Can anyone give me some information on trolling baits please.

I am a Lure Angling Coach and Consultant, I live in the UK and fish for zander (Stizostedion lucioperca) a close relative of your walleye, see attached picture of a bigger-than-average example, lure fishing for zander is starting to take off over here as more lure anglers buy boats. From everything I read about walleye/sauger etc they have similar habits to our zander.

Trolling is my key method on two local rivers, I want to know whether you think your lures will be suitable for what I want. The depth varies between 12 and 20ft, and the key to catching the zander is to get your lure hammering into the river bed. The zander are found in areas with a hard bottom, usually clay and sometimes sandstone, these areas can be quite tight, just a few yards long, so there is a lot of dead-water search trolling, and that is the problem. I don't know all the spots yet and finding them simply means trolling until I feel the lure start to kick as the lip hits hard river bed; but in between the hard spots are lots of areas which have a lot of debris – leaves and stuff, this is constantly fouling the lures. I've tried quite a few different types and some are better than others at avoiding the rubbish, but they are not always the best ones for catching the fish!

Which baits do you recommend for this sort of work? I use braided lines (PowerPro and TUF) in the 0.006-0.009" diameter range.

Different sizes/shapes are useful on tough days, and a choice re rattles or not.

If I can give you any more details please let me know.

Dave.

You've described what many of our rivers here in the states are like. Finding these holding spots in the rivers you fish is going to be half the solution. But if your only means of fishing for these Zanders is going to be trolling, your task of catching these walleye-like fish might be tougher than you'd expect. Not saying that catching fish in rivers while trolling is not a good method. I'd have to know how really big the rivers you fish are. If they are like the Detroit or St.Claire, youo might want to invest in some handlineing gear and use Rapalas, Pencil Plugs or Storm thundersticks. If it's small and narrow, you might want to try dropback fishing and keeping your offerings in the holding ZONE longer. That is, let your boat slide slowly back with the current while your cranbait works in the hole and slowly drop back itself.