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Trolling Made Easy
PWT pro from Bozeman I've found that many people are intimidated by crank baits and often avoid them. I am by no means an expert, but I have become more and more comfortable by applying a few simple rules when trolling them. By following these steps, you too can add this effective strategy to your arsenal and perhaps catch the fish of a lifetime. Boat Set Up: I am a tournament angler so while my 20-foot Warrior is completely outfitted with the latest and greatest, it is not necessary to have everything to be effective. Tournament boats are designed and set up to be as efficient as possible from small bodies of water to the Great Lakes, so let common sense and your personal needs be your guide. **First, your boat needs to be large enough to be safe for the waves you may encounter. Depending on the size of your boat, you may or may not need an auxiliary kicker motor for trolling. When trolling, in most cases you would want to be able to troll as slow as one mile per hour with 1.5 to 2.5 miles per hour a good average. **Always purchase the highest quality electronics that you can afford. I like the ease of use and detail of my Pinpoints to help me on the water. **A quality GPS could be an option when fishing on small bodies of water or when on points or close to shore, but becomes mandatory in open water situations or for real fine-tuning. **Next you would need at least four strategically placed rod holders as you will find it is very difficult to hold a rod all day especially with heavier crank baits. Another two-fold reason for rod holders is for general boat safety, as you would not want to trip on the rod and hurt yourself. While your rod is in a holder with the drag set, it is almost impossible to break or lose a rod due to a snag or sudden strike. Rods - Reels - Line & Planer Boards: While almost any combination can be used to catch fish, I like to set up my equipment to be efficient and effective under many circumstances. To me this means I want to have as uniform a system as I can. I have six primary trolling rods that I use. All of my trolling rods have line counter reels on them. These reels cost anywhere from $100 to $200 so you may have to work into this one. This was my ongoing Christmas present for quite a few years. Line counters are great because once you begin to catch fish it is easy to duplicate your success. (Note: When fishing with amateurs as a pro, I can be assured that even a first time fisherman has just the right amount of line out for the situation.) This also works great for spinners and bottom bouncers. To keep everything uniform, I like 10 lb. test monofilament XT (extra tough) or 10 lb. Fireline. About 80% of the time or when I am in water less than 20 feet deep, I like the monofilament. Deeper than 20 feet I like Fireline. This can be a personal preference but I stick with one or the other to keep things simple. Always remember when using different diameter lines, your baits will run at different depths, so keeping your system constant will cut down on the learning curve. A good book to purchase is Precision Trolling by Dr. Steven Holt. This book will show a picture of a crank bait on one page and a graph on the other so that you can let out the right amount of line to reach a certain depth. I use a small but uniform assortment of rods for all of my trolling situations. I have two 9 ½ foot Loomis Trolling Rods, two 8 ½ foot St. Croix Trollers and two 6 ½ foot rods. The common denominator here is that all have a heavier butt section to handle the stress and weight of trolling but they also have a softer or faster tip for sensitivity. The longer rods are terrific for hook sets while trolling because they will bend to a point, load up and virtually set the hook themselves. The 9-½ foot rods are used way back and spread out from the boat but are a bit long if I am alone. The 8-½ footers have the same characteristics but I can handle them by myself and are my favorite when using planer boards as I can tilt the rod up in my rod holders to keep the line from dragging in the waves between the boat and the boards. The two shorter rods are used to troll straight out from the boat. Using these rods and considering my boat is close to 8 feet wide, I can cover a swath of approximately 24 feet with out the planer boards. With a board on each side it is very realistic to double that number. Crank baits made easy! Now comes the good part! If you are like me and get all of the catalogs as well as visit the local sport shops, there are just too many choices. I would recommend studying the Precision Trolling book that I discussed earlier. Each manufacturer generally produces several families of crank baits such as shad raps, Tom Manns stretch series, wally divers, thundersticks, reef runners, etc. When studying this book and the charts therein, you will notice that each bait is designed to run at a certain optimal depth. This, of course, will vary depending on the amount and type of line you have out, but all will have a maximum depth. Use your common sense. Each manufacturer will vary. Now that you have this guide you can select a series of baits to cover the different depths in the water column. 0-10 feet, 10-15 feet, 15-20 feet, 20-25 feet and 25+ feet. Also consider that most walleyes are caught in water less than 20 feet. The next consideration is color. Most of you probably fish on primarily one or two bodies of water, so consider which color is the primary bait fish. Lastly remember that each manufacturer's lure has a different shape and will produce a slightly different wobble or vibration to help trigger strikes. You can start with one but I like to have 2 different brands for all the depth ranges with 3 different ones for the most common depths. I know this is starting to sound expensive and it is, but I am narrowing my choices down to something manageable. Let your pocketbook be your guide, but to consistently catch fish on home water we don't need a very wide selection. I would recommend to ease into the trolling game and do so with a longer-term goal in mind so your equipment matches and your purchases make sense. By doing so you will be on your way to becoming an even more effective fisherman. | |
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