by Bob Jensen
Fishing the Midwest Fishing Team
(photo by Bob Jensen) Walleye pro Dean Arnoldussen trolled up this catfish while fishing for walleyes.
Across the Midwest and much of North America, most game fish in most places are done spawning. After a few days of rest, those fish will get very hungry. If you can put a bait near a fish, it will probably bite that bait.
Showing your bait to as many fish as possible increases your chances of getting bit, and the best way to show your bait to as many fish as possible is often by trolling. Trolling enables an angler to cover lots of water quickly and efficiently. Here’s how you can troll to catch more fish now and through the summer and fall months.
Larger bodies of water are prime trolling locations. From now and through the rest of the year, the predator fish will be wherever the food is. If you find their food, you’ll find walleyes, pike, bass, crappies, and whatever else swims in that body of water.
Trolling is a very popular technique when walleyes are the target, and crankbaits are what many walleye chasers troll with. You can troll faster with crankbaits, so you can show your bait to more fish. Trolling speed with crankbaits for walleyes is usually between one and three miles per hour. The warmer the water, the faster you can troll. Hornet crankbaits have become a favored crankbait in recent years.
When it’s time to get a bait in the water, tie on something that will run a foot or two higher than where the fish are. In stained water a bait running near the bottom will often be better, in clear water the fish will take a bait running a little higher. Selecting a crankbait with the proper running depth is part of the challenge in catching suspended fish. Keep trying baits with different running depths until you find the right one.
Getting multiple lines in the water is very beneficial when trolling. You can try different baits, which increases your chance for finding the bait that the fish want on that day. In-line planer boards enable an angler to fish more lines more efficiently. Planer boards take your bait out away from the boat so a wider trolling pass is possible.
If you’re fishing in a two line state, and there are two of you fishing, put a line on a board out to each side of the boat, and put two lines out behind the boat. Or attach a board to all your lines and troll them at different distances from the boat. You’ll cover a wide area and you’ll get bit more often.
Trolling with planer boards is often thought of as a technique for bigger fish species like walleye, trout, and salmon, and boards certainly do an outstanding job on those species. However, boards also will produce more panfish. Off Shore Tackle makes a Mini Planer board that will increase your crappie, bluegill, and perch catches, and the advantage is that they can be used with the spinning tackle that you would use for more traditional techniques. You don’t need a rod and reel designed specifically for trolling.
The next time you’re on a body of water that you’re not real familiar with, or on a body of water that you know well, consider trolling. You’ll find the best fishing areas faster and that will increase your chances for getting bit. Getting bit when it comes to fishing is a good thing.
