Walleye Trolling:"The System"
by Keith Kavajecz & Gary Parsons

That's about how much money we won by putting together "The System", a trolling set-up that uses Berkley FireLine -- a product that we were admittedly skeptical about when it first came out.

FireLine is a new breed of fishing line; a hybrid of Micro Dyneema fibers and monofilament. The result is a smooth, super thin, super-strong fishing line that has the low stretch and sensitivity of the braided lines, with a texture similar to mono.

We've put it on all of our rods, from jigging, to rigging to bottom bouncer fishing. But before we gush too much about the line itself, let us tell you how it fits into "The System", our walleye trolling system that has won lots of money on the PWT and NAWA tournament circuits. It can help you get some great walleye action, too.

If we can catch walleyes on crankbaits and planer boards, that's going to be our first choice of techniques. Crankbaits give us tremendous depth control, Off Shore in- line planer boards let us spread lures out to the sides of the boat to increase the chance of fish contact. And by trolling crankbaits, we can cover a whole lot of water.

With FireLine, we can get an amazing amount of extra depth with crankbaits. Because it is so thin, it has much less water resistance than monofilament of similar strength, allowing cranks to go deeper. We usually use 10-pound test FireLine, which has the diameter of 4-pound test monofilament.

The thinner diameter of FireLine gives us as much as 30 percent more depth than monofilament for the same crankbait. For instance, a Storm Deep ThunderStick Jr. will go 18 feet with 10-pound XT, but down to 25 feet with 10-pound test FireLine. With a regular-sized Deep ThunderStick, we can get to 28 feet deep with 10 XT; an incredible 40 feet deep with 10-pound test FireLine. These depths were confirmed by Dr. Steven Holt, who co-authored "Crankbaits In-Depth," the bible of crankbait trolling. Holt donned scuba gear and actually recorded the depths of crankbaits as they were pulled in front of him.

Switching your trolling lines to no-stretch FireLine might be disappointing, though, unless you change the hooks on your crankbaits, too. Because FireLine has virtually no stretch, the hook can wear a bigger hole than usual in a fish's mouth, sometimes resulting in a lost fish. We replace stock hooks with Triple Grip Trebles from Mustad, which have an inward bend that keeps fish stuck. These hooks are excellent for crankbaits, sharp out of the box and made of light enough wire that they don't interfere with the bait's action. Use #2's for Deep ThunderSticks, #4's for the Deep ThunderStick jr.

Speaking of action, the finer diameter of FireLine really helps a crankbait achieve its full potential. Historically we only occasionally used the big Deep ThunderSticks for walleye trolling until we paired them with FireLine. Because of less water resistance against the line, the ThunderSticks produce a super rolling action making them a top option when targeting big walleyes.

The rest of The System calls for just a few minor adjustments from what you're probably already doing. You'll need to loop the FireLine over the top of the Offshore Planer Board release and back through the pinch pads a second time, to keep the board from slipping. When using of no-stretch line it's recommended that you switch to a more limber rod to take up some of the impact of playing a fish. We have designed a line of fishing rods, for The Walleye Angler Catalog, that are the perfect combination of backbone and "give" for use with no-stretch line, larger lures, In-line planer boards and Snap Weights (when needed). The Walleye Angler Signature Series models WS76T-T and WS86T-T, are 7and 1/2 and 8 and 1/2 footers respectively. These rods are made with IM-6 graphite and sell for under $50. Great values for a great set of walleye trolling rods.

The reels' drags also help to compensate for the strike and the surges the fish makes at the boat. When a fish strikes, the drag should slip slightly. If you feel the need to tighten the drag to fight the fish, just be careful not to tighten it too much. With those Triple Grip hooks, you won't have any problems landing your fish.

Because FireLine is currently available in 100-yard spools as well as 300 yard bulk spools. Use a few yards of mono backing on the reel's spool before filling it with FireLine. This will help the line spool up better. The slickness of the FireLine can sometimes cause it to slip on a spool, making it difficult to fill.

One criticism of the braided lines has been the reduced knot strength and the difficulty of tying knots that don't slip. Those difficulties disappeared with FireLine. Not only is the knot strength better than monofilament, but knots are almost as easy to tie. The best knot we have found for tying FireLine is a polamar knot. Other knots will work too, it's just a matter of adding a few more twists to the basic Trilene or Improved Clinch knots.

You can look back and see most of the major breakthroughs that have helped us all catch more fish. Although tackle companies throw around words like "new" and "revolutionary" a lot, the real breakthroughs like the Lowrance Green Box, graphite in rods, GPS and in-line planer boards only come along once in a while. FireLine has, in our opinion, become the next big step that will help everyone catch more walleyes. Use it on reels with good drags, put good hooks on your crankbaits and adjust your fish-fighting technique and "The System" will help you catch more walleyes!