Trolling Strategies

Many of the tournaments I fish on the FLW Walleye Tour that take place on the Great Lakes are won by anglers trolling either crank baits or harnesses. Large reservoirs like Lake Oahe and natural lakes like Mill Lacs and Devils Lake are other fisheries that have a great trolling bite.

In order to consistently catch fish on either harnesses or crank baits by trolling, you yourself as an angler have to also be consistent. What consistency means is having equipment match up so that you can repeat or replicate what is working.

To consistently match speed, a GPS works much better than a paddle wheel or traditional speed indictor that measures speed via water friction under the boat. Current and wind can disrupt and make speed readings inaccurate unless you use a GPS. To get the best and most accurate speed readings at crawling speed, make sure to mount your receiver in such a way where you pick up the most possible satellites. Another aid that really helps with fine tuning trolling speeds are small drift socks that can be rigged off the bow side cleats. Drift control makes a real nice sock for stabilizing the boat in strong winds. Putting the bow mount trolling motor down also helps when you are trying to crawl, just something putting some drag or resistance in the water can really help with boat control.

I honestly believe that the combination of line, reel and trolling rod is often more important than the specific harness or lure in some cases. Let me explain. There is a time for Fireline and a time for monofilament. Generally, if I am trolling rivers, natural lakes and reservoirs where I am dealing with debris fouling up the lure, I am using Fireline because I can tell when I am fouled up. Fireline is also more durable with snags and allows baits to dive deeper, an advantage we often find when we are pulling deep diving baits like Reef Runners on the Missouri River reservoirs.

The Great Lakes are almost exclusively monofilament however. On the big water of Erie, Saginaw, etc, we are often targeting suspended fish so snags aren’t a factor. One trait of the Great Lakes however because of zebra mussels is extremely clear water. Mono seems to be more productive in this gin clear water. Fish are also much more spooked by the boat so planer boards are often necessary and with the vastness, boards are often ran several yards to the side to cover as much water as possible. The pads on planer boards just grip monofilament so nice. The fish often bull dog much harder as they approach the boat and the fish are often heavy so the flex and forgiveness of monofilament is appreciated. The only exception to this monofilament Great Lakes rule of thumb is when we have to fish zebra mussels and the sharp edges of these mollusk’s shells cut mono like a scissors.

Most of the guys trolling on the FLW Walleye Tour are using 10 pound Berkley XT whenever they use Monofilament. Something to consider, there are times for whatever reason where the only way I can get fish to strike is by using either monofilament or Fireline regardless of water because both lines give a lure or harness different actions so always experiment. Other trolling systems include dipsy divers, jet divers, snap weights and lead core line. We will go over the reasons for choosing these presentations later on in this article.

The reel you use is much more important than many people realize. Most trollers understand the importance of a line counter reel. How many of you have ever tested the accuracy? These reels don’t measure line, they count spool revolutions. Now the reel itself doesn’t necessarily have to be accurate but they do have to calibrate with the reels on the rest of your trolling rods so that you can match or replicate what is working. The best thing to do is tie off a couple or your trolling set ups, zero out the reels and walk out to a couple hundred feet just to see how close they are. What you will find is that many reels are just off, especially if the spool isn’t close to full. The most accurate line counter we have found on a reel is found on the newer Abu Garcia reels. These reels are rugged and have a nicer drag system as well, something I can appreciate as an angler.

Rods really vary with some anglers using everything from downrigger rods to high modulus casting rods depending on the situation. Whether to choose a stiffer trolling rod or a rod that is mushy with lots of bend depends on the presentation and situation. Generally, stiffer rods are needed for dipsy and jet divers. Monofilament also often demands just a bit more backbone in the rod. The best lead core setup I know of is the Jason Mitchell Elite Series line up of trolling rods. This rod company makes fourteen foot trolling rods for the outside and five foot trolling rods for the inside lines which allows anglers to get a lot of lead in the water without tangling. The rod to choose for Fireline depends on the size of fish getting targeted and the amount of debris in the water. Larger fish generally need a softer rod when using braids.

There are many ways to reach fish. Many people try and make trolling really complicated but the process is simple. Trolling snap weights or bottom bouncers and lead core is very speed dependent, speed up and the presentation rises through the water column while if you slow down, the presentation drops. Another factor to always remember is that in clear water environments like Lake Oahe or the Great Lakes, visibility is often good enough where fish will often rise several feet to chase down a lure. Snap weights seem to work best with mono and give an angler a lot of flexibility. Easy to clip on and off, the snap weight often is referred to as a poor man’s downrigger. Lead core line is also an excellent way to get lures and harnesses deeper, often taking more line to reach the depth than some of the other methods, the advantage of lead core line is that it seems to snake behind the boat, following contours nice. Dipsy and jet divers can get presentations deeper than any of the methods described above and the divers can be adjusted to plane out to the side of the boat which can help when running multiple lines.

Trolling intimidates some anglers but it shouldn’t. Trolling is extremely effective way to catch walleye in several kinds of water across the Midwest. Trolling is surprisingly simple as well once you acquire some of the basic tools and ideas.

The author, Troy Morris is one of the top rated anglers on the FLW Walleye Tour.