How many of you troll?

[Tackleholic]

I do not spend $800 for a rod and reel combo so I can troll from my bass boat.  

[Tennessee Boy]

On 1/15/2025 at 6:24 AM, Tackleholic said:

I do not spend $800 for a rod and reel combo so I can troll from my bass boat.  

This way of thinking is so foreign to me but I see it constantly on this forum with question like "I just got this new combo,  what should I use if for?"  

 

I look for fish that I want to catch and then use tackle to catch them.  There seems to be a new generations of anglers that look for tackle they want buy and then use fishing to enjoy their tackle.

[Choporoz]

On 5/2/2024 at 1:02 PM, Choporoz said:

.... I have a neighbor about five lots down the lake who I would see trolling a few rods out from his pontoon boat.  Saw him out a couple early mornings, but never happened to be close enough to talk to him... and never considered he wasn't targeting crappie.  I hadn't even known he fished.  Come to find out that he's trolling for bass.  And doing quite well; couple over five and a number over three this spring.  As we talked, it was startling how different we were...he's never stopped to cast, only uses crankbaits, only uses his electronics to follow single depth contour, etc.  Just way outside a box that I didn't even know that I was in.

I spent my first dozen or more fishing years trolling for walleye.   I rarely even thought about trolling for bass before talking to my neighbor. 

  Sometimes in a kayak, I would troll something behind while moving to another spot, but never with much thought...or luck.  Lost far more lures than number of bass caught.  I do most all of my fishing around wood, grass and rock, and all have frustrated my limited trolling experiences. 

[jbmaine]

I've trolled some. Sometimes I'm just in the mood to sit back and be lazy. I used to know an old timer who only fished for bass at night, trolling a jitterbug. He caught plenty of bass.

[Tackleholic]

12 hours ago, Tennessee Boy said:

This way of thinking is so foreign to me but I see it constantly on this forum with question like "I just got this new combo,  what should I use if for?"  

 

I look for fish that I want to catch and then use tackle to catch them.  There seems to be a new generations of anglers that look for tackle they want buy and then use fish to enjoy their tackle.

Your interpretation of my comment is wrong, very wrong.  No doubt there are anglers who believe that buying high end equipment will guarantee them success.  I belong to the group that knows their targeted fish and have preferred methods of pursuit and presentation.  We select our tackle to suit, and if we are fortunate to afford quality products, chances are we have earned the privilege.

[king fisher]

Currently I troll almost every time I move from one location to the next in my kayak.  I have been surprised at the places I catch bass while trolling a Rattle Trap.  I also troll diving crankbaits, but expect to catch bass while bouncing them off of the bottom, but often get bit on a Rattle Trap in 60 feet of water crossing a lake.

 

I have even trolled for bass from the shore.  When   My old PB 5.5 pounds lasted for over 40 years and was caught on a spinnerbait while trolling from shore.  When I was a kid,  I fished a small lake in the middle of a cow pasture with a rocky shoreline, that dropped quickly from the shore.  It was 10 feet deep or deeper  4-10 feet from the bank.  There was a cow trail along the side of the lake with the steepest bank.  I would cast as parallel as possible from the shore and slow role my spinnerbait along the bottom.  The bank wasn't straight, so I usually casted from one of the small points making it easier to bring the bait back at that critical 3-5 feet away from the bank.  One day I decided it was a waste of time to not be fishing my spinnerbait while walking from casting place to casting place.  So when I wanted to move to the next spot, I started throwing my bait out as far as I could let out more line until the bait hit bottom, hold my rod out as far as possible, and start trolling down the bank.  When I would get to the next good place to cast from I would reel in the bait and cast from the point.  Then troll to the next point and cast again.  I found I could feel the bait better and control the speed just as well walking as reeling.  I would have to walk around rocks, and slow down in more difficult places making my baits action more erratic.  Some times I would naturally walk to fast, but I learned to force myself to walk slowly, and feel every bump on the bottom with my rod.  If I wasn't bumping bottom I had to slow my walk.  It didn't take long for me to start catching more and bigger bass walking the bank with my rod held out wide as I did casting.  My bait was always in the water, and was at the prime distance from shore for a longer time, then when I did a 45 degree cast and retrieve.  After awhile I started trolling from point to point and wouldn't bother casting when I got to a point.  I would simply reel my line in, cast back out and start trolling again.  My friends thought I was crazy and insisted on casting the bank, but I didn't care how silly it looked because I was catching big bass.

 

The water was muddy, and the bass were used to the cows walking the bank, so I didn't seem to be spooking the bass as I walk trolled down the bank.

 

At the time I thought this method was not anything out of the ordinary, simply a logical way to present my spinnerbait to the bass.  When I told the owner of the local hardware store I was catching big bass trolling he was surprised because he new I didn't have a boat.  When I told him how I was trolling he laughed and said he had never heard of that before, but if it works don't stop.  I have never tried the technique anywhere else, but if the situation and opportunity ever come up again, it is forever in my bag of tricks.

[fresh2salttim]

I love trolling, the issue is now that I mostly fish in Florida these days many of the lakes are too weedy and shallow for a lot of my favorite trolling lures.

[DogBone_384]

I troll from my kayak if I'm on a bigger water.  I pedal a Lure 11.5 and trolling helps locate fish.

[Dwight Hottle]

Just in case anyone does not know David Hayes world record smallmouth weighing 11 lbs-15 ounces was caught trolling a deep diver crank bait. If you don’t want to troll so be it. It’s your choice but I for one need all the advantages I can utilise to catch bigger fish. I have proof that it works, just ask @A-Jay.

[TnRiver46]

@Dwight Hottle, wasn’t his deep diver a hellbender for that world record ? My grandpa had several of those, I’ve still got one 

[Dwight Hottle]

Yes @TnRiver46 in white.

[TnRiver46]

I would imagine trolling a hellbender would get way down deep over 20 ft, those things really pull 

[Team9nine]

It was a pearl 600 Series Bomber

 

[TnRiver46]

Hmmm some reason we always called that thing tied to the rod a hellbender 

[Tennessee Boy]

David Hayes was trolling a bomber behind his houseboat.  

 

This is a great interview with him.

 

[Team9nine]

1 hour ago, TnRiver46 said:

Hmmm some reason we always called that thing tied to the rod a hellbender 

They were similar, but they were ‘segmented’ for lack of a better term and had a small flash blade attached to their rear end. Whopper Stopper made the Hellbender (see pic), but Bomber had their own version called the Waterdog.

 

 

[Swamp Girl]

4 hours ago, fresh2salttim said:

I love trolling, the issue is now that I mostly fish in Florida these days many of the lakes are too weedy and shallow for a lot of my favorite trolling lures.

 

Welcome to my world! I either live in North Florida or you live in South Maine.

[TnRiver46]

23 minutes ago, Team9nine said:

They were similar, but they were ‘segmented’ for lack of a better term and had a small flash blade attached to their rear end. Whopper Stopper made the Hellbender (see pic), but Bomber had their own version called the Waterdog.

 

 

Thank you! Love the history on this stuff. 

[Bazoo]

I've never trolled. It's not something of interest to me.

 

I have a saying regarding fishing with live bait - "I'd rather get skunked than cheat." I say it half in jest, but honestly, most times I'd rather get skunked than fish in a way other than the way that suits me that day. I do break out the worms on occasion with my boy, but it's less fun.

[Darth-Baiter]

I try.  And fail. 
 

it’s effective for sure.  But I try when I go from spot to spot, but urgency gets me and I ALWAYS pull up my bait and haul-ass to the new potential juicy looking spot.  I can’t go that slow!  I have no patience.   None. 

[Skunkmaster-k]

On 1/14/2025 at 12:44 PM, TnRiver46 said:

If only that worked!!! I go back to where I caught one trolling all the time and work the area casting thoroughly, never get a bite. Troll back thru and they will bite 

 

that’s why they just keep going when they catch one haha

Ya , but I’m casting a spinnerbait. 

[Swamp Girl]

7 hours ago, Bazoo said:

I do break out the worms on occasion with my boy, but it's less fun.

 

Gosh, I wish I could take you to a waterfall in northwestern Ontario, with current swirling this way and that turning the canoe too, and your line with a leech on the end swinging back and forth, and all that thundering and mist in the air, and you're watching your line for something, anything that's not quite right, and you guess that maybe something's awry and you set the hook and sure enough, bass on. Or walleye on. And now you have to fight a fish that lives in swift current with everything moving in perpetually shifting directions: fish, water, air, and boat. 

 

Trust me, it's thrilling. 

 

And sure, you could work a jig in that current, but you'll catch one for every five or ten that I'll catch with a leech. 

[J Francho]

Every time I get on the internet...

[rboat]

Technically no trolling, but if the breeze is light enough, I have drift fished soft plastics and at times it can be very productive.

[Swamp Girl]

15 hours ago, J Francho said:

Every time I get on the internet...

 

So true. So much trolling on the Internet and so much of it is boring, i.e. a troll repeating something a million other trolls have already written. If you're going to troll, be original!

 

6 minutes ago, rboat said:

I have drift fished soft plastics and at times it can be very productive.

 

Back when I had boats with motors and was happy to fish windy days, I loved drift fishing.