Depth, Knowlage for a beginner

[fishingmachine]

Hi I'm New here!Very nice board and hope to learn a lot. I'm trying to get into trolling for walleye and would appreciate any thing anyone could do to help me. I have read thru the posts but dont really see what I'm looking for. My wife and I have started trolling but so far no luck. I am trolling hot and tots and shad raps and letting them back till they bump bottom, is this right? I have no idea how to set for different depths or speed seeing I dont have line counters or speedometer. I usally troll so they just keep a bow in the rods(medium action). Is there a better way that a beginner can do and still catch fish?

[FreeByrd]

Do yourself a favor and make the next $30 you spend be on a copy of "Precision Trolling" - click on "Products" at the top of this page. Beyond the "dive curves" that will tell you how deep your lures are for a given line out it explains a lot of the physics of trolling that will help you. You can measure the amount of line that comes off your reel spool on a pass and count passes to get an idea of how much line you have out. Also if you post where you are fishing you may get some good local tips from other people on here.
Steve

[perchjerker]

good advice from Steve.

I would also suggest a clip on shakespere line counter. They work very well when used properly. you can move it from rod to rod when you let line out.

One trick to finding the right speed is to get close enough to another boat (but dont crowd him!) and troll along side him for a while and adjust your speed to his. Make a note of your engine rpm. Then you at least have a starting point. Of course if no one else is around you trolling this wont help ;)

[bountyhunters]

sounds like you got a good start .what lakes are you trolling on? things are a little slow now ,hot weather hot water / keep trying ,beats work.

[fishingmachine]

>Do yourself a favor and make the next $30 you spend be on a
>copy of "Precision Trolling" - click on "Products" at the top
>of this page. Beyond the "dive curves" that will tell you how
>deep your lures are for a given line out it explains a lot of
>the physics of trolling that will help you. You can measure
>the amount of line that comes off your reel spool on a pass
>and count passes to get an idea of how much line you have out.
> Also if you post where you are fishing you may get some good
>local tips from other people on here.
>Steve

I'll do that! I'm in northern ohio fishing mosquito lake,Berlin , Milton and any where else I hear of bites!

[fishingmachine]

>good advice from Steve.
>
>I would also suggest a clip on shakespere line counter. They
>work very well when used properly. you can move it from rod to
>rod when you let line out.
>
>One trick to finding the right speed is to get close enough to
>another boat (but dont crowd him!) and troll along side him
>for a while and adjust your speed to his. Make a note of your
>engine rpm. Then you at least have a starting point. Of course
>if no one else is around you trolling this wont help ;)


Ok i'll try that where do you find these Line counters!

[fishingmachine]

>sounds like you got a good start .what lakes are you trolling
>on? things are a little slow now ,hot weather hot water /
>keep trying ,beats work.


Do you try to bounce bottom or above? Is there a average depth for a shad rap on say so much line for a #5 shad rap? Is there a a better size shad rap for walleye?How often do you change lures. Do you troll at night or drift bait? As you see I have a lot of questions. Suprises even me as I have fished all my lifebut hadden know how dumb I was till I started trolling. LOL

[perchjerker]

pretty much any well stocked sporting goods store

here is a link to one place

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0002054013743a&type=product&cmCat=search&returnString=hasJS=true&_D%3AhasJS=+&QueryText=line+counter&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-box.jsp.22&N=4887&Ntk=Products&Ntx=mode+matchall&Nty=1&Ntt=line+counter&noImage=0&returnPage=search-results1.jsp

[went522]

Like the above said, buy a copy of the precision trolling and buy some of the clip on counters. As far as speed goes, without a gps...go the speed you think is right...on your trolling pass, don't go in a straight line, zig zag. On a left turn the lure on the port side will go a little slower and the lure on the star side will go a little faster. This will allow you to narrow down the speed the fish want. If the faster line is getting more hits, speed up. Once you figure what speed they want, adjust accordingly. Used handheld gps's are a dime a dozen, you don't need an expensive one to get the job done. If you get one it will really take the guess out of the game. Anywhere between 1.5 and 3mph seem to be good starting speeds, usually early in the year around 1.5 and this time of year around 2.5-3. You keep an eye on this site and you will learn a TON. P.S. Trolling is an addiction, once you start, there's no stopping. Before you know it you'll be dropping $100 on cranks on every trip to the store and 9/10's of the lures will never get used, but you'll still keep buying! I'm involved in CA-Crankin Anonymous, we meet once a week to talk about our addiction. My name is Birddog and I'm a crankbait addict! Try not to let it consume your life.

BIRDDOG

[Kolby]

Good Starting Points for the Day are Generally:

Stained or Dirty water - bump bottom, go slower, firetiger colors.

Clear Water - run them higher and faster with natural colors.

Other tips:

1. crayfish patterns for shallow rocky areas
Perch or bluegill patterns for weed edges
Natural silvery shad or baitfish patterns for open water

2. Start out fast and then keep slowing down until you catch fish

3. Don't run all over the lake doing the same thing, change depths, speeds, and locations constantly until you get some responsive fish.

4. A lot of times the best speed to use to catch fish is the one that will barely make your bait wiggle and dive.

5. Learn how to tune your baits so they run straight

6. Learn how to use your depthfinder to mark fish and baitfish, generally, run your lures just below balls of bait and just above the bigger hooks.

[fishingmachine]

Well just to let you know I'm taking your advise everyone. I ordered the "trolling Bible" and "5 roads to walleye" bought two "line counters" and another "1/2 dozen shad raps". Will be heading out in the morning to see what I can do. ALso they have a new cuda 240 fishfinder with a built in speed temp and gps at wally world for 199.00 I'm going to pickup this week and install. Hopefully I'll fiqure the combination out for some successable fishing.

[ETT]

I totally agree ...get Precision Trolling, but then...2 suggestions; 1 go out for a day with an experianced troller, & 2 come to the day long seminar at the Cleveland Boat Show in January. Both will really shorten your learning curve and and put fish in the boat.

As an experianced troller myself, let me say your concerns are right where they need to be ie. it's not about the depth, it is the depth!!!

good luck.

[ETT]

I totally agree ...get Precision Trolling, but then...2 suggestions; 1 go out for a day with an experianced troller, & 2 come to the day long seminar at the Cleveland Boat Show in January. Both will really shorten your learning curve and and put fish in the boat.

As an experianced troller myself, let me say your concerns are right where they need to be ie. it's not about the depth, it is the depth!!!

good luck.

[JCarp]

Fishingmachine,

I e-mailed a couple of links for a few Ohio sites that may have local info.

I'd certainly read all the prev posts twice - good info. Read the PT book when it arrives and you'll be way ahead of where at least some of us were starting out.

Good Luck,
jc

[Schnauzer]

Of course it is always easy to spend someone else's money but when you get around to it... consider a GPS of some type. You can get into the low end hand held units without any mapping for under $100. This will be your best speed indicator. Start at 2.0 mph (the GPS will be right)and adjust up or down from there.

You have had other good advice. Make occasional zig zag turns rather than a constant straight line. Don't be afraid to go pretty shallow, especially in wind or at night - even try a couple shallow shad raps if you are in water under 10 feet deep.

10 different guys will probably give you at least 4 different opinions on line but I like the super lines (power pro, fireline) for trolling. It allows your lure to go deeper because it is thinner than regular mono. It also increases your ability to feel the lure's action and tell if you have picked up weeds. Also consider fiberglass rods with a lot of give in them. Superlines do not stretch like mono so you run the risk of ripping the lures out of the fish's mouth unless other parts of your rig are set to compensate: floppier rods and/or drag set more loosely.

I have had some of my best fishing trolling crank baits. That includes warm water, cold water, early season, late season, day, and night. It is a great way to cover lots of ground to pick up scattered fish.

[fishingmachine]

>Of course it is always easy to spend someone else's money but
>when you get around to it... consider a GPS of some type. You
>can get into the low end hand held units without any mapping
>for under $100. This will be your best speed indicator.
>Start at 2.0 mph (the GPS will be right)and adjust up or down
>from there.
>
>You have had other good advice. Make occasional zig zag turns
>rather than a constant straight line. Don't be afraid to go
>pretty shallow, especially in wind or at night - even try a
>couple shallow shad raps if you are in water under 10 feet
>deep.
>
>10 different guys will probably give you at least 4 different
>opinions on line but I like the super lines (power pro,
>fireline) for trolling. It allows your lure to go deeper
>because it is thinner than regular mono. It also increases
>your ability to feel the lure's action and tell if you have
>picked up weeds. Also consider fiberglass rods with a lot of
>give in them. Superlines do not stretch like mono so you run
>the risk of ripping the lures out of the fish's mouth unless
>other parts of your rig are set to compensate: floppier rods
>and/or drag set more loosely.
>
>I have had some of my best fishing trolling crank baits. That
>includes warm water, cold water, early season, late season,
>day, and night. It is a great way to cover lots of ground to
>pick up scattered fish.
>
>
Well I just ordered the cuda 240 should be here monday. Looks like a trollers dream. Its a sonar, temp unit and a GPS. Pro bass just put them on sale for 149.00 I dont think I could beat that. If it comes in I'll stick it in and be on the water tuesday if I'm up to it. I am limited due to an illness. Just want to thanks to all for the advise. Oh , and by all means don't stop I have a lot to learn and a short time to do it.

[Chuckles]

Just remember that cuda has a wheel type speedometer - not a GPS unit built in - the wheel type being much less reliable although it is still a reference point - just a less dependable version. Chuckles

[fishingmachine]

No this one has a GPS in it. Its the new version. Check it out!

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.gsp?product_id=2601816&cat=5188&type=21&dept=4125&path=0%3A4125%3A4145%3A5188

Sweet!




>Just remember that cuda has a wheel type speedometer - not a
>GPS unit built in - the wheel type being much less reliable
>although it is still a reference point - just a less
>dependable version. Chuckles

[Chuckles]

Wow - I stand corrected - that is an incredible price for a depth finder gps - you might want to double check to see that it will display the ground speed - but it likely will - the handheld gps's do... good luck with it - you will no doubt enjoy the features for trolling. Chuckles

[fishingmachine]

>Wow - I stand corrected - that is an incredible price for a
>depth finder gps - you might want to double check to see that
>it will display the ground speed - but it likely will - the
>handheld gps's do... good luck with it - you will no doubt
>enjoy the features for trolling. Chuckles


Already have, they have a simulater that acually works on their site. I downloaded it and all ready feel like i've had it a few weeks. It is suppose to be delivered tomorrow. Try again this weekend for eyes.

[Ohio fisherman]

These guys are giving you great advice! Read their posts a few times.

As someone else said it is easy to spend someone else'a money. Get a the 5 book set of Walleye books from In Fisherman. They have almost everything you need to know about trolling - and everything else. And, entertaining reading.

I have fished all of the lakes that you mentioned and they can be very frustrating. Try to fish those lakes during the week when the pleasure boaters and skiers do not have the water whipped and the fish spooked. The fishing should improve when the water cools. If your boat is suitable, try the inshore bite on Lake Erie in the next few months.

Try bottom bouncers and spinner rigs as well.

best wishes, O F

[Spanky]

You should look for a local walleye club to help speed your sucess rate or take a few charters.