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Trolling fishing tips

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1
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Fall Fishing is here

Fall is here, it is getting cold, and its a good time to fish. The ice is already starting to build on the ponds and shorelines. A lot of people already have brought there boats out of the water. But if you have a small boat I recommend trolling along the shoreline for muskies, jigging for walleyes, top lures through the weeds for Northern/Bass. The walleyes are in the cold shallow waters. Fall is my favorite time to fish, and usually one of the only times I fish off shore. Since the walleyes are in shallower waters, you can just cast off shore for the lunkers.......

Topics: Walleye, Muskies, Pike, Fall weather
4
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Slowing your Troll

I was having a hard time getting my dodger to dodge and instead it was laying flat cause we had too much speed trolling. The new engine just won't slow down enough, so give this a try. Take a 5 gallon bucket and tie it to the back of the boat with enough lead to get past the prop. It'll drop your speed in a hurry!

Topics: Trolling, Kokanee
8
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Prop wash

My personal favorite way to fish for Northern is trolling in the prop wash. Boat speed at about 3-9 mph. Line should be out 8 -20 feet. Some people think 20 might be too far out I personally do not. The prop wash stirs up the water possibly looking like a school of fish or a wounded bait fish ? I'm not sure what the reasoning is I just know it works. I'm starting to hear more and more that It works for a lot of different fish. I guess depending on the lure you use:

Topics: Boats, and, Fish
20
Vote

Downrigger

I recently bought a new Downrigger from Walker at Cabelas and got the Lake Master Combo that also came with a new Pole for trolling. Over just a few hours of using it, I've learned that an accurate depth finder is extremely important. Dragging your downrigger weight on the bottom can be scary because your worried about your downrigger ripping off the boat, then your poles going with it and all your gear on the line. Meanwhile, everybody is leaning over the side of the boat trying to help, so then your worried about capping the boat. You learn quickly what you can and cannot do when trolling with one of these. I suggest when using a down rigger, plan on buying a few other essentials, such as: A decent fish/depth finder with temperature and maybe even gps for marking your fish, so you don't make the same mistakes I did. A vinyl coated downrigger wieght; vinyl can help block fish from "feeling" the electrical charge given off from the boat through the downrigger line and ball. Some fisherman say red vinyl coated balls seem to entice more strikes. Also you will need a release that can be consistently be adjusted as light as 1/2 lb of release tension especially when fishing for Kokanee because of their soft mouths.

Topics: Downrigger, Kokanee
10
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Runnin N Gunnin

There's something to be said for standing on a bank and fishing while relaxing, or trolling along a lake, but most of the time, I prefer to "run n' gun". Basically, this means constantly moving and going from place to place at adecent pace while using reaction or fast-moving baits. You won't catch 20-30 fish (usually), but the 7 or 10 that you do get are usually the 7 or 10 most aggressive fish.

The key is to find an area that will likely produce, like a point, weedbed, or are with lots of different cover and structure, and have a few rods rigged up - medium crankbait, deep crankbait and a spinnerbait. Work through the area, not stopping, and moving from spot-to-spot while making casts along the structure and to cover.

If you do this every time, you get worn out quickly, but if you only have a few hours to be on the water, this is a great way to make the most of it.

Topics: Crankbait, Spinnerbait
6
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Salt water salmon fishing.

Tried and true salmon trolling tips.
If your not familiar with the area, drop in at a local tackle shop for directions to some of the hot spots and inquire about what's working.
My favorite method is trolling a cut-plug herring. A cut-plug is simply cutting the head of the herring off. This must be done in the following fashion to ensure the proper "action" or "roll" is achieved. Cut the herring at a 45 degree angle from top to bottom and also the width of the herring. This will give you a nice tight or small roll on your bait.
Next attach your flasher to the down rigger cable, 1 foot above the ball with a 3-4 foot leader. Note do not use a long leader or you will get tangled with your line.
Attach your release clip 18-24 inches above your flasher line, make sure your bait is only 4-5 feet behind your flasher.
The reason I like this setup is because the fight you will experience from the fish will be increased 10 fold. With Coho often the flasher will take 90% of the fight out of the fish. Try the above method and you will never attach the flasher to your rod again.
Other tips I can give you:
Try different trolling speeds: The speeds that have worked best for me range from 2.5 to 6 km per hour.
Look for bait balls on your fish finder, they will show up as a big red or black ball. When you find one and if you are fishing in a tide, turn your boat into the tide and adjust your speed so as you are stationary on top of the bail ball. The tide will work your bait/cut-plug for you and you will catch more fish than you could imagine.
Coho like fairly open water where as Chinook like to be close to shore.
Remember in Canada you must use barbless hooks when fishing for salmon!
Good luck and Good Fishing. Brady

Topics: Salmon Tips on bait, presentation, trolling methods and where to find them