I have trolled all types of baits and set-ups and my favorite way to catch them trolling is with spinners and crawlers. I primarily fish for the sport and the fight, so I much prefer the slower trolling speeds that you use with harnesses. Pulling Jets and spoons is very productive, for sure, however, it is all personal preference.

Before I can give you a specific recommendation, I would need to know if you plan on trolling with a bow-mounted electric (like a Terrova), or if you will use a kicker or big motor?

I normally troll my spinners at 1 - 1.5 mph with 1 - 2 oz. in-line weights. I run some out behind off-shore boards and some straight back. The ones that are straight back, I normally run deeper than the ones out to the sides. I pull spinners with a Terrova iPilot, which allows you to get very precise with the speeds, etc. If you can't do that, you might want to run a couple drift socks to help dial-in the speeds. I have found that it helps to change speeds often. With the iPilot, I will bump my speed up to 1.5 from 1.2 and leave it for a minute, then drop it back down. Sometimes I go the other way. It is amazing how often they hit when you do that. Sometimes all 4 rods will go off at once. You can also try slow, wide S turns to get the same effect. Be careful not to go too tight of turns or you may tangle everything. Be careful not to go much further behind your boards than it is deep. Otherwise you risk fouling your hooks with zebra mussels on the way out. It also helps to speed up the boat when setting the lines, then drop it down.

If I am pulling spoons and jets or mini-disks, I will use my kicker to push along with the terrova for steering and precise speed changes. With spoons, I will typically troll anywhere from 1.8 - 2.5 mph.

Some days, 90% of the fish will come from the boards. Other days the boat rods will do well. It really depends if they are high in the water column or not. When they are up high, it is very tough to catch them straight behind the boat, as the boat seems to spook high fish out to the sides.

If you are pulling boards with spinners and meat, it is critical to have the spring loaded "tattle flags" on your boards, otherwise you might pull a white perch around for an hour. If you are pulling spoons, I normally just leave my reels on clicker and have the drag just tight enough so the board won't pull it out. That way, when a fish hits, you will hear the reel click. It usually clicks even for smaller fish.

By the way, it pays to go with a guide that fishes the with the methods that you are going to use first. There are so many little details that you will pick up, plus you will gain a ton of confidence in the system.