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Posts: 880
Location: New Berlin,Wisconsin,53151 | I'll be on the lake trolling at 2.5 - 3.5 mph and be getting passed by boats trolling twice my speed. What is the most effective speed to troll at? What baits do you troll and at what speed? |
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| I start between 4.5 and 5 miles per hour and adjust my speed according to what the fish tell me. If I am catching fish I might even speed up a little or if thjey seem to be inactive I might slow down a little. In most cases I troll wiley's but will also use bagleys and depth raiders at times. In fall I may slow to aroung 3.5 to troll larger baits but that is my limit. |
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| 3 to 5 mph, but with all this talk about speed trolling at 7 to 10 mph I need to give it a try!  |
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Posts: 2427
Location: Ft. Wayne Indiana | There are way to many factors to just ask: How fast do you troll?
Do you mean:
In the spring, during the summer, during the fall, cold front conditions, with small baits, with large baits, trolling weed edges, open water trolling, the list goes on and on.
People use different speeds for most of the above. Any where from 2 - 10+ mph.
Edited by MikeHulbert 4/8/2004 1:01 PM
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Posts: 2691
Location: Pewaukee, Wisconsin | Working deeper water I troll 2.5 to 4mph.
Shallow water I will troll up to 5mph.
I need to try real speed trolling after looking at the speeds some use. |
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Posts: 1137
Location: Holly, MI | Most of our trolling is 3.5 - 5 and mostly colser to 5. I havn't done any 7 or 8 mph trolling but intend to try it this summer. There is no way you can out run a ski while trolling. |
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Posts: 20254
Location: oswego, il | I fish two down rods and two planer boards. In cold weather i troll in gear which is 2.9 to3.2 mph. I can effectivley troll my mr walleye boards to 5.5mph in the summertime. Seems to work for me. |
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| As fast as I can row, stuck in Vilas...can usually average a good 1.8-3, with a good wind that speed will increase. Kind of nice being in the vast minority, trolling on lakes 'closed' to the technique. Good excersise (row a Tuffy) and gas bills are quite low. Wish I could hit the above mentioned speeds, though.
J.Sloan
BFO |
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| I troll 3 to 10 mph, spring and fall slower, mid summer faster the better, small, large and deep baits get trolled slower. Medium wileys, terminators and drifter stalkers can troll 7 and 10 mph. The larger baits pull hard and can do damage to your rods at high speeds. I only use wood planer boards at higher speeds since I have had the plastic planer boards: flip, submerge and porpoise on me. they were the biggest headache at any speed.
I also let the fish dictate how fast I troll, I steer in a 'S' pattern if the outside baits get fish I speed up, and slow down if the fish are biting on the inside baits. |
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Posts: 229
Location: Willoughby, Ohio | I average between 3.8 - 4.2 mph depending on circumstances. |
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Posts: 688
Location: Northern IL | I usually start out in the 4-6mph range and have caught them as fast as 10+ using a spoonplug.
There are some that believe that the best chance at a big fish, 50" or better is to run on the slow side, I haven't seen this yet. If we had a few more 50's in IL lakes,,, that might help.
The more important thing is to maintain proper depth control, speed is a distant second. |
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Posts: 73
Location: Hazard KY | I troll below 5mph when water temps are below 50 degrees. when temps get above 50 i troll 5.5mph and bump it up to 6 or 7 in the warm er summer water temps.
a good trolling trick is to troll just under the speed that your baits blow out that makes then wonder and track wildly.
Good fishin
Chris Haley
www.kentuckymuskie.com |
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Posts: 75
Location: ft wayne, IN | YES, TROLLING MAY BE MORE COMPLEX THAN YOU THINK, BUT ACTUALLY FOR YEARS I SIMPLY TROLLED AT 2.8MPH (LOWEST END OF A BIG MOTOR) AND CAUGHT GOBS OF FISH--LARGE AND SMALL--WITH LARGE AND SMALL BAITS--ALONG THE DEEP EDGES, 15 FEET & DEEPER AND MID BASIN IN ALL WEATHER CONDITIONS AND SEASONS. NOW I SUPPOSE I KNOW MORE AND VARY THINGS MUCH MORE BUT I HAVEN'T NOTICED THAT MY PERCENTAGES HAVE IMPROVED ANY REALLY. ON SOME LAKES THEY LIKE IT FASTER FOR SURE (CLEARER WATER). I TEND TO KEEP IT 3-5MPH 99% OF THE TIME. EXTREME TROLLING--VERY SLOW OR VERY FAST--IS MORE OF A "COOL THING TO TALK ABOUT" THAN A REALIABLE FISH CATCHING TECHNIQUE IN MY OPINION. WHEN THEY'RE HOT THEY'LL TAKE IT AT MOST ANY SPEED. BEST RULE IS TO VARY YOUR SPEED SOME, FIND WHERE THEY LIKE IT AND KEEP IT THERE. VARYING YOUR COURSE AND JERKING YOUR LINES (NO NOT YOUR ROD!) AS WELL AS ALTERING THE BAIT SELECTIONS, COLORS, AND LINE OUT ALL MATTER. DON'T BE AFRAID TO TROLL IT TEN FEET BEHIND THE BOAT IN THE PROPWASH. IF THEY LIKE A CERTAIN COLOR OR BAIT PUT MORE THAN ONE ON AT THE SAME TIME. ADD AN OUNCE TO A POUND OF WEIGHT FROM TIME TO TIME. GENERALLY I'LL PREDOMINATE WITH SMALLER BAITS UP SHALLOW BUT EXPERIENCE HAS TAUGHT ME THAT WHEN TROLLING AT LEAST, THE BIGGER THE BAIT THE BIGGER THE FISH MOST OF THE TIME. TROLLING LOCATION ON A LAKE CAN MAKE A HUGE DIFFERENCE AS WELL SO KNOW YOUR LAKE AND PAY ATTENTION TO THE WEATHER, CURRENTS, WINDS, TURBIDITY, WATER TEMPS, BAITFISH MOVEMENTS, FISHING PRESSURE, ETC. DON'T BE AFRAID TO TROLL AT NIGHT--THE RESULTS CAN BE AMAZING! USE STIFFER, SHORTER RODS WITH LARGER REELS AND HEAVIER LINES WITH LONGER, MORE RELIABLE LEADERS. THE BIG JOHN OTTER BOARDS ARE TREMENDOUS PLANERS FOR ROUGH WATERS AND DO TAKE HIGH SPEEDS IN HEAVY (UP TO EIGHT FOOTERS!) CONDITIONS. LIKE ANY BOARDS, KEEP THE WEEDS OFF THEM AS THEY WILL PORPOISE ANY BOARD IF ENOUGH COLLECT. LAST OF ALL, MY BEST TROLLING SUCCESSES HAVE BEEN FROM LATE JUNE THROUGH EARLY SEPTEMBER, NOT IN THE FALL LIKE WE ARE ALL PROGRAMMED TO BELIEVE. THAT SEEMS TO HOLD TRUE UNIVERSALLY DOWN HERE IN THE STATES AT LEAST, MAIN EXCEPTIONS BEING LOTW AND SOME OTHER CANADIAN BODIES OF WATER. OH, AND DON'T FORGET THE TUNES AND A FAVORITE MALT BEVERAGE! THERE YOU HAVE IT, TROLLING 101!! |
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