which way to go about trolling?

Hello all, I have brainstormed on here about wanting to get started on trolling, but their are so many ways to do it lol. im not gonna lie it intimidates me a little bit. ive seen guys using drift socks or kicker motors and different types of boards not to mention the many different types of lures to use (spoons,harnesses,cranks,ect). For those of you that troll what would be your advice? I dont want to be that guy that gets a charter and secretly gets the info lol, i'd want to pay someone that was willing to teach me so maybe I will try and find someone next year willing to do such. My boat is a 252 sportcraft with thoughts of putting on a kicker motor, maybe thats not needed not sure yet lol. any advice for a guy trying to expand his "arsenal" would be greatly appreciated thank you. (FYI i have never been trolling for walleye)

My experience is its all about how much money you want to spend. First you need to figure out how fast your boat goes at idle. Lets say its around 2.5 mph, you need to get down around 1.5 to 2. (I can only get down to about 1.7) Call Amish outfitters and he will tell you what you need. To do this you can either buy "trolling bags" not drift bags or buy a kicker motor to go the speed you want. Now you have to figure out if you want small boards or big. How many people are generally fishing with you?...Ford or Chevy...then you can choose churches boards or offshore. again...ford or chevy. You will hear about 10 different baits on here that everyone catching fish on. Its take deep pockets to have all the different ones, and they are like collecting....its an addiction. Someone catches alot of fish on pokie dot peanut and everyone rushes out to buy it. Can I trademark "Pokie Dot Peanut" I like that name. No offense to anyone, hell I'll buy one also. slowly collect your lures. I use mostly Reef Runners, but I buy a perfect 10 or bandit here or there. I think its mostly color "my opinion". Try to collect a couple of each color. Skipper 9 would be a great teacher on big boards, Juls runs small boards. Be patient, it will take you a few trips to learn to read your rods and you will make mistakes rigging things. I recommend getting all the same rods so its easier to read when something looks different. Again its all about the money, you can buy cabellas depthmaster combos for about 60 bucks a piece when they are on sale or you can spend 200 on a tekota reel. I only get to fish a few times a year up on Erie so I bought cheaper reels and more lures. I am more than willing to answer questions as are most everyone on the board. Good luck

well, I'll tell you a bit about my trolling experience. I dont use boards all the time. Sometimes when it is just two of us we will run the rod holders straight out off ea side and let whatever lures we are using run. We try different distances and different speeds. The speed you troll at is very important as well as the lure and depth you run at. When you get a fish on then mark the area and the lure and the depth etc. Eventually you will gain experience on what works for you and what doesnt. you could buy a couple small inline boards and get used to using them thru trial and error. You mentioned a kicker motor which allows you to get down to the speed you want and not use a lot of gas. Just make sure you can access it or have the controls hooked up so that you can steer etc with it.
It isnt cheating at all to take a charter one day and learn as much as you can on how the pro captains do it. Most of them will share info with you and they seem to enjoy helping newbies out. trolling can be as simple or as complicated as you want to make it. Just go out there when the water is safe and throw some lures over the side and slowly troll around and see what happens. Learn as you go and take notice when you catch a fish of everything you were doing. Talk to the bait shops and other fishermen. You will find that there is plenty of info out there available from the people around you at the docks, the bait shops, this forum etc. Dont go out the first time and try to be an expert. Buy yourself a couple of reefrunners, some worm harnesses, and several other lures as mentioned on this site and start learning by doing. The more you do the more you will understand what some of these posts are talking about. Typically in my opinion, most people new to trolling tend to troll too fast. Different lures may dictate different speeds, i.e. worm harnesses are usually trolled much slower than diving lures such as reef runners. Capt Juls gives awful good advice on what succeeds for her clients. Dont be intimidated by it, just go start doing it. Keep your spped somewhere around 1.8 to 2.5 (depending on the lure) and relax and enjoy tooling around the lake. Stay very aware of other boats and watch for boards that other boats may be running. Get you a couple of line counter reels and try different distances back from the rods, try different depths of water and different speeds and different directions (with the wind and against the wind or across etc). You will eventually find some walleye and when you do make multiple passes thru that area. Have fun and see how fast you start to catch up on the techniques. tight lines.

I recommend getting a charter captain who is willing to teach. My wife and I did that last year (Captain Juls out of the Port Clinton area) and it really helped. Research here to decide what kind of trolling you want to try then find a captain who will show you how to do it properly, not just set everything up for you and have you reel them in. Juls taught us how to run planer boards and crawler harnesses, and it was well worth it. But make sure you get someone who is willing to explain why they are doing what they are doing. Well worth it in my book.

On our boat (20 ft Grady White walkaround) our goto method is trolling crawler harnesses with inline boards, we use bags to slow us down but I'd love a kicker. We also pull crankbaits behind the boards.

I would try both styles of trolling, unless you already know whether you want to run big boards or small boards. Most of us are not secretive about teaching clients how to troll lol. Once you decide which method you want to set your boat up for then you can figure out how much you want to spend and what gear to buy. But the best thing you can do is get on some boats and try them out, whether you have to pay a charter or find somebody that you can jump on and split expenses.

I agree with going out with either charters or other folks. There is a ton of little tips that can make every trip better. From locating fish, finding the right water to the running of boards and lures and knowing when to run what. Trolling just to troll and not catching can get boring for most, quick. It is those times where the fire drills start that keeps folks hooked on trolling. Like mentioned, you need to think about do you want to pull meat. Dipsies, cranks, spoons and start from there. With the boat you have, do you drift and cast now? That is still a very good effective way to catch walleye.

Give me a call anytime 7403417894 would love to take you out and show you how we run big boards or little boards as our one first mate DJ is very efficient at running the little ones if your interested just give me a ring I would be glad to help!! Or any of the other charters at channel grove for that matter as most of us work closely together.

wheres skipper 9 havnt seen any reports lately hope all is good

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Originally Posted by rscotfish

wheres skipper 9 havnt seen any reports lately hope all is good

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From his last post it sounded like he is out East this year putting the smack down on those hawgs Bula is noted for.

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Originally Posted by rscotfish

wheres skipper 9 havnt seen any reports lately hope all is good

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All is well we have one boat in bula and one in the islands. We have been mainly running trips out of bula since my daughter was just born last Friday ! I will be back at it this weekend in the island area as we have a couple perch trips and Jim will be going after big eyes in bula.

Sorry I am always available give me a call if you need any info. We are doing very well out of Marblehead and out of astubula. If anyone want to catch jumbo perch and huge walleye and an occasional steelhead I have open seats available out of astubula
Marblehead we are catching perch around sw corner of Kellys and walleye around the Lorain sandbar 120 back with 2oz with reef runners
Astubula perch in 65 foot of water and walleye 16 miles out of the river. Attachment 3352Attachment 3353

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Originally Posted by bowguy84

All is well we have one boat in bula and one in the islands. We have been mainly running trips out of bula since my daughter was just born last Friday ! I will be back at it this weekend in the island area as we have a couple perch trips and Jim will be going after big eyes in bula.

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congrats on the birth of your daughter enjoy the time it flies by mine just turned 20 seems like she was just born

bowguy84:

Please forgive me as I failed to offer my congratulations on the birth of your Daughter!! I don't know what happened to me not doing so, sorry!

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Originally Posted by wakina

bowguy84:

Please forgive me as I failed to offer my congratulations on the birth of your Daughter!! I don't know what happened to me not doing so, sorry!

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No worries wakina thanks for the congrats and thanks to you rscotfish hope all is well with everyone and I'm ready to get back to fishing going out sat so I should have a report for the island area!

is there any where i can catch perch like that i'm out of wards and want to stay as close as i can we limit almost every time but the average has been 5 to a pound. id like 3 to a pound but ill take 2 to a pound 1 to a pound i'm moving my boat lol