Trolling vs. drifting - why?

[erie son]

Drift fishing can be very productive with all of the walleye in the western basin today. I enjoy the process and feel that comes with drift fishing. If your goal is to get on and off the lake as quickly as possible trolling is probably the ticket. That's why so many charters troll today. It will put a limit of fish in the cooler for their customers regardless of the fishing experience of the crew. When it comes to private fishing vessels it is personal preference. I prefer casting and teaching new Lake Erie fisherman casting techniques. I have friends that prefer trolling, it all comes down to what you enjoy. Either way get on the lake and enjoy the great resource we are blessed to be able to fish on.

[BILLY JOE]

Ditto on erie son reply

[Missing NC]

There is nothing like having the rod in your hand and setting the hook. It takes more skill to drift and cast that to troll, it's boring to me. I dont care about my "fish count" because bragging is like whatever. It's all about the fun and enjoyment for me, not so much competing to see who caught the most for the day. If you want numbers then troll. JMO

[dunkinalan]

Well said!

[cohoho]

That is fun Slimshady. I’ll usually set the first lines if they are newer to trolling based off of my unwritten rules like water clarity and such then if they don’t get bit, I’ll start having them pick lures. Newbies love to see lures they picked catch fish. Works on Erie and MI. It’s really cool to watch a 20 + king come over the rail on some crappy spoon that someone said “thing looks pretty”. I swear it happens every time. I can put them out and nothing… I love it! I love watching people reel in fish I put them on, big or small, it’s awesome.

[slimshady]

That is fun Slimshady. I’ll usually set the first lines if they are newer to trolling based off of my unwritten rules like water clarity and such then if they don’t get bit, I’ll start having them pick lures. Newbies love to see lures they picked catch fish. Works on Erie and MI. It’s really cool to watch a 20 + king come over the rail on some crappy spoon that someone said “thing looks pretty”. I swear it happens every time. I can put them out and nothing… I love it! I love watching people reel in fish I put them on, big or small, it’s awesome.

So true. I will never forget the time I had a newbie on my boat jigging in the D-River. It was a tough bite, muddy water, etc. Next thing I know he tied on a 4" tube jig, like we would use on St. Clair for smallies. I said "I wouldn't use that, you will have trouble feeling the bottom". He proved me wrong as I was netting his 7 lb'er about 5 mins later. I was like "you have any more of those with you?"......you never know what is going to work on any given day.

[ChrisW]

I have a question before we get into the season. We all know how trolling has boomed over the last 10 years. It seems it’s all Lake Erie walleye fishing folks talk about, except for the spring jig fishing. My question to all is why has trolling become the “catch all” (pun intended) method for Lake Erie walleye fishing? My question isn’t about why or how trolling works, so comments and lectures from experienced trollers about why trolling works aren’t what I’m looking for here. I want to know why so many people ignore drift fishing and go immediately to trolling.
We all know why trolling works. You can keep the bait (lure) in the fish zone. You can control the lure speed. You can cover more area (mostly because you have a wider swath of baits out). Etc. Put two people with equal experience out fishing, one trolling and one drift fishing, and yes the troller generally will be more successful. But is trolling necessary all the time, or most of the time?

We’re hearing more and more about problems arising because there are too many trollers in an area. Trolling requires a lot more room to fish and when you have a lot of boats moving around with restrictions on maneuverability and often distracted, it’s bound to cause some problems, especially when we’re getting more of them and they are fishing the same area as folks drift fishing.

I talked with two experienced Lake fishermen who almost exclusively drift fish. One doesn’t even have trolling equipment. They told me about 75% of the time they do as well or nearly as well as trollers. On some days it may take them longer to get a limit. But overall they are nearly as successful in putting fish in the cooler. It’s only on those ‘tough days’ that the trollers get significantly more fish. I’m talking about people with equal fishing talent / ability.

My major question is why go thru all the trolling setup and operation if at least 50-75% of the time it’s not really necessary? Drift fishing is a lot easier and, I’m sure most would agree more fun. Again, not talking about those days were fishing is tough and no question trolling catches more walleye.

Thoughts?

I have nothing against trolling but to me, it's not as fun to catch fish while trolling compared to traditional fishing. I go on a couple of striper fishing trips a year and sometimes we troll vs traditional methods and the trolling tends to be more effective but I enjoy catching the stripers while holding the rod so you can get that great feeling of the hook up from the fish. It's like bass fishing, when I was a kid, I used to catch fish using live shiners or worms but once I caught a bass with a crankbait or any other artificial bait, there is no comparison of the feeling.

[Skists]

I have been fishing the lake since the early 70's. I jigged and cast for most of those, but the last 6 to 8 I have trolled.
My reason is my shoulders. When you get into your 70's you don't have the level of strength and I would have issues with them for hours sometimes days.
When I troll I can fish 3, 4 or 5 days in a row. I love to fish like most on this board and I will try to continue as long as I am above ground.
I enjoyed jigging, now but now enjoy trolling.
Just saying!!

[ChrisW]

I have been fishing the lake since the early 70's. I jigged and cast for most of those, but the last 6 to 8 I have trolled.
My reason is my shoulders. When you get into your 70's you don't have the level of strength and I would have issues with them for hours sometimes days.
When I troll I can fish 3, 4 or 5 days in a row. I love to fish like most on this board and I will try to continue as long as I am above ground.
I enjoyed jigging, now but now enjoy trolling.
Just saying!!

Yep, this makes sense and I certainly don't dislike trolling as I still take part in it, when needed. It's great that you still get to enjoy fishing.

[captain tacky]

For us Fishing over 60 Years seeing many changes always Jigging in Spring - Casting in Summer - if not producing drop anchor try Perch if have shiners - it that not work Troll . always in that order !