Going Trolling This Weekend!

[Haulin Bass]

Gosh, I get so excited when the leaves start to change because I know it's time for the Walleye to "turn on!"

Yep, last year we rocked the Walleye, and pulled in a lot of Smallies too!~ (Definitely not normal!)

The Crappie though are always abundant, and we seem to catch more Large Mouth by accident than we do anything else. And yes, the occasional catfish will hit a crank when the fishing is good. Whites, although fun to catch, we generally don't keep them to eat. Same goes for Drum, I tried that Drum Cocktail trick, and it tasted like bottom feeder with cocktail sauce. (bawk)

(LOL) Last time we went out, we hit a cold front and the fish had lock jaw.

But like it happens every time, the sun starts to go down, and the fish start to turn on.

Unfortunately, we didn't have anything on the boat yet , so when we did finally get some, it was enough to keep us fishing til dark, but neither one of us had enough to make a descent meal separately.

That's when you draw lotts. (* Anyone else know what I'm talking bout?)

It's usually the guy who caught the most that day, gets to keep the all the spoils, OR, the guy who's had the longest dry spell will whine and complain until you give in and hand over your fish.

Fortunately that doesn't happen all that often, (or not that I would admit to!)

But we can always count on a half dozen or so just before sundown, the key is to have a half dozen on board before sundown!

But like I said, this time of year (for me) seems to be a time of great fishing, as well as great beauty!

And knowing I can always trade my 3 or 4 crappie to my partner now for some dear meat later, it makes the experience far more enjoyable! ~

Lastly,,,, on a beautiful fall day, there isn't anything better then cruzin' the lake, and trollin' those cranks!

Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz,,,,,,,,,! CIAO! (* GOOD LUCK GUYS!) I'll be out for sure!

[Cabezon]

I was wondering how deep do you normally troll this time of year? I have tried trolling crank baits this time of year without much success. Do you try to tick the bottom when going across point? Thanks for any info.

[Haulin Bass]

We usually start at 25 feet, accept this time of year the fish will generally be closer to shore.

We did really well last year at 15 feet deep when the water was HOT, and we used Flicker Shads. (Because they don't go as deep). And they would regularly skip on the bottom.

But when we don't catch em on Flicker shad, that's when we go deeper with Big Cranks, and try to get the bait down to 20 feet.

And sometimes you can usually catch some right away and set all your poles accordingly.

But the last few times we've gone, it took all day to find out where they were biting.

You can always find the fish, but very often, you need to find out "WHAT DEPTH ARE THEY BITING AT!"

The Crappie are usually the best indicators, if you catch a Crappie on one crank, then you can usually catch more crappie, and all the other fish at about the same depth.

Just remember, the more line you let out, the deeper you will go, The fast you go, the deeper you will go, and the lighter the tackle, the deeper you will go!

And yes,,, we have gone faster and slower to try to find out what speed they are hitting at.

That's why they call it fishing, and not catching!

p.s. and if all else fails, you can always drag the bottom bouncers.

We catch more Walleye on Cranks than we do on Night Crawlers, but sometimes the Walleye won't hit anything but!

[Cabezon]

Thanks for the info. We are going Saturday. I will post how we do.

[Cabezon]

Went yesterday. Bluebird day, barely a ripple on the water. Trolled Flicker shads for awhile, no luck. Switched to Fat Free shads to get deeper, tried different amounts of line out and different speeds. Gave up and went back to the dock and caught enough Bluegill to have some fish to eat.

[frying eyes]

Fishing has been tough last couple months for me. Every time I've been lately I've seen and graphed lots of bait fish/schools. I honestly think they have all the food they need right now. Should get better though eventually.

[Hunter91]

I have been catching several very shallow lately. Saturday we had 3 right at 15in one at 18.5 in and some short fish on rattletraps and shallow cranks in less than 4 feet.