I give, I need to learn to troll

There is nothing better than drifting for walleyes when the conditions are right. I'm finally ready to admit that conditions are almost never right.

I've picked up some dipsey's, jet divers, and in line planers through the years. Can I use a 6' medium action rod with any of these? What weight line do you need for each one? I have seen one book mentioned over and over for trolling, can someone give me the name again.

Thanks

Mr. Ed

precision trolling . no .for dipsy's you need 8ft THE BEST WAY TO LEARN is go on a charter that uses this equipt ,you'll learn for in a day than all summer by trial and error heavy act,is my preferance ,some use others .

[risor39]

You can order the precision trolling book right here on WC.Best book period.I won't leave home without it.

[FrankT]

It would help if you would identify where you are fishing at.

One very effective way to troll in the western basin of Lake Erie is with bottom bouncers and crawler harnesses. You can do that with 6 ft rods. The main thing with that style of trolling is to have your boat set up so that you can troll slowly enough. Usually 1 -1.5 mph but sometimes in the 2 - 3 mph range.

If your boat can't slow down to 1 mph most people use trolling bags to slow the boat down. Another way to troll if you want to hold offf on the expense of the bigger rods and the trolling bags is to flat line crank baits or use a Fish-Seeker with spoons.

A good way to learn the ins and out of trolling is to go to the Walleye Central gathering in Huron, OH in November. There are a lot of top notch trollers that go to this and the people at Walleye Central will get you set up with some one to fish with in the free tournament.

Feel free to e-mail me at fturski@totalink.net if you want to get into more specifics.

[Finaddict]

What body of water do you fish? What kind of boat will you be fishing from?

[Matt D]

Mr. Ed, Saw in your other post that you were fishing out of the Vermilion river last weekend. I would recommend that you get ahold of Denny at Sportsmans Outpost in Vermilion and he can help you with what you need and answer the questions you have on your current tackle. His number is 1-888-855-9032. I think he is out of town but should be back this coming week. Good Luck!

[SUPERTROLLER]

6' Med. action rods will work. Not the best choice but you can buy new rods to replace as you learn more about what YOU want or need for what works for you. Dipsey's pull harder than the other things you listed and longer stiffer rods seem to work better, 8' or longer, up to 10'. I feel rods longer than 8 ft. seem to be hard to manage in Walleye sized boats. If you've got a bigger sized boat, 10' would be okay then. I've got some 6 ft. Lightning rods that I use for trolling with boards and they work fine. Not great but adequate to get by so I don't have to carry extra rods in my little boat. Best advice is to make a couple trips with an experienced trolling that can quickly show you the ins and outs of setting up your trolling spreads. Everyone seems to find their own comfort level on what works and doesn't result is as many tangled lines. Sometimes though, fouled lures or big sheephead are just going to make a mess of things. I like to run 2 boards with higher running baits and then 2 deeper diving baits on the inside lines off the back corners of the boat. You can angle an inside line over the motor and back behind the boat whenever the boards get hit or need attention just by moving the rod holder. It gets more tricky if you are running 4 boards, 2 on each side.

Trolling is not tough. You don't need depth curve tables when bottom bouncing or slip sinker rigging. They do have application when trolling for suspended fish. Seldom, if ever are suspended fish confined to one specific depth. I have fished Lake Erie's western basin on numerous occasions and found that if the fish were not oriented to the bottom they were suspended anywhere from the bottom of the photozone all the way to the bottom of the lake. In this situation I flatline cranks, usually Hot n tots, and do as well as anybody. On occasion I'll use cranks to pull down spoons via a three way rig but I generally don't have to go to the trouble. I don't even own boards. I find them to be a huge pain in the rear end and I believe are only practical if you need to fish umpteen lines such as in a charter situation. Many times I would mark few fish because of boat flair and loaded up the cooler just by flatlineing maybe 120-150 feet and usually don't have to fish as far as 150 feet. I have the Precision Trolling book but seldom rely on it. To many variables, primarily in regards to line diameter. Also the feet back count is dependant on the amount of line you have on your reel. Plus all this is dependant on having a line counter reel and a perfectly functioning line counter. Ya I know there is a math formula for differant line diameters but I find this to be cumbersome and it still can't take into account the amount of line on my reel or variances in the line counters. All this extra stuff, boards, snubbers, diving disks, just require more knots,(weak spots), and I have found they rarely substantially improve my catch. If you are losing fish with the no stretch lines then use a longer softer rod, go with a 15 or 20 foot mono leader, or both. Use a uni knot when tying your leader to the main line. Instead of boards or diving disks just run two lines off of each side of the boat at 90 degrees, two at 45 degress and two straight back off the stern. If you want more baits in the water use cranks to pull down spoons thereby doubling the number of working baits. Sure you'll get tangled once in a while but you'll also get tangled with boards and disks. The big difference being you won't have to deal withh all that other "stuff". This one inland lake I fish generally has the walleyes suspended just under the photozone, the max. depth of light penetration. I consistenly mark these fish at around 9-14 feet. This gives me an 7 foot window figuring a walleye will chase up at least two feet to hit my bait, not unusual as suspended fish are frequently active fish. With just a few minutes of time spent in water 7 feet you'll know how much line to let out after you hit bottom. Let the same amount of line out when in deeper water by marking a spot on your rod two feet from your reel and pull the line off by hand two feet at a time. It won't matter how much line you have on your reel and you won't have to be concerned with line diameter. If you want to fish deeper than 7 feet but stay in the window just let out more line 5 feet at a time until you get tuned in. This system eliminates diameter and line capacity variables and does'nt require a line counter reel. I can and do use the same spinning tackle that I cast and slip float with, reducing the number and expense of more rigs. Unles your a tourney fisher after the big bucks, then all this extra stuff may be necessary but otherwise keep it simple. More enjoyment and light years less frustration.

[SUPERTROLLER]

Boat flare by the Walleye spooking is the reason we are running a couple boards to the side. I agree, the long lines will pick up fish that are now substantially away from the boat. Not everyone has the access to huge bodies of water loaded with fish like Lake Erie, on tighter flats and when contour trolling, we need to be versatile in our presentations to find the right option. I'm not in any way saying you're wrong in your comments, I'm just saying I like to leave the options open and use what is working. If you can do well enough without the added gimmicks, all power to ya.

Your points are well taken but I still believe that boards are very over rated. I fish a northeastern Ohio reservoir, (Mosquito), thats around 8000 acres. Boating pressure is very heavy. I flatline cranks 50 feet behind the boat for suspended fish that are 7-12 feet down in 20 feet of water and simply hammer 'em. The same can be said for another inland electic res that I fish thats around 1200 acres. I think so often people use boards because they see everbody else using them and believe they are necessary or because the "pros" use them. I really believe that if those who use boards would try flatlineing first they would find themselves using boards much less. As a finale thought, E.L."Buck" Perry never once mentioned boards and I would be willing to bet that he never used them yet his capacity to produce fish of all species is legendary.