|
|
Posts: 682
Location: Sycamore, IL | Any suggestions on trolling speeds for pike? I know that most people say to troll 5mph+ for muskie...does that hold true for pike? This will be my first year giving this a try at Delavan and Geneva and am looking for some insight...Thanks!
Matt |
|
| |
|
Posts: 32935
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | I've done very well trolling Pike at 2.5 to 3.5 pulling cranks. The most important thing I noted was running the lure about 3' above the fish.
Log Bay out of Sioux Narrows.... |
|
| |
|
Posts: 1296
Location: WI | I catch a fair amount of pike trolling from 3-4mph. Little snot rockets up to 35.5" pike. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 32
Location: Manawa Wiscowsin | I find the speed isn't as important as the action of the lure. I have caught both muskies and northerns while trolling from 1.5 to 3.5 mph. I usually do not troll above 3.5 mph although I have Mirrolures that will troll up to 7.0 mph without a problem. If the lure swims with decent action along side the boat at 1.5 mph it will still have good action when it is out 100'.
My favorite trolling lures for big northerns and muskies are Mirrolure M111 and M113 saltwater trolling lures and Mirrolure 15M jointed crank baits. I was using the 15M crank baits on LOTW several years ago for large eyes when I found they were fantastic for large northerns and muskies. The M11 and M113 trolling lures were also fantastic for large northerns when I tried them using them in Canada several years ago. The 15M's will dive down to 6 to 8 feet and the M111's and M113's will drive down 25' or more. There are also times when the magnum Rapalas work great.
Overall I've found that orange works the best for northerns but I have perch, sucker, shad and mullet colors also.
I've used Mirrolure 00M size crank baits for eyes since 1957. They are great walleye trolling baits in 6' to 12' depths. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 433
Location: Cedarburg, Wisconsin | It's hard to troll deep divers at 5mph. They have to be some pretty specialized lures or you need to be real lucky to hit something you can tune right.
What I'm getting at is big pike are almost always deeper than muskies until later on when the water really cools off and some of them head back up to the weeds for a short time in Sept./Oct. just before turnover. You need to get down to them and 2.5 to 4 mph is a more realistic speed range for the common lures we use.
The other advice is right on the money, get the depth first, the action second and don't worry about the speed until you have the others down cold. Down cold? Is that a pike joke?
I've caught some nice pike while musky fishing (10# up to 25#) on Jakes, Rizzo Divers, Swim Whizzes, Ojibwa Super Divers, Believers, Depth Raiders, Bagleys, and maybe a few others I don't recall. All have one thing in common, you can tune them nicely to run true with real rod thumping vibrations. You want a lure with calling power down there.
For trolling these lures I had my best luck with 50# Spider Wire Braid. The last thing you need is heavier line to keep the lures from hitting the depths you want. Go lighter if you have to, but not heavier. Keep the drag set so it just barely keeps the lure from pulling out line. With sharp hooks you will have no problem sticking fish this way. And above all DO NOT use fluoro leaders! They will cost you depth as they tend to plane lures up from the drag. You need the thinnest line and leader you can get for max depth control. I ran them on 4 foot lengths of 60# or 90# 7 Strand wire, not the coated stuff either, just straight wire.
|
|
| |
|
Posts: 2754
Location: Mauston, Wisconsin | I and Mike Hoffman were testing floating 16cm Zam's in Canada to see when they would blow out trolling while coming out of a bay with scattered cabbage. Mike was driving the boat and calling out the speed from the GPS and I was holding the rod. At 9.8 mph a low 30's" Northern slammed the bait. It almost took the rod out of my hands. Mike didn't believe me when I said fish on! I had to tell him, "No Mike, fish on!", a second time, then he turned around to see the bow in my 9' muskie rod as line was peeling off the TE 400.
We consistantly catch Northern, Muskies and Walleyes at 3.5 - 5 mph. For me ~ 4.2mph seems to be the sweet spot for the 16cm Zam, even at night, big walleye's! I also troll on a fly-in muskie lake, and we usually do pretty good (17 fish in the net on our last trip -last week of Sept), the majority were caught trolling. It seem's that taking the lure to the edge is a real key trigger.
Planning to give it a try on Castle Rock in a few days, testing some new planner boards. I'll post the resuls.
Have fun!
Al
Edited by ESOX Maniac 7/11/2011 8:01 AM
|
|
| |
|
Location: 31 | Matt, in that clear water you should have no problem trolling pikusinterruptus either side of 5MPH. "testing some new planner boards. I'll post the resuls." Al, I would be very interested in a larger in-line board if you are developing one. I'll be on the water with boards 3-4 days a week for the balance of the summer... If you want a tester/input just PM me.
|
|
| |
|
Posts: 682
Location: Sycamore, IL | Thanks for the advice so far guys...
Jerry- I like that..."pikusinterruptus"...funny stuff.
I'm also going to try a dipsy diver that I picked up at a swap...A buddy and I are going out wednesday a.m...I'll post our results if anything works!
Matt |
|
| |
|
Posts: 330
Location: Pittsburgh, pa | I run 4.8 to 5.3 on average. All my Wileys,Legends and Tuff shads have no problem. I had them running up over 7mph gps speed. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 682
Location: Sycamore, IL | Ended up having a good day on the water Wednesday...got a number of pike in the 30" range with one big fish going 41"-my biggest pike to date! Trolled a variety of crank baits throughout the day...best bait was an orange/black and gold Bagley DB06. All fish came at around 4.5 mph...thanks again for everyones advice!
Attachments
----------------
 P7120120.jpg (34KB - 280 downloads)
|
|
| |
