I'm talking crankbaits for walleyes here, but in my experience, on some occasions, it make take faster trolling speeds to trigger the fish. Slower works fine most of the time (personnally I like to start at 2 ) but if you're seeing fish and they aren't going for you , try speeding it up a little. I'll bump it up to 2.5 and increase it to 3 or 3.5 and on some days, that's what it takes. It's suprising how often it works. I've never gone faster than 3.5 because I'm always concerned about my cranks blowing out, but maybe I should try faster some days.
Then again, on days when going faster doesn't work, trying going slower.
I'm sure you've heard it before, but instead of trolling in a straight line, zig zag and find out if your inside or outside lines are getting hit on a turn. It'll help give you some kind of a clue about the speed they prefer on a given day or maybe it's just a change in speed. I'm not totally sure but
it's rare when I don't zig zag while trolling cranks because it works. Some days it takes sharp turns too. It can be easy to over analyze why or why not fish are biting but if you find something that works, try to repeat it.
Often, if it is a change in speed that triggers them to bit, an occasional burst of throttle will work too. I think that often walleyes will follow a bait and a burst of speed makes them think their prey is trying to escape, sometimes triggering a bite.
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