Trollers vs casters May 30th

[bobd47fish]

I strictly drift fish and cast weapons with crawlers. In front of the Rasin River in 25-27' of water on the 30th, many charters and private guys were doing well trolling all around us, we caught very few fish. Has anyone figured out a lure to cast (swim bait, blade bait, whatever) that the fish will actually hit this time of year? It has to be in the strike zone (cira 15-18') or so for a reasonable length of time to have a chance. I refuse to troll, but there must be some way to catch them with lures when drifting when they don't want worms.

[ryguy2010]

I also refuse to troll.....was out last night (6/6/11) with 3 other guys, we ended up with 5 walleye. fished 5 pm til sunset. caught 3 on bottom bouncers, the other 2 casting weapons. we fished pretty much every side of the niagra buoy in a pack of about 12-15 boats. moved in, about 1-2 miles west of crib reef. picked up the last 2 there, including a 28" on a gold weapon.

[ryguy2010]

My best strategy to immitate the action of trollers is as follows. On extremely calm days when it seems the trollers have an incredibly distinct advantage, try fishing a heavy weight forward (5/8 or 3/4 oz). The trick is to fish it extremely fast anywhere from a 1-6 count. The weight allows you to get and stay deep, while still presenting a fast moving lure (AKA trolling). Don't be afraid to put plenty of action on it. I prefer a fire tiger weight forward with the red eye on the spinner. There have been numerous times we've had a poor drift and resorted to this strategy. Its a lot of work, lots of casts (you are basically fishing like you would for largemouth) but it can be highly successful