least know them well enough to be able to go from one to another without overrunning them? Not knowing the lake and what the structure is like, I like the idea of trolling the long line of humps on the NE end of the lake, figure 8'ing my way down the line. Drops off into decent deep water. The reef on the east side is interesting, too if you don't have a GPS and want to just depth countour troll. |
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Posts: 742
Location: Grand Rapids MN | Ya, I have a GPS and chip. I tried fall trolling this lake last year without and it was very tough, especially when they pulled the bouys! I had no idea where I was. Anyways, the shallower hump in the NE area is weed covered and nearly reaches the surface by end of summer, the other hump to the west of it is deeper and has 'short' weed growth. When the water is at it's clearest and the sun is high I have seen fish cruising this hump. During the spring I see some good sized fish (upper 40's) so I know they are in there. I watch my graph when I approach areas and on that large reef on the east side and I can find walleyes either on the bottom edge of the break or part way up. I have never found a school of ciscos yet but I guess I haven't cruised the lake looking for them yet. This lake gets good pressure now or at least for the last 3-4 years. I used to go there on opener and it would be maybe 2 other boats.. the last few openers there has been 10-15 other boats. And they all work the same good structure so I'm thinking my best bet for a good fish may come from trolling.
Thanks again,
Mike |
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Posts: 1906
Location: Oconto Falls, WI | First, why troll it? The part of WI I fish I can't troll, but still am very productive at fishing suspended. In fact I think you have better chances at catching fish suspended while casting a small lake, like the one you are fishing, because you can trigger the fish a lot better than you can while trolling. Then again, I know very little about trolling so I could be wrong.
The first two area I would check on the lake would be the two deep holes. If the wind is right drift down the length of the holes working cranks, or a Big Joe. Start out running higher (8-15'), and if that isn't doing anything run deeper baits down to 30' or so. After checking those spots the rest of the lake is a crap shoot by just looking at the map. I would look for the softer bottom areas which will hold insects, and therefore the perch or other fish may be around. If you find schools of any kind of fish, fish the general areas you locate them in. Don't get stuck with having to mark fish on the graph to think you are in a good spot.
The 25-29' water in the lake don't look like much on the map, but certain areas could be goldmines. Pay attention to your graph and if you find a spring you have a good area to fish. A spring will be a break in the bottom on the graph. That 25-29' area is where you will find the perch hanging out mid summer, as well as loads of suckers and such. Don't be afraid to get baits to the bottom and fish there. With clear water the thermocline may only set-up in the two holes, and that makes the bottom of the 25-29' areas a place the big girls may like to hang.
As far as trolling, hit the same areas. I wouldn't worry about having to connect the dots between the humps, but it couldn't hurt either. Just keep an open mind and don't think you have to go between structures, or hit the deepest water.
DON'T RULE OUT THE 25-29' WATER! |
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Posts: 742
Location: Grand Rapids MN | Thanks for the info Travis. I also read your suspended fish article on your webpage. Always good info to pack away in the memory bank. The reason I thought of trolling first was to cover water and run baits at different depths. Not that you can't do the same with people casting in the boat but you keep the bait at those depths a little longer. I know what you mean about the 25-29' basin stuff but there are areas I always see boats walleye fishing and I have those stored in my memory. I will definetly give casting for some suspended fish a chance.. I love to cast and I'm used to casting at 'nothing' on that lake. Everything is submerged except the reeds on the shorelines. One area that I see people walleye fishing is in the south west area, there are two small humps 15 & 16' deep (near the max depth) and there is a point coming from shore that shows 20'. Right where that 25' mark is the location the set up on. So there must be something they like about that area. That 20' point has some very deep cabbage also so this year I will be casting between those humps and points. Anyways, thanks again for the tips and tricks and I will keep them in mind and probably put them to use this summer. |
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Posts: 3867
| I've been trying something I read in a walleye book and it's been very productive. (We've caught about 14 walleyes between 21" and 31" in the last three weeks, most between 25" and 30".) We've been trolling spinner rigs about 20 yards off the weedlines and flats. We use snap-on weights to target two zones: 1) just above the thermocline and 2) at the same depth as the nearby flat. So, in water up to 50' deep, we troll at 14' for the thermo and anywhere from 5' to 8' for the flats. And we're catching nice bass and really big gills out there, too. No muskies in our lake, but I plan to try this approach sometime soon on a local lake that does have muskies. |
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