trolling lures.

[Blll]

Just wanted to share an interesting fact. I've caught 18 fish my last 3x out. About 10 hours of trolling. Pretty poor results compared to my 2.5 fish per hour up till now. My trolling motor is being repaired so big motor trolling is what I have. Since this is my 1st season here trolling, I've gotten the impression that Flicker Shads are the lures of choice, with discussions on best size/color, speed and distance behind the boat,line size etc. My regular trolling spread of 4 lines usually included 3 flicker shad and a flicker minnow. A friend of mine, also new to Beaver, mentioned that a guy at Cabela's suggested the Bandit 300. With nothing to lose, and after Ventris took my last 3 Flicker Shad in one pass, I've tried the Bandit 300. The above mentioned 15 fish, included White Bass, Crappie, Walleye, smallmouth, and Gods gift to Beaver, Spots. Of the 18, 14 came on the Bandit 300. Even though the Flicker Shads out numbered it 3/1.  While this tiny sample does not prove anything, I found it a real surprise. Anybody not including a Bandit 300 in their arsenal may be missing out. I've tried many walleye lures that worked for me up north, Shadings, Shad Raps, Reef Runners,Lazy Ikes, Original Rapalas on Beaver with almost zero results. Anyway, the Bandit seems to dig harder and run deeper than a #7 Flicker. I'm using 10/2 Power Pro and know I'm hitting 15-16 feet with 125 fol out. Have yet to lose one to a tree yet.  Maybe you guys know all this but it was a surprise to me. Any one have another successful lure?

[Quillback]

I haven't trolled for crappie on the Beav in several years, but when I did, I used Bandit 300's.  If it was early in the AM, I might fish a 200 for a while, but the 300's are hard to beat.  I also liked to use a Shad Rap tail dancer.

I have gone over to Sardis lake in Mississippi a few times to fish we my uncle and we troll 300's there (so do a lot of people).  We always get a good sack of crappie, those lakes over there really kick out the crappie.

 

[Stump bumper]

I have several Bandit 300s in Pearl white all were picked up around the lake when the water was low. They were the go to lure for trolling before so many fish were caught on flicker shads and posted on here. 

[Jerry Rapp]

I guess after 174,352 trolling passes with a flicker, the fish might be tired of them, maybe? 

[Dan the fisherman]

I have a few.  Never trolled them. I've always casted them ( lay downs and what not ).    I may try trolling them.  

[uofastudent]

I am a product of Mississippi crappie trolling, and all I troll is bandit 300s. For the price, I think they can't be beat, especially in murkier water. They hooks are even pretty good. But oddly, I really only catch crappie on them on beaver. The occasional bass or walleye

[wareaglecamo]

interesting stuff . . . thanks for the report Bill . . . I keep wanting to get into trolling but seem to always revert back to my old ways . . . going to have to force myself to do it . . . too much positive results out there to ignore it

[J-Doc]

 

I guess after 174,352 trolling passes with a flicker, the fish might be tired of them, maybe? 

Ain't that the truth. 

 

They've seen as many Flickers as they have Wiggle Warts now. 

[kjackson]

With my limited experience, I've found that Tail Dancers and Storm's Smash Shad also do fairly well. The TD seems to attract spots, for whatever reason. I've delved into my boxes and found the Excalibur Shad-R to be really good as well as Berkley's Frenzy diver...but both are out of production.

I fished Strike King's line of walleye baits a bit this year but haven't spent enough time with them as we relocated recently and have been involved in other things. I do think the SK 3XD will be a good trolling  bait. Tried it in upper Table Rock, but all I could catch was trout.

[rps]

I believe you cannot do much better than Storm for trolling baits. The Hot'N'Tot, the original wart, and the Thundercrank are all inexpensive, mostly run true out of the box, and each has its own action. In addition, each has a well researched dive curve available from Precision Trolling.