Northwest Fishing Reports

Hey, anyone out there want to help out some guys trying to learn how to troll? My friend finished up fixing up his boat and he's been out only a couple of times. Right now, he doesn't have any downriggers, just some rod-holders. He does have a fish-finder with GPS. What's the best way to find the fish, then target them? Any tips or tricks would really be helpful (even the 'don't pee against the wind' type). We're talking beginners here.

Mikey,
I am also just starting to figure out trolling & would like to hear any tips that you veterans have.

I used a Scotty model #1050 for a couple months last summer, I think I got the basic operation down.
The most trouble Ive had is with the line release, its very upsetting to have the line pop off when you are
30/40 ft down or drag a small one around because it didnt release. I have a couple of different types now .

I started with an 8lb. ball then tried a 6lb which is a little easier to use. I might even try a smaller ball next.

I have tried the Shuttle Hawk from Shasta Tackle Co. it is supposed to travel up & down the cable with your
line & release so that you dont have to bring the ball up everytime. Great idea but I cant seem to make it go
down every time or go all the way down to the ball when its 50 + ft.

Since I love to tinker with things I am thinking of trying a simple hand line to drop 15 or 20 ft. with a
2 or 3 lb. ball.

The downrigger can keep you busy while trolling but I think it will be worth the effort!

I use mine at Lake Merwin for Kokanee! Good Luck!

If we are talking trout or bass then fish the edges of the drop offs and a little further out. Check the action of your lure next to the boat and adjust your boat speed accordingly to get the best action from the lure. You and your buddy need to fish lures that require similar boat speeds as if not only one of you will have optimum lure action. Vary either the length of line behind the boat or the weight of the sinker on your line. This will have you fishing at different depths so you can figure out where the fish are biting.

Don't be afraid of putting a 4/0 flasher ahead of your lure for added flash if fishing for trout. Years ago the best trout catching gear was a 4/0 silver flasher with a short tied carey special behind it. Short tie means the fly was only tied on the front half of the hook. A piece of worm was added to the back half.

Added: I just noticed you guys have a fishfinder/gps. Use the trails function of the GPS and don't be afraid to add icons to show structure (or areas you want to avoid) and also to mark where you spotted fish, bait or had strikes.

Try trolling with your dick ahahaha.

Lets start simple....

Go get your crankbaits out. Get the shallow floating cork rapalas, the wiggle worts, the big nasty's, and the deep divers. Get your cranks out and know where they fish.

Set up your rodholders so that your lines will be far enough apart not to tangle.

Find a place that you KNOW has fish, where you have fished in the past.

Troll the crankbait that will get you in the bottom 1/4 of the water column. If you are in 20' of water, use a crank that gets down at least 15'.

Pull it slowly, occasionally slipping into neutral, back into gear, then later on revving up a little, slowing down, turning, just change it up if you dont get a bite after a while.

If you hang up in weeds, estimate the height of the weeds, then troll a shallow crank that will cruise over the weeds (this is deadly for crappie).

If there are 3 people in the boat, troll one line about one boat length behind the boat, directly in the propwash. Sounds strange, but Ive tested it and it catches fish.

Biggest piece as always:

TIME ON THE WATER!

E

Can't stress enough the changing of direction and speed. Somedays they'll only take it while it's slow, others, you gotta be goin at a good clip. Just try not to go in a straight line and if you're just long-lining with no downriggers, give a little tug or two on the line every minute or so, maybe bringing it in a foot, then just lettin go to tight again. If trollin more than one rig, I always go with two very different style rigs to see what's hitting (including attractants, powerbait, worm, smelly jelly etc.) but I guess that's probably just common sense. What sucks, is you can go to the same lake, the next day, with the same conditions, fish the same setup that crushed the fish, and not catch anything, so, trial and error again till ya find them. Personally, I gots no electrics (other than my motor), no downriggers and that's it and it does produce; just not really consistant numbers, but nine outta ten times I at least catch a couple, usually dinks, haha. Maybe I need some equipment, haha.

Guys, thanks for the tips, seriously! Trolling seemed to be such a dark horse to me. It still is, I have little idea as to what we are doing, but as I see some small successes, I get a little more confident. Gisteppo, you are right, the more time on the lake paying attention at what I'm doing will always help.

One more question about equipment. My friends kicker will run at about 2 mph on idile. That's what we used on Lk Wa on saturday that got us a trout. I understand that you want to go about as slow as 1 mph at times, is that right? Also, does using a combustion engine scare fish away? I think I found the right replacement part for my trolling motor, so hopefully that will be available soon.

Thanks again!
M

The biggest part of trolling is depth. It takes experience to know how to get your lure at the right depth, based on weight, speed of boat, thickness of line, etc. It'll take some learning, but once you get it dialed in, it's tough to do anything else but troll...

I have found the exact opposite to be true about motors. I like trolling right in the propwash sometimes, as the fish have figured out that bait get scattered and confused by the engines. Granted, smallmouth bass are a little spooky to motor noise, but I have caught MANY smallmouth at the end of a troll. Electrics don't have the staying power to troll for 8 hours or better, esp against wind or current. Gas kickers or main motors work just fine.

As far as lures, try to picture what the available food source is in the lake and mimic it. We have a large abundance of perch fry, making my rapala countdown glass shad rap in perch print the go-to lure. I also use a few others, and white seems to produce depending on time of day, but this is due to a multitude of squaw and trout fry.

Trolling speed can vary, esp based on species. Bass can attack at up to 11mph, but rarely will work that hard in the colder months. Lake trout like the over 1mph speed for some reason, but try a variety of speeds. I have trouble when trolling with the tugboat, as it tends to go too fast. Trick that I use is dragging a sea anchor (read: 5 gallon bucket) right behind the motor. It hasn't reduced the number of caught fish, but it has slowed the troll to the 1-1.5 mph range, which for this lake is the most effective. Im using a 4 stroke 5hp on the sled right now, and use the 50hp main with the driftsock on the 22' launch im building (photos forthcoming upon completion).

E

Mikey wrote:Guys, thanks for the tips, seriously! Trolling seemed to be such a dark horse to me. It still is, I have little idea as to what we are doing, but as I see some small successes, I get a little more confident. Gisteppo, you are right, the more time on the lake paying attention at what I'm doing will always help.

One more question about equipment. My friends kicker will run at about 2 mph on idile. That's what we used on Lk Wa on saturday that got us a trout. I understand that you want to go about as slow as 1 mph at times, is that right? Also, does using a combustion engine scare fish away? I think I found the right replacement part for my trolling motor, so hopefully that will be available soon.

Thanks again!
M

Dang! A kicker idle moves you that fast? My boat won't move when we have the main motor hooked up in idle. Granted, we have a weak motor, but that seems very strange to me.

We troll and we attempt (keyword: attempt) to keep the bait/lure deep and slow. We have a pretty good idea of our home lake's bottom, so we are able to keep it within a few yards of the bottom at all times. I hucked my anchor overboard one day only to find out that the water in that part of the lake was 5 feet deep (measured with pole) and very weedy. We were far off shore then too.