You're watching TV, when a new show comes on. It starts with a dark, dark TV screen, that gradually lightens to where you can vaguely make out the shapes of fish, all of them with faintly glowing eyes. You hear an actor's voice, quite familiar. Why, it sounds like William Shatner!

"Deep," the voice says, pausing slightly. "The final frontier."

(You see more fish, obviously walleyes, casually finning around.)

"These are the voyages of the crankbait ThunderStick."

(The fish seem more alert.)

"It's ongoing mission to explore new depths."

(You can hear a faint rattling sound.)

"To seek out new schools of untouched walleyes."

(The rattling sound gets louder, and the camera cuts to an oncoming crankbait, and you can see a slow, pronounced rolling action.)

"To boldly go where no crank has gone before!"

(Suddenly, out of nowhere, two HUGE walleyes attack the lure, one gets hooked and you can hear a reel drag, just like Star Trek music, going "ee-EEE, ee-ee-e-e eeeeee!"

We know we'd watch a show like that, although the plot line might not have much variation from week to week, what with big walleye after big walleye being caught on Storm's Deep ThunderStick. Although they've been a longtime favorite among Great Lakes trollers, Deep ThunderSticks never became a big winner for us until we incorporated them into "The System". This new trolling technique uses thin, non-stretch Berkley FireLine, which allows the deep-diving T-Stick to go deeper than ever before--and give off a terrific action that it just doesn't have with thicker monofilament.

First, let's review the advantages of FireLine for trolling. Thinner diameter lets crankbaits dive deeper; when a fish hits, because there is no stretch, your in-line planer board sweeps back with authority, leaving no doubt that there is a fish on the other end. The no-stretch line also helps set the hook on a planer board line.

Paired with a big ThunderStick, the advantages really become apparent. How much deeper will it dive? According to the Precision Trolling book (call 800/353-6598 for more information) a ThunderStick dives to 28 feet with 250 feet of Berkley 10-pound test XT. With the 10-pound test FireLine, which has the diameter of 4-pound test monofilament, the lure will go 30 to 40 percent deeper, or nearly 40 feet - of course you'll have to let out 300 feet of FireLine. FireLine really shines when fishing deep, suspended walleyes feeding on suspended forage like smelt, shad or alewives.

Another big advantage becomes apparent when you compare the action of a Deep ThunderStick on 10-pound monofilament to the action on the 10-pound FireLine. On the mono, the lure has a good, wobbling action--which walleye will hit from time to time. But compare the FireLine action. Because of the thinner diameter and the fact that the non-stretch property doesn't allow any "mush" or cushioning by the line, you'll be able to see the lure's belly flash each time it rolls side to side. It's this rolling, flashing action that can really trigger a walleye to strike.

One drawback of non-stretch lines is when a fish shakes its head, it can wear a hole in its mouth, often throwing the hook. The Mustad Triple Grip trebles solve this problem. The inward bend of each hook on the treble locks the flesh into the corner of the hook keeping a walleye firmly attached no matter how big the tear in its mouth. We've switched all our crankbait hooks to Triple Grips. They don't need to be altered with pliers and are sharp right out of the package. We replace bronze trebles with bronze Triple Grips and the stock plated silver trebles with silver Triple Grips.

We've also found that replacing the stock trebles with light wire Mustad Triple Grips (which don't weigh the bait down as much as thicker trebles do) enhances this rolling action even more. Even if you continue to troll with mono, take a look at Triple Grips - they will definitely help you catch more walleyes!

Incidentally, to reach these maximum depths we troll very slowly with a 9.9 four-stroke kicker from Mercury. Not only do the ultra-slow speeds give the bait maximum depth, but they also produce the tantalizing, rolling action that can really attract the monsters.

The best colors of ThunderSticks the past couple of years have been the Chromium Metallic Rainbow (148) and--probably the best all-around color--metallic Rainbow Trout (139). In the Great Lakes where you have smelt and alewives, Blue Mackerel (44) has been terrific. (This one is sometimes hard to find in walleye country, having more fans among saltwater fishermen. Check out the Walleye Angler Catalog, at 1-800-WALLEYE and you should be able to get a hold of some Blue Mackerels.) One final favorite color is the Hot Tiger, (174) which works great in dark, dingier water or where perch are prominently on the walleye's menu.

In 1995, the Deep ThunderStick proved to us that it is a premier walleye bait when used with "The System". The trend continued in 1996, and we can hardly wait to see how many walleyes it will catch for us (and you) in 1997.

-- For you Star Trek Fans: An excerpt from the ship's log of the Walleye Boat -- Tracker

"Fisherman's log - Fishing Date: 07:15:95. We (short pause) have been running the Deep ThunderStick deeper than we've ever trolled before - often reaching depths of nearly 45 feet. If (short pause) initial results can be extrapolated to encompass the entire fishing season in all walleye waters, then (long thought-filled pause) we must conclude that walleye fisherman will most certainly catch more (short pause) and bigger walleyes in the years to come!"