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Posts: 3242
Location: Racine, Wi | So I know not alot of you troll, but many of you do some at least. Those who do troll, what would you think is the most important part of being sucessful at trolling? I think there might actually be two things from how I see it, but let's see what you think. |
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| 1. Having consistent access to water where trolling is productive.
2. Knowing how to troll. |
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| Making productive calculated (depth, relation to structure) passes as opposed to throwing lures in the water and driving around. |
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Posts: 880
Location: New Berlin,Wisconsin,53151 | Making sure you talk to Mike Keopp before you put your bait in the water!!!! I have found that the color and tuning the bait to run as true as possible will increase your chances of successfull troll. Speed is another factor with tuning the bait run to fast and the baits aren't effective run to slow and you might not be in the target zone. With all your money the best bet is to buy a trolling manual so you can determine the right depth, line class and speed.
Netman |
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| #1 Putting your lure in the right place
#2 Putting your lure in the right place |
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Posts: 8834
| a boat!  |
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Posts: 285
Location: NE Wisconsin | Depth Control...knowing how deep all of your baits are running!!!! |
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Posts: 8834
| If you've ever spent time with someone who really knows what they are doing trolling it's a humbling experience!
Knowing how to pick the right lures, knowing how far back to run them, where to run them (inside/outside/down) what speeds they run best at, what line to use to make them run deeper...
Then you have to know the structure well enough to put the boat (and the baits) where you want them. Then you gotta put the boat there and not get baits snagged.
I don't troll, I watch the guys who do in amazement...
Edited by esoxaddict 1/24/2007 4:28 PM
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Posts: 1462
Location: Davenport, IA | The most important thing in trolling is the same as the most important thing in casting IMO, which is boat control. Your not going to catch many fish when you're picking weeds off the lures every 5 minutes. Learn the structure and how far baits dive before even thinking about catching fish. |
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Posts: 305
Location: Illinois | I would say the ability to duplicate and track your success. There is a lot of data involved with trolling: depth, speed, depth of lure, direction, wind direction, cloud cover, color of lure, color of water, time of day, water temp, tilt angle,type of lure, bottom,season, and I'm sure many more that I didn't think of. Thats a lot of things to try to duplicate. The guys who are great at trolling can duplicate exactly what made them successful. I can't consistently put all those pieces together, but the more pieces I put together, the more success I have.
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Posts: 1430
Location: Eastern Ontario | By far the most important is depth control, knowing exacly where your bait is. The rest are tied for second most important. |
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Posts: 2865
Location: Brookfield, WI | Being with you or Koepp has worked the best for me.
Kevin
Chile Relleno |
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Posts: 191
Location: WV | Before all mentioned.....................
$20 catfish rod, GOOD linecounter reel, dependable snap/leader, 80-100# superline, non-plastic rod holder, and gps with mapping.........................then.....................what you guys said,,,,,jw |
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| I would say you could get by pretty good paying attention to three pieces of information in most cases . . . amount of line out (taking diameter into consideration), speed of boat, depth of boat.
Of course, everything the gang has mentioned above applies. But if I gave any one of you those three pieces of information correctly along with the lure and lake, anyone would be able to go cream them the majority of the time.
Obviously there are many other factors that are important to fine tuning things but these three would be at the top of my list in most cases. |
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Posts: 906
Location: Warroad, Mn | Troll where there are muskies! The rest will slowly (you'll learn) take care of it's self.
Doug Johnson |
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Posts: 3242
Location: Racine, Wi | I definitely think that first would be to know where your baits are running, and also how to get them there. (ie line out, speed, type of line etc.) But the second, I think is being able to adjust. I think too many that try to troll a few times throughout the year, do the cast and wait thing. I suppose it will work, but I'd rather have some sort of science involved. I wonder if more people took the time to figure out where their baits ran, (even if it's maybe 3 or 4 baits) if they would score more, and not feel as negative about trolling. |
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Posts: 1185
Location: Wishin I Was Fishin' | A properly rigged good boat with the right gear |
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Posts: 21
| YOU GO JW HE KNOWS |
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Posts: 76
| 1.keep your rod tips in the water
2. run you baits at the right depth most don't dive as deep as they say
3. speed
4 boat control |
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Posts: 4080
Location: Elko - Lake Vermilion | D.J. hit the nail one the head, Dead on.
Jerome
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Posts: 1530
| one thought. reading the waters. if your fishing windy silty conditions. bait colors and actions also. running on gps speeds not paddle wheels. trolling is an art. not like some think dragging a couple lures behind a boat |
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| 1. Depth control- baits, amount of line, speed, type of line all play a factor
2. Speed Control- Knowing how to adjust speed based on lure types, time of year, and mood of the fish all play a vital role
3. Proper Equipment (Couldn't limit it to just two)- Proper rods, line, leaders, reels, and others are all key |
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| Muskie Mike's Trolling Secrets....  |
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Posts: 140
| 4 Keys in my mind that have made me successful over the years that most guys overlook/ignore:
1) Know where your baits are running, we often overestimate the running depths we believe a particular bait is diving. No commercial intended.
2) Not going FAST enough, cover more water and make them commit. I slow down once the waters below 40.
3) Making the correct lure selection when things aren't happening. Not just blindly looking into the box and pulling out whatever grabs your eye. But consciously analyzing each of the following factors and deciding which of those you want to change to see if that's what the fish want that day--> size, shape, profile, color, action, rattle/no rattle... Start witch different baits and make the fish tell you what they want. When changing baits, I usually start with action or profile and fine tune with color and size.
4) "FLASH" It's been my experience in trolling the Shield over the past 20 years what a huge role flash makes. Holographic/prism and chrome baits really shine. |
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Posts: 793
Location: Ames, Iowa | My biggest fish came trolling parellel to the first break at the 9 to 12 ft depth. At a slight outside turn, I knew the bait was going to hit the rocks at 9 ft. and then come free at the 12 ft depth. Got bit right after leaving the 9 ft. rocks.
I think knowing or visualizing what you want the bait to do in relation to the bottom- thinking about direction and depth presentation- is important. I guess its like visualizing what the lake/bottom/structure looks like and figuring how you want your lure to work it. I also worry about motor noise but from reading on this site I am learning that may not be as big a worry as I make it.
Great topic
don |
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Posts: 2691
Location: Pewaukee, Wisconsin | After looking though all the responces I don't see "matching the food your trolling around".
Everywhere I have caught fish trolling consistantly I will try to match the size baits to the bait fish. I know you can catch fish on just about any bait under great conditions but if you have to score(tournaments, guide jobs, vacation, etc.) things tend to get harder. Knowing the size baitsfish helps you trick the muskies easer. They will eat a bait that is what they are used to eating. Like the "match the hatch" phrase.
Down in Kentucky we were fishing a PMTT event and found a few small shad floating where we had follows. I dug into my tackle box and straped on a bait that was the same size and color. WHAM, two cast later a 42-incher was caught. A bunch of bass and a few other muskies were caught that prefishing day. We then got away from that pattern and worked on a secondary pattern if that one failed. Well, we caught two muskies in the first half hour of the first day, lost a huge fish, released 3 shortys muskies, and released 15 bass. 6th place on small baits. Moral of this story, match the hatch.
Very good stuff here that doesn't need to be repeated. My most important tips would be: Know your baits depths at all times and speeds you run. Trust your electronics and keep your baits around the baitfish. Sounds easy don't it? Time on the water will give you the confidance and ability to repeat. It's one thing to be told how to do it and another to do it under all conditions.
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Posts: 3518
Location: north central wisconsin | Great topic and one I've really been studying the past 4-5 years, spending more time on the bay.
The most important thing for us the past couple seasons(after getting and staying in a fishy area) is proper lure at proper depth. May sound simple, but after days and days of watching others bang fish a few years ago, with little to show for, I started to take note that we needed to adjust. Also, learning to set a spread with similar presentations vs. trying to cover the entire colum with all different lures in a spread, not knowing which was the 'right' one, has also helped. Also for some unknown reason other than musky pms, choices like: jointed vs. straight, rattle vs. non, deep diving lip vs. shallow, flat sided lure vs. round, or one of my buddies ever effective GP Thumper spinnerbaits, etc seem to be the difference.
Speed has been the other key for us, especially in the cold water months. I used to go off of the speed wheel on my old Eagle locator, and realized, after going to GPS a couple years ago, how inaccurate it was. I still use it for trolling in current, but the gps has made a big difference in route duplication and speed precision.
Learning a few things has shown how little I still know and how I need to go fishing with one of the true trollers at some point. I get a kick out of people that say they don’t troll because it is too easy. This fall, we’d often take a break from trolling and cast, just to ease the stress/anger factor in the boat, that trolling multi line sets would inevitably create….
Edited by Reef Hawg 1/25/2007 9:15 PM
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Posts: 688
Location: Northern IL | I want to start out by saying I've done my share of trolling. In 2002 Terry O'Malley offered a instructors certification from Mr. Buck Perry, I very humbly excepted. For those of you who might not know Mr. Perry, he coined many of the terms we use today in our fishing and is commonly known as "The father of structure fishing". In his book he talks about the need to coin a word which expressed his thinking about the ingredients necessary to become a good fisherman, that word is spoonplugging. It is the total concept for successful fishing". However spoonpluggers are often accused as being "full time" in the trolling business.
Your question really is "how do I catch fish more consistently on the troll". And who better to answer such a question than the greatest troller that ever was. It's my opinion this question can not be answered with just a few statements. It took Mr. Perry more than 1/3 of his book before he visited the subject "presentation of lures". The knowledge of the where, the why, the what, and the when about a fish is a requisite to the study of the "HOW" to troll question.
Mechanical actions such as line lengths, learning where a bait runs ect. are mere child's play in the total picture of successful trolling. While it's important to know what it takes to hit an "exact" depth knowing the WHERE in a body of water or area to put that bait can make all the difference.
Buck talks about fish movements, saying "if we don't fully understand WHERE, WHY,and WHAT about a fish, the study of tackle and how to use it, will be a waist of time". He goes on to say "You could become the greatest caster or troller in the world. You could have the best and most expensive equipment available, BUT you could still get skunked if you don't thoroughly understand HOW fish move. Without this knowledge it would be pure luck if you caught a fish." The same applies to many other areas.
Trolling has many purposes and catching fish is the result of becoming a knowledgeable fisherman. Trolling is the teacher. When trolling there are several things to accomplish: keep lures in position (depth control), learn the make up of the lake (mapping and interpretation), keep lures fishing at all times (speed control), arrive at the fish ect. Trolling also allows anyone who can hold a rod enjoy our sport whether it be the young or old. The difference between dragging a bait and trolling with purpose is the things learned by trolling correctly!
Edited by jerryb 1/25/2007 11:09 PM
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Posts: 143
| esoxaddict - 1/24/2007 3:08 PM
a boat! ;)
so THAT'S what i've been doing wrong! |
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