BRUTAL. so brutal, i resorted to TROLLING.

[Darth-Baiter]

Lake Sonoma.  jetskis, skiboats, bikinis...okay one wake boat was filled with nothing but dudes, and i risked being swamped by a "drive-by" when i asked them, "how's the sausage party going?".

 

the fish were not biting anything i was offering.  moving from place to place, i deperately sent out a X-Nanahan jerkbait behind me.  you know what?  i caught a 3lb bass in 200 feet of water...and i got my first Steelhead!  a whopper.  i didnt take a pic, because i didnt know it was a Steelhead.  duh.  plus the water was turbulent from the big boats and watercraft. better to unhook quickly and keep moving.  

 

a steelhead fights obviously. big head shakes.  very cool.  we ended up catching a good amount, all catch and release.  and several dinky bass when i casted the Nanahan towards shore and twitched it back to me.  

[Captain Phil]

So what's the problem with trolling?  It works!

[TOXIC]

When I go to Wisconsin, trolling is not allowed on the chain of lakes we are on.  I just happened to leave a crankbait out and caught a good sized Tiger Musky.  

[Darth-Baiter]

1 hour ago, Captain Phil said:

So what's the problem with trolling?  It works!

It does work.  But not my favorite way to go 

[Ski]

18 hours ago, TOXIC said:

When I go to Wisconsin, trolling is not allowed on the chain of lakes we are on.  I just happened to leave a crankbait out and caught a good sized Tiger Musky.

Since 2015 I believe it is allowed.

[gim]

Its boring.  Almost as boring as bobber fishing.

 

I used to troll a lot when I walleye fished.  Either with lead core/crank baits, spinners, or back troll with lindy rigs.  They were all very effective.  Those days are over, I'd rather bass fish now.

[Blue Raider Bob]

23 minutes ago, gimruis said:

Its boring.  Almost as boring as bobber fishing.

 

I used to troll a lot when I walleye fished.  Either with lead core/crank baits, spinners, or back troll with lindy rigs.  They were all very effective.  Those days are over, I'd rather bass fish now.

Sometimes on the rivers I fish, I can't get a bite so to salvage the day I troll. For some reason on the Tennessee River, trolling deep Shad Raps and Bombers in 14ft of water often brings results. Not always, but often. I also love to watch a quill type bobber disappear when bream fishing. Everyone is different but we share this addiction to fishing.

[TnRiver46]

18 minutes ago, Blue Raider Bob said:

Sometimes on the rivers I fish, I can't get a bite so to salvage the day I troll. For some reason on the Tennessee River, trolling deep Shad Raps and Bombers in 14ft of water often brings results. Not always, but often. I also love to watch a quill type bobber disappear when bream fishing. Everyone is different but we share this addiction to fishing.

Yep!!! Then you find where they are feeding by trolling and attempt casting . Back to no bites. Troll thru 2 mph and they bite again 

[TOXIC]

2 hours ago, Ski said:

Since 2015 I believe it is allowed.

Good to know but sadly it’s a rule included in a bunch of others specific to the chain we go to.  It includes identifying no wake lakes, skiing restrictions by lake and time and a few others I am forgetting.  Might be worth asking the Sheriff who regularly patrols when I am up there.  

[DaubsNU1]

When I fish with my Brother (back problems), and my Dad (82 years old, shoulder replacement), we do a lot of trolling & bottom-bouncing.

 

I would rather be casting.

 

If given the choice between casting, and fishing with Dad and Brother...you can be darn sure I'm going to be trolling that day!

[Susky River Rat]

I have trolled for musky a lot. There is a big difference between throwing some lines out and going around and trolling a 4-6 rod spread.  Before I did that I thought trolling was lazy and boring. It’s a whole different mental game.

[TnRiver46]

1 hour ago, DaubsNU1 said:

When I fish with my Brother (back problems), and my Dad (82 years old, shoulder replacement), we do a lot of trolling & bottom-bouncing.

 

I would rather be casting.

 

If given the choice between casting, and fishing with Dad and Brother...you can be darn sure I'm going to be trolling that day!

Smart man, wish I could fish with my dad 

42 minutes ago, Darnold335 said:

I have trolled for musky a lot. There is a big difference between throwing some lines out and going around and trolling a 4-6 rod spread.  Before I did that I thought trolling was lazy and boring. It’s a whole different mental game.

When I troll cranks for smallies it’s far more hectic than casting and I only troll one rod 

[Susky River Rat]

1 hour ago, TnRiver46 said:

When I troll cranks for smallies it’s far more hectic than casting and I only troll one rod

Running a spread you have to have the right baits baits at the right position in the spread. One bait can take out the whole spread. You also need to be mindful of the baits are running true. 

[TnRiver46]

46 minutes ago, Darnold335 said:

Running a spread you have to have the right baits baits at the right position in the spread. One bait can take out the whole spread. You also need to be mindful of the baits are running true. 

I tried two rods once, way too much going on there 

[Susky River Rat]

5 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

I tried two rods once, way too much going on there 

Here’s how I run 4 just mirror it in either side 

[TnRiver46]

Just now, Darnold335 said:

Here’s how I run 4 just mirror it in either side 

It’s all fun and games til something gets stuck on a log. I trolled with one of my buddies that guides for musky, he showed me that tip in the water trick. I use it for bass when there’s junk in the water now 

[Susky River Rat]

1 minute ago, TnRiver46 said:

It’s all fun and games til something gets stuck on a log. I trolled with one of my buddies that guides for musky, he showed me that tip in the water trick. I use it for bass when there’s junk in the water now 

It’s even more fun when two get stuck. 

[TnRiver46]

2 minutes ago, Darnold335 said:

It’s even more fun when two get stuck. 

That’s when I just quit and go back to boring old casting 

[gim]

2 hours ago, Darnold335 said:

Running a spread you have to have the right baits baits at the right position in the spread.

Never really used them for muskies, but on occasion we'd use planer boards for walleyes to get the lines away from the boat or when we were on water that permitted more than one line per angler.  I can recall putting 4 planer boards out and 2 flat lines several times when there was 3 of us in the boat.  Muskies generally aren't afraid of a boat or motor, so the only reason to use a planer board for them was to keep the lines from becoming tangled.

[Lmbasshunter]

I used to fish a private HOA lake at my parents vacation home in the poconos when I was a kid. They had a rowboat and we’d always toss floating rapalas off the back while we were rowing from spot to spot. We caught a lot of smallmouth doing this. 

[Susky River Rat]

3 hours ago, gimruis said:

Never really used them for muskies, but on occasion we'd use planer boards for walleyes to get the lines away from the boat or when we were on water that permitted more than one line per angler.  I can recall putting 4 planer boards out and 2 flat lines several times when there was 3 of us in the boat.  Muskies generally aren't afraid of a boat or motor, so the only reason to use a planer board for them was to keep the lines from becoming tangled.

If you’re going to run 6 rods for musky two have to be on boards. 2 down 2 out and two boards. You have to have the correct baits on the correct rods. 

[gim]

27 minutes ago, Darnold335 said:

If you’re going to run 6 rods for musky two have to be on boards. 2 down 2 out and two boards. You have to have the correct baits on the correct rods. 

I was just speculating, but good to know.  We can't use more than one line per angler here anyways and I would prefer to cast for them.  I was personally not a big fan of those planer boards because when we would hook a smaller walleye, we sometimes couldn't even tell.  They fight like wet socks.

[Susky River Rat]

7 hours ago, gimruis said:

They fight like wet socks.

I once reeled in s sunken flannel jacket  while trolling. 

[N Florida Mike]

A friend of mine caught an 11 and a half pound bass trolling a baby bass crankbait through a deep hole at night.

I had been with him the night before out there, and he hooked one that straightened his hooks out and got away. 

If it works and is legal, go for it !

[Dwight Hottle]

I learned to troll as a kid rowing a rowboat while trailing a Helins flatfish behind. I caught my first largemouth over 5lbs while trolling a june bug spinner trying to catch a musky as a teenager. Trolling just flat out works. It's is probably the most effective way to locate & catch fish especially on big water systems. Trolling is so effective that bass tournaments have banned it because the trollers had an advantage over the casters. It is inherently more productive. When trolling the bait is always in the water and in the fish zone. Casters waste time casting & retrieving; pulling the bait out of the water to recast. You have zero chance to catch a fish while the bait is out of the water. Trollers  achieve better depth control than a caster because they can fish their baits further away from the boat allowing the bait to reach maximum depth & to stay at that depth indefinitely. And where legal trollers can fish multiple baits at the same time with two or three rods deployed. It is an extremely efficient way to fish. I personally enjoy all styles of fishing including trolling & live bait shiner fishing. Historically some of the best fisherman have been trollers. If you are really efficient as a troller it is not boring in the least. Having mutiple fish hooked up simultaneously is as exciting as fishing gets.