Trolling

[Nwtf gobbler]

Alright guys, i need some help here. I haven't done much trolling in the past since it usually runs my trolling motor battery down pretty quick. My question is, would it work to use the outboard motor to troll with? I have a 40hp on a 16ft v bottom.

[fishbait3]

NWTF i sent u a pm, call or text me if u have ?s

[Feathers and Fins]

All I use for trolling is my main motor a 90hp optimas forward trolling I have steady 2.5mph speed. A sock added brings me down to 1.3 and two socks is .7mph... wind will alter speed but 2.5 i have had no problems catching anything so I seldom use the socks any more. I have learned lure weight + line out depths for the lures i use with the big motor.

2.5mph using a 1/4oz jig head with a keitech 4'' swim bait with 100feet of line out = 8ft deep

2.5mph with a Rapala Shad Rap SR-9 150 ft of line = 22ft

2.5 with a 3'' flicker shad 150ft out = 17 to 19 ft

Learning what your lure will do with line out at a known speed is key for me as I am using trolling to locate the fish.

When I get a bite I mark it on my map never stopping the boat I reel in the fish to continue the troll. I like to troll a contour line of at least 400 yards and prefferable 1 mile doing this for a minimum of 4 passes. After the final pass I look at the waypoints I created to locate where the fish are then go back with the electric and use a more targeted approach on where the fish are.

[powerdive]

Nwtf, I troll with my 40hp all the time--no bags needed. Most of the time I like to go about 2 mph with cranks--it seems an ideal speed for many cranks, and it's easy to figure the running depths with leadcore line. I can also get down to about 1 mph for bottom bouncing if there's no wind, or less if trolling against the wind (which can bring up boat control issues).

A fish can swim much faster than you can troll. On Erie the saying is, "Speed kills." Sometimes moving faster (3 to 4 mph) will trigger strikes you wouldn't otherwise get, and sometimes a slow creep is the ticket. With most diving cranks, speed generally will not greatly affect the depth they run--just how quickly they'll achieve their max depth for the line you're using and the amount of line you have out.

I troll for walleyes and crappies. Hey Feathers and Fins, what kind of line are you using to achieve those depths?

[Feathers and Fins]

Seagar 10lbs Floro.

I love your speed kills comment, I know its ocean but I have trolled 18mph for wahoo fastest freshwater is 11mph for stripers in the right conditions but the laugh is I have caught walleye trolling that speed for striper.

[powerdive]

11 mph???!! At that speed, you must be pulling a jig! Or a stick.

We've trolled big cranks for muskies at 6-7 mph, but most walleye cranks tend to blow out over 4 mph unless you're really good at super-tuning.

[Feathers and Fins]

Swim baits. and large ones at that. I get looked at funny and then jaws drop when all the sudden they see me stopped fighting a fish. Some days High Speed trolling cant be beat. You have to remember at that speed though not to stop the boat but back it off to idle speed. You hit a fish at that speed there will be a hole in their mouth and stopping the boat will give them a chance to get off.

I use to love watching newbie Wahoo trollers who stopped when they hooked up just to loose the fish that way.

[Nwtf gobbler]

Thanks guys. You talk about lead core line, what is it and where can i get it? Sorry, but i'm

Just a simple bass and crappie fisherman and don't know all these special techniques yet.

[Feathers and Fins]

Cabelas and Basspro carry it... It is nylon line with a core of lead in it. It comes in 10 colors to a spool each color is 10 yards and each color out represents a depth to simplify it.

3 Colors would be 30 feet deep at a given speed. When I run leadcore I will run from 5 feet of floro to 100 ft of floro off it depending on what im doing then use the leadcore to get it to a very specific depth every time

[Nwtf gobbler]

Cabelas and Basspro carry it... It is nylon line with a core of lead in it. It comes in 10 colors to a spool each color is 10 yards and each color out represents a depth to simplify it.

3 Colors would be 30 feet deep at a given speed. When I run leadcore I will run from 5 feet of floro to 100 ft of floro off it depending on what im doing then use the leadcore to get it to a very specific depth every time

Thanks a lot. I kinda get idea on it. I may have

To pick some up at bass pro and learn how to use it.

Jason