Need some trolling guidance !

[top_dollar]

13 minutes ago, DADAKOTA said:

Another triggering trick is to put the motor in neutral for a couple three seconds then back in gear.  Your bait will slow its forward progress and start to rise.  When you resume your speed it dart back to trolling depth.  Some fish will hit as it rises and other just after you put her back in gear.  I run flickrs and bandits at the same time and see if the fish have a preference.

Good point...another way to do this is using a "lazy S" pattern as the outside bait will speed up and the inside bait will slow down, or simply pulling your rod forward, then dropping it back.  That helps me often times to see if i need to speed up or slow down. 

I too have run flickers side by side with bandits and shad raps to see about a preference....I have never had flicker shads lose that battle though, so now i just use them from the start unless im needing to go deeper than 20 feet.

[DADAKOTA]

4 minutes ago, top_dollar said:

Good point...another way to do this is using a "lazy S" pattern as the outside bait will speed up and the inside bait will slow down, or simply pulling your rod forward, then dropping it back.  That helps me often times to see if i need to speed up or slow down. 

I too have run flickers side by side with bandits and shad raps to see about a preference....I have never had flicker shads lose that battle though, so now i just use them from the start unless i'm needing to go deeper than 20 feet.

Must be me with the flickrs, as the bandits flat out fish them when I'm pulling.  I have all size 7 in hot pink, purple tiger, peral white (mouse), slick mouse, slick chart. pearl, slick racy shad, and racy shad.  Did find a website that shows the "exclusive colors".  Some really good looking colors at that.  http://www.thenextbite.tv/content/berkley-flicker-shads-color-chart

[top_dollar]

3 minutes ago, DADAKOTA said:

Must be me with the flickrs, as the bandits flat out fish them when I'm pulling.  I have all size 7 in hot pink, purple tiger, peral white (mouse), slick mouse, slick chart. pearl, slick racy shad, and racy shad.  Did find a website that shows the "exclusive colors".  Some really good looking colors at that.  http://www.thenextbite.tv/content/berkley-flicker-shads-color-chart

What color bandits do you use?  and size 200?  I have 2 tackle trays full of em,  great baits, i just need to get the confidence to use them over flicker shads sometimes.  

[LoweSTX175]

50 minutes ago, top_dollar said:

Trolling has been tough on stockton this year for me....no idea why.  For long lining cranks, each person fishing will do well with 1 8-9ft, med heavy power, moderate slow action rod (OKUMA Classic Pro rods are perfect for 30 bucks a pop...but any downrigger rod works great).  I would highly recommend metered braid line (power pro depth hunter), but as has been mentioned simply marking your spot with a sharpie works too.  Tie a snap to the end of the line and everyone put on different color flicker shads (size 5,7, and 9 are good).  Let out 100-200 feet of line out (vary this as it effects how deep your lure is going).  After catching a few fish youll be able to put together a pattern of best color, size, and running depths.  Trolling speeds of 0.5-3.5 mph has been effective for me, usually i like 2-2.5.  Dont be afraid to go way faster than you would think...aggressive fish will chase it down, especially in hot water.  I like the soft action rod with the no stretch braid, seems to give me the best hookups, and keeps em on for the long ride back to the boat, more of a personal preference though. 

  When i detect a bite, i immediately put the boat in neutral and begin hauling in the fish...other fisherman in the boat also reel in to 1.) avoid tangles and 2.) many many times get a bite on the retrieve.  I often times will simply make a U turn and go back over the area where i got a bite.  Quite often you can triangulate an area where your getting multiple bites..especially if you have good electronics..then simply go to where x marks the spot and begin a more methodical approach to catching the less active fish.  Its a great way to find fish and quickly pattern them.  A rubber net, good pliers, and no carpet in your boat will also help you spend more time fishing and less time with a walleye pinned to the boat carpet/net with 2 sets of treble hooks.

I do the same thing with the swivels and various cranks to figure out which one is the hot one for that time.  Another thing that hasn't been mentioned in this thread is the use of "lead core line"...  I try to stay away from the mono because it tends to wind up easy on me.  I also agree that a boat without carpet and the rubber net will make a difference in not get those trebles in a messy situation.  I also prefer long rods to get away from the motor.  I also have two different configurations for my boat.  I have rod mounts everywhere and also have a "spider rigging" bar that I can put into the back pedestal mount.  Just try to be careful and not get the line caught up into your prop if you are going to use the big motor....I've been there done that a few times.

[DADAKOTA]

29 minutes ago, top_dollar said:

What color bandits do you use?  and size 200?  I have 2 tackle trays full of em,  great baits, i just need to get the confidence to use them over flicker shads sometimes.  

I have  many, many bandits and most rarely get used.  When trolling I use 300s exclusively.  Here on Lake Jacomo the best two by far are silver with the black back and 3A01 - Bone.  The only other ones I run at Jacomo is 3A20 - Threadfin Shad and at night or on real dark cloudy days they like solid black.  For some off reason the Stockton fish have not liked Bone much.  They do eat the silver black back one quite well along with mad cow, and various pink baits which seem to be the best.  Going to try purple haze sparkle next time down.

[rps]

I have found that simplifying and arranging repeat-ability helps. I do not want to seem to dominate trolling threads, but I wrote an article to help others. It may have been some years but everything remains true. I hope this will help you.

http://www.ozarkanglers.com/table-rock/trolling-for-walleye/

[VJMAC]

Thanks for all the GREAT advice ! Be on the water this weekend giving it a try !!