Trolling For Smallmouth

[tkunk]

18 hours ago, Further North said:

I've looked at fishing the great lakes for smallies...and it's generally a trolling/jigging game.  That's cool...but not for me.  I'd rather catch smaller fish...or even no fish...fishing the way I enjoy.

I fish Lake Michigan all the time, and I rarely see anyone trolling for smallmouths, except for a technique I'll describe below. Here, in the summer, it's all drop shot/tubes unless it's very windy, and the fish get shallow and aggressive. Fortunately, it's often windy.

 

To the OP, I don't think anyone's mentioned that you can troll tubes and drop shots. Maintain bottom contact, and keep your speed under 0.8 MPH. Normally, people do this on very windy days. Point your bow into the wind, use your trolling motor to stay under 0.8 MPH, and try to drag your lure through interesting areas.

[Neil McCauley]

Or other baitfish patterns. Rapala "Dive-to" series works well too, at whatever depth you want. 



If you need to reach deep fish, trolling at 3mph with 100-150 yds of 6-8lb flurocarbon line out can get you down 30-40 feet or more. I have brought lakers up from 90ft doing this.

[Dwight Hottle]

20 minutes ago, Neil McCauley said:

Or other baitfish patterns. Rapala "Dive-to" series works well too, at whatever depth you want. 



If you need to reach deep fish, trolling at 3mph with 100-150 yds of 6-8lb flurocarbon line out can get you down 30-40 feet or more. I have brought lakers up from 90ft doing this.

 

Good advice. Just to let you know trolling tables state that 270-280 feet of line out is maximum depth achievement. After that the drag of the excess line out starts to pull the bait back up. So 100 yards of line out would be the maximum not 150 yards. 

[Vilas15]

8 hours ago, portiabrat said:

To the OP, I don't think anyone's mentioned that you can troll tubes and drop shots. Maintain bottom contact, and keep your speed under 0.8 MPH. Normally, people do this on very windy days. Point your bow into the wind, use your trolling motor to stay under 0.8 MPH, and try to drag your lure through interesting areas.

Similarly a Lindy rig with a leech or some plastic would be great. Ive also caught a lot of smallmouths pulling what is basically a carolina rig with livebait around 0.7 or 0.8 MPH.

[TnRiver46]

Trolling has opened up my eyes to Fishing so many areas that I normally wouldn’t fish. It’s really amazing 

[FishingDM]

On 7/13/2018 at 8:37 AM, FryDog62 said:

Best I’ve ever used trolling for smallmouth (and many other species) by far is a Salmo Hornet.   Gold Perch and Sick Perch, Holo Gold.  Almost a cult following in our area.  Sshhh...

 

https://www.cabelas.com/product/Salmo-Floating-Hornet/1392311.uts?slotId=2

I was on vacation last week and was able to try out some trolling for smallmouth. It turned out to be one of the most productive techniques of the week. Nothing big but still fun. I tried one of the salmo Hornets and that worked the best.

 

Thanks all for the help! Going to try some more this weekend.

[basscatcher8]

I like having trolling as a tool in my pocket when I'm somewhere on vacation or something and I've only got a couple days to figure it out. Check with your electronics then drop down the baits and hunt. If you get into something then pull em up and start casting and see if you can't find a group of em to sit on.

 

That grid feature on the humminbirds comes in handy here as well. Lets you do what JF was talking about a bit easier with sectioning off areas.

[Fishingmickey]

As a kayak fisherman that can't go anywhere fast. I am always dragging a lure or two. I have found numerous "spot's"  trolling that I go back and fish. It's a great way to find those productive area's that often are less pressured.

FM

[Tizi]

Rapala shad rap, these troll great and you might catch something other than a bass on it!

[TnRiver46]

I have trolled through areas many times and caught smallmouth. Then I thought “well that’s a good area, I’ll go back and cast to those fish.” Guess what: I literally never catch them when I cast to them. Make another trolling pass and you guessed it: fish on! Trolling not only covers water and allows you to watch electronics, it is also the best way to get a bite from my experience. They can’t resist a crank slamming bottom at high speed, even when it’s snowing. Me and a buddy got a 21.5” and then a 20” trolling squarebills 3.11 mph on December 20th, water temp 50, air temp hovering around 32