trolling setup

[jdsgrog]

I want to rig my boat to be able to troll. I've been reading a lot on the net, but all the trolling information has to do with deep water trolling. The big question I have is what kind of rods do you need for trolling?

There are all types of trolling rods on the market, but they all seem to be more for deep water fishing. My fishing is mainly on fresh waters with average depth of less than 30 feet on smaller inland lakes in the upper midwest (between 200 acres to 3000 acres). I want to use planer boards (smaller ones) and divers to get my lures/bait to a deeper depth. Do I need to buy a trolling rod for my applications or would a bait casting rod work all right?

Types of fish-walleye, pike, musky.

 

[Jeep Man]

Re: trolling setup

I have trolled with a baitcaster, but it is far from ideal. When you use a planer board or diver you have alot of constant tension on the rod. I prefer a 10' with a level winder. A line counter is a must IMO, and a basic rod holder is good as well.
That being said, most of my trolling is with a 6.6' rod and a spinnning reel with a spoon and a few small weights, a weighted worm harness, or a body bait.

 

[jdsgrog]

Re: trolling setup

Thanks, that helps out a lot. I've installed a number of rod holders on my fishing boat, so the rod holders are not an issue. I'll be looking for some trolling rods.

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: trolling setup

almost every rod I own is a spinning rod. For walleye, although special purpose-built rods are probably ideal, I don't use anything special. I have a cheap Berkely Fusion heavy spinning rod which puts up with big Big Jon diver disks well, and the smaller ones do fine on my medium rods. Bottom bouncers up to two ounces and more do fine on medium rods with braided line- strong for snags and you get a lot of feel from braided too.

Some of our favorite downrigger rods are quite inexpensive- the Eagle Claws and Okuma rods do very well.

Spend the money carefully and wisely if you have it but more basic stuff has done fine for me.

 

[BLU LUNCH]

Re: trolling setup

We fish a small lake near here that is a trophy trout lake here in Connecticut. We use 2 Penn 2 ft booms manual Fathom masters downriggers 20-25 ft down 3 pound balls and ultra lite poles. This picture was a older boat 17 ft Starcraft trihull w 85 hp Johnson that would troll all day and not load up.

 

[LongLine]

Re: trolling setup

Trollers on Lake Ontario usually use 7 to 10 ft medium action trolling rods that cost in the neighborhod of $29.95 each. I.E. cheap rods. Spinning setups will work fine for your application. Myself I use 8'6" Heartlands on Big-O. The important thing with trolling is to have a reel with a durable and smooth drag, be it a level wind or spinning reel. Good sized fish will generally be taking line before you can get to the rod. I would not recomend a baitcaster setup.

Tom B.
(LongLine)

 

[Steroumai]

Re: trolling setup

I have been trolling for years just using cheap baitcaster rods and have never had a problem. I rod with some good flex is great, the bigger fish love to try to snap your rod in half. I would not recommend braided line to anyone (just my personal opinion), I find that the line likes to chew the eyelets on my rod. A good 20lb test line will work beautifully on what ever you are doing. I have used 5lb test line to pull in a 10lb Northern Pike just fine before too (long fight with very low tension on the reel). I fish for Northern Pike and Walleye normally when trolling using mostly Rapalas (but I also use spoons, deep divers, and jigs). I fish normally out of a aluminum fishing boat with a small outboard motor and I find no need for rod holders (I actually find them a pain since you cant feel the rod, you have to watch it). I just sit relaxed on my seat while trolling with the rod in between my legs, it lets me react quicker to a bite and feel that my hook still has action.

I find the main thing in trolling is the speed and location of your hook. Too fast and the fish might not want to chase it, too slow and you have very little action to attract them. And the depth will determine what kind fish you are after. Close to the weeds not too deep you got some nice Pike, very deep you got yourself a section of Walleye. Depending on the lake.

Just thought I would throw in my two cents

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: trolling setup

....I have used 5lb test line to pull in a 10lb Northern Pike just fine before too....Just thought I would throw in my two cents

5# line? I am not familiar with that. Besides, 5# northern pike will tooth off 14# walleye spinner rigs in a split second at boatside. I use 10 or 12 pound BassPro tourney on my spinner rigs, but run plugs on a 6# leader often. Walleye don't cut line as often as Pike

 

[Steroumai]

Re: trolling setup

5# line? I am not familiar with that. Besides, 5# northern pike will tooth off 14# walleye spinner rigs in a split second at boatside. I use 10 or 12 pound BassPro tourney on my spinner rigs, but run plugs on a 6# leader often. Walleye don't cut line as often as Pike

I forgot to mention that I always use a 6" leader on all my rods (except my fly fishing rod of course) no matter what I'm fishing for. It just makes swapping hooks easier and keeps those mean Northern Pike from chewing my hooks off. I was just saying that any rig a person wants to use is usually good. It all comes down to preference. I do not use tourney grade line, just a nice single line with the highest test load I can find. This year I used 12lb test strength line and we pulled in a 20lb Northern Pike on it. Just need a good tension on the reel, some fun fighting the fish, and a good person netting the fish.

 

[rolmops]

Re: trolling setup

For use in shallow water,planer boards are a must.Wherever your boat goes in shallow water,it will scare the fish off to the sides.It is by far preferable to use an independent planer board setup.When the fish hits your line pops loose of the board line and there is just the fish and sinker on your line You can easily build your own planer boards and tower.It is done all the time.
Once you have your tower and boards you can add some stingray diver weights(go to the Stingray site)or just a simple dipsy diver.For rods and reels you should follow Bill's (long line) advice.He is known to have caught 20+ pound salmon on 10 pound test line with the gear that he mentioned.
If you can get your gear to the side of the boat in shallow water, you will have doubled your chances to get a fish!

 

[bobo1]

Re: trolling setup

I troll for trout in No. Calif. lakes using a Penn 209 reel, a garden variety 6' or 7' pole, 12 lb test leaded line. At the end of my leaded line I attach 6' of 6 lb. test mono line with a Luhr-Jensen Needlefish Pearl Bikini (#1 size). For every color of leaded line out (10 yards), you are down about 6' or so. A fish finder is a must...Bob

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: trolling setup

I troll for trout in No. Calif. lakes using a Penn 209 reel, a garden variety 6' or 7' pole, 12 lb test leaded line. At the end of my leaded line I attach 6' of 6 lb. test mono line with a Luhr-Jensen Needlefish Pearl Bikini (#1 size). For every color of leaded line out (10 yards), you are down about 6' or so. A fish finder is a must...Bob

This is good info, but I found I get about 5-feet-per-color out of 18# pound test leadcore. It makes sense that 12# lead may run deeper being thinner. I actually didn't know it was available smaller than 18# test, so thank you for making me look that up. When I did, I found this article which I thought was useful and had some good tips. My leadcore has been soaked in the depths enough that my colors are not real obvious until they get wet again, but I am spooled on a line counter reel, so it's less important.

bobo1's suggestion is a good one. The original poster was inquiring about trolling down to about 30 feet. Leadcore is a good tool for that if you have the space to get it set up and run it optimized. I think that leadcore really shines 15' down to 25- or 30'. It works OK 30- 40', but (at least for me) you lose feel and sensitivity once you have 200 feet of weighted line in the water- it absorbs fish action and I think I miss strikes that deep...

Now I'm on a roll.... sorry for the soon-to-be long post. Not really

In vermont, many of our local lakes are smaller with a lot of shoreline points and breaks. Turning on these lakes is tough with a lot of lead out especially if the leadcore is on the inside of the turn because it sinks when it slows down. Lead is better on larger, more open lakes that give more room to turn around.

The other thing about lead is that you are far behind the boat with the lure. By very nature of trying to get to the mid depths (12-25 feet) you wind up 100, sometimes 175 feet behind the boat. I think being way off the boat improves strike potential a lot.

After leadcore, if you don't want to add downriggers (which I have run at 2 to 5 feet to keep light Sutton's from jumping to the surface from line friction in wave action), I have found very small BigJon Diver Discs to be useful. They can run you even 30 feet of the side of the boat and be 15 feet down depending on the lure and speed. I have caught salmon, rainbow, and walleye using these with a leader the length of the rod. I have some Dipsey Divers, but (except for Walleye) I seem to get better results from the Big Jons. Your mileage may vary.

I also use several medium spinning rods: composite, 'glass, or cheaper graphite. Some might say these rods are "soft", but I spool them with 20# braided line (6# test diameter) and a rod-length leader of mono which gives an unbelievable amount of feel and does not stretch: leaves the rod to deliver all the fight. The thin braided line runs a little deeper than mono, and puts up with snags and the pull of Diver Discs better than mono. An 11 or 13 Shadrap will run to 16' on this, and a (more appropriate for your trout) Rapala "Original Floating" 9 silver/black can go 4-5 feet down on braid.

So that's the sum of my mid-depth methods. rolmops and bobo1 might have better advice on presentation and baits. Unless you are fishing in New England, then I might be able to suggest a few things I don't know everything; just trying to help and love learning and sharing both.

Good luck!

 

[rolmops]

Re: trolling setup

Mark,you will find that trolling with 10 or 12 colors of 18 pound test at 1.6 mph with live bait will bring your lines down to 90 feet.That way I catch most of my lakers in the Finger lakes in NY

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: trolling setup

...%....10 or 12 colors of 18 pound test at 1.6 mph...%...lines down to 90 feet...

So you are getting about 7-1/2 feet per color...?! I haven't had a chance to gauge my depth that deep. In mid depths I seem to get about 5' per color.

Several had told me to estimate four feet per color when I first got my lead rod going, but I knew I was running deeper than that my first trip out. There are two particular productive spots at Seymour which have ridges that come up. One is 20', and the other about 9'. four colors snags at that spot, but if I lift the rod up a few feet when I think the lure is approaching where I estimate the shallowest point is, I never have hung up. Speeding up sometimes works, too, if I do it right. Lifting the rod seems a dependable way.

With three colors out, the 9' hump requires lifting the rod straight up (8' rod) while the lure passes over and then I set it back in the rod holder when I estimate that the lure is right over the hump. I think that the leadcore then brings the lure tight to the structure and follows it down into deeper water. This produced lakers this spring. Sometimes I cranked up to 65- 75' out on the line counter when approaching that point, but I still had to lift a little to keep from collecting debris and sticks. That is why I have been using 5' per color.

I seldom have run out more than 5 or 6 colors, but at Champlain recently we were marking fish at 50/55/60 to 80 feet, and some down at 105', over 230' of water. We were running 1.8 for a while and throttled up to 2.3/2.4 mph for most of the trip. I ran out all my lead to the backing (14 colors) for the first time ever. I assumed I was running 65', but by your calc, maybe the landlocks I caught were nearer the 100' mark! Wow.

Now you are going to make me experiment with my colors over deeper water. I'll have to use a spoon I hate on a 6# leader in case the inevitable happens.

 

[rolmops]

Re: trolling setup

Lead core has a few things that are not generally known.
whether you use 18 or 27 pound test the amount of lead is exactly the same.Only when you go up to 36 pound test will you get more lead per foot.
The lead is measured in "grains per foot".
This means that the 18 and 36 pound test will go deeper than the 27 pound test.
When you use lures, for land locked (atlantic salmon) you should troll at anywhere between 2.2 and 2.8 mph.For lake trout you should run around 1.8 because most spoons will not work at slower speeds.
To go deep,you should use live bait. Fresh water herring (shad) or even big pike minnows work great.Now you can slow down because no matter what speed,the bait fish always sends more messages and is always far more inviting than a spoon.I sometimes mark a fish at 200 feet and I will just cut the engine and allow the bait to flutter down,which usually results in BIG fish
The best way to troll them is with a (tow)hook through the mouth/forehead and a stinger at the tail (where you would have it on a spoon).That way they hook themselves at first strike.
As for New England,I do a lot of fishing in and around the Quabbin reservoir in Ma.My brother in law lives in Hubbardston.

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: trolling setup

....This means that the 18 and 36 pound test will go deeper than the 27 pound test...

Then maybe I am running 27# test and I am forgetful?? :redface:

Either way I have been catching fish

 

[jdsgrog]

Re: trolling setup

wow, haven't checked here since my last post. didn't realize it grew this much. all the advice and info is very helpful. i'm new to trolling and will mainly be going after walleye, pike, and possibly muskie. i would troll primarily in waters as shallow as 5-10 feet to no deeper than 30 feet on average. Will not be using downriggers. I'm not fishing large bodies of water, mainly midwest inland lakes. my original intent was to know if i need a special set up because i want to use planer boards and divers.

it's great to read people's advice. i'm looking at some of Cabela's fishing combos. Since trolling will not be my main method of fishing, i'll definitely look the more inexpensive route. but it's nice to have the option to troll if fishing is really slow and i have to cover a lot of ground to find fish.

 

[fishrdan]

Re: trolling setup

Since trolling will not be my main method of fishing

If you aren't going to be trolling a lot, I wouldn't bother with getting "trolling" gear until you figure out what you actually need, or if you actually need trolling specific gear. I've been trolling for 15-20 years and use my regular spinning and baitcasting rigs, I do have about 40 rods/reels to play with though . I don't use planers or downriggers, but did buy 1 lead core rig to get down deep.

For trout (kind of like a yucky tasting walleye) I use the same rods trolling and casting.
For pike I use the same rods trolling and casting.
For small stripers I use the same rods trolling and casting.
For big striper trolling,,, I use 30# tuna rods.
Trolling for lake trout, I use pike/musky rods and the lead core rig.

Once you have put in some time and see where you need to improve, then I would look into upgrading your gear, but I wouldn't do it right off the bat. If you are looking for "good" inexpensive gear, I'd keep my eyes peeled on Cabela's Bargain Cave. I picked up my son an 8' surf rod and reel at 1/2 price, not top of the line Penn/Shimano, but good gear that was the same price as the cheap stuff,,, something a 30# striper wouldn't tear up.

Oh, check your PM's...

 

[MRS]

Re: trolling setup

All my rod holders are ajustable so I can set the height of the rods usally I have them set about 2ft. off the water. I use both spin and casting setups with the rods low it seems to keep the lures or bait down and the wind is not to much of a problem.

 

[dingbat]

Re: trolling setup

We fish a small lake near here that is a trophy trout lake here in Connecticut. We use 2 Penn 2 ft booms manual Fathom masters downriggers 20-25 ft down 3 pound balls and ultra lite poles. This picture was a older boat 17 ft Starcraft trihull w 85 hp Johnson that would troll all day and not load up.

Why do you have your rod all bent up like that when the downrigger is caring the load?
I can't see the rod taking up enough of the slack when the click pops to be of any benefit.