Trolling has long been a favored technique for catching large trout in lakes for many decades. Sounds fairly simple to tie a lure onto your line and drag it across the waters in hopes of catching fish but those in the know have honed their trolling techniques to catching trout and other fish species with remarkable success.
Sales of hard baits have soared over the last few years with dozens of lures for anglers to choose from. Anglers having the most success are reporting lure brands and models that are filling up their stringers on lakes. Knowing what lure model, size, color, running depth, and action are the key to catching fish on any given day.
Hard baits have come a long way in recent years with some old time lure manufacturers like Rapala still high on the list of "go to" lures. There are some new players making lures, such as Daiwa SC Shiners and Berkley Flicker Shad’s size 4 producing extremely well in many lakes.
Rapala Countdowns in the CD3, CD5 and CD7 sizes in Black/Silver, Fire tiger, and Black/Gold combinations are highly regarded to the regulars as the hot lure on any given day of fishing. Another popular big fish producer is the Rapala Tail Dancer TD-5. Recommended colors are the same as the Countdown series. Anglers are also using the jointed Rapalas with a high degree of success. Jointed models have a unique wide wobble action that can be slow trolled with good results when fish are surface feeding. Those using the CD7 models may have better luck on the big brood class trout ranging upwards to 20 lbs. Several large big brown trout have fallen victim to the more natural lure patterns such as shad color replicas in black/silver or brook trout patterns.
Daiwa offers a shallow running surface hard bait called the SC Shiner which has become a favorite to many trolling regulars especially in the deadly "Hot Pink" and "Metallic Orange Foil" or "Metallic Gold Foil". Running depths may range from 6 to 9 feet and have a very tight wiggle that the big fish can’t seem to resist. The SC Shiner comes in a 2" size range with a long bill and rattling body.
Berkley has now added to their popular Flicker lure lineup the Flicker Shad 4. Marlon Meade Irvine Lake’s Pro Team leader and product tester for Berkley recommends using the Flicker Shad in Clown, Fire tiger, Racy Shad and Black/Silver colors have been producing well at the lake. Diving depth is 9-11 feet and hungry fish are further enticed by the Flicker shad’s rattle body.
Several other lures that have been very successful when trolled are spoons, ranging in sizes from 1/16 oz. to 1/4 oz. Some of the more popular and productive spoon lures have come from Thomas Buoyant in Pink, Gold metal (black/red dot) pattern,
Firetiger, and Silver (black/red dot) patterns.
Silver or Gold Kastmasters in the 1/8th and 1/4 oz. sizes offer a unique wiggle action that entices strikes. The #2 Needlefish in the gold or silver patterns fished on leadcore line or using keel weights especially during spring time weather conditions is regarded as an excellent producing lure.
Another longtime favorite lure for trolling is the Roostertail spinner baits made by Worden. Several successful patterns to use have been the Gold Bumblebee, Yellow body /Silver blade combo, White body/Silver blade combo and Firetiger in the 1/6th oz. to 1/8th oz. sizes. Renowned Pro Angler Buzz Ramsey, Outdoor Columnist, a sport fishing authority for Salmon, Steelhead and trout, and brand manager for Yakima Bait Company recommends using a swivel tied several feet away from the spinner. This prevents line twisting problems to some degree. Buzz also notes that swivels tied directly to the spinner may hamper the spinner’s action. Available models are the original Roostertail, Vibric Roostertail, and the Sonic Roostertails. Worden’s offers a huge variety of body colors and blade designs to match the hatch of what big fish are feeding on.
Seasoned troller’s will tell you that using a small piece of nightcrawler or power worm hooked to the rear treble hook can be an added enticement for when fish are finicky biters.
Spoons and spinner lures can also benefit when used behind a gold or silver flasher. Flashers come in many shapes, sizes and lengths. Flashers imitate a school of fish moving through the water. Attaching a spoon or hard bait lure approximately 2 to 4 foot behind a small blade flasher can be very deadly on catching fish. Predator fish will key in on the trailing lure thinking it’s a wounded or weak bait fish and easy prey.
Knowing what depth a lure will run at is important to know especially if the fish are holding at a certain depth. Using a surface lure that may only troll at a 6 foot depth won’t be effective in catching fish that are holding at 25-30 foot depths. You can alter your trolling method to get a lure down to the depth needed providing you know how deep the fish are holding at. This is where a fish locator is especially important to have in your arsenal of essential equipment when trolling. Once fish are located either with a fish finder or just catching one while trolling it’s important to know that you should concentrate on trolling over that area several times, since trout tend to school up. If fish are down deep then you’ll need to use either a deeper running lure, keel weights, planers, downriggers or leadcore fishing line, to get your lure to the proper depth. All of these methods of getting your lure down to the proper fish holding depth have pros and cons when trolling. A downrigger setup isn’t cheap or easy to use in a rental boat nor would be the use of planers but most anglers find using leadcore line or keel weights easy to use and much more practical.
Leadcore line usually requires a heavier action rod and a casting reel setup. Leadcore comes in varying line weights ranging from 12lb. to 18 lb. tests. The more leadcore line out, the deeper you go. As a rough measuring scale, the leadcore line is color coded every 10 yards to give anglers an idea of how deep they are running lures at. For every color out you can figure approximately a 3 to 5 foot drop in the water.
Leadcore has no line stretch which can be a problem when hooking up to a very large fish.
When using leadcore line it’s wise to use a “Snupper” which is a thick rubber band that is used between the leadcore and mono leader material to absorb hard hits by big fish without breaking your leader line. Use the lightest leadcore test possible to reduce arm fatigue if you’re holding fishing rods while trolling. Leadcore has a lot of pulling weight.
Another way to get down deep is using a keel weight on the main line with a small length of leader material. A keel weight looks like a flat piece of lead with a bead chain and swivel attached at both ends of the lead. The recommended weights to use in general are from 1/2 oz. to 1 oz. Newer designs are made to resemble a small bait fish such as a shad or small trout and come in several color choices. Having a swivel built in, offers less line twisting and allows for lure action to be true to what the lure designer intended.
The "Poor Man downrigger" is using a barrel sinker on your main line and swivel tied to the end of the main line. Then use a small length of leader material to tie your lure onto. Barrel sinkers have a tendency to hamper the lure’s action often creating a zigzagging effect on the lure which in many cases entices more hits from fish. It all depends on the lure used. Spoon lures work well with barrel sinkers whereas hard baits may work better with a keel weight.
Trolling distances from the boat are very important to how effective a lure can be especially when factoring the speed you’re trolling at. The faster you troll the higher depth your lure will stay at. Slower trolling speeds tend to be more productive in catching fish especially in colder water. Most diehard troller’s will swear the slower the trolling speed the better your catch ratio but sometimes it pays to speed up your trolling speed in order to get a reaction bite when cruising through a bait ball of schooling shad. Speeding up and slowing down trolling speeds can help catch fish. It gives your baits natural ebb and flow effective like fish would normally swim.
Effective distances for trolling lures may range 30 to 50 yards from the boat. Conditions and boating traffic will determine what’s best on any given day. Using a zigzag trolling pattern is considered a good strategy and will entice more strikes than straight line trolling.
Determining what size line to use is very important if using straight mono. Most successful trollers are using 4lb. to 6 lb. test and use a loose drag setting. Having some line stretch can be good if a large fish hits your lure. It acts like a rubber band allowing some forgiveness to break offs. To prevent line twisting, a very small barrel swivel can tied to your main line and a small 3-4 foot length of 4lb. to 6lb. test fluorocarbon leader material can be tied to your lure. Trolling with the new braided fishing lines offers very little stretch in the line and can be used for trolling in small line test sizes. Using light drag settings is a must with braided lines.
Using a fish finder to locate the depths fish are holding out can really help you concentrate on fishing the areas offering the best chance of catching fish to maximize your time on the water. Meade advises that windy or breezy conditions tend to make for better fishing activity on the surface. Fish will go deep so you’ll need to adapt to the conditions on a daily basis.
Try planning your trolling time to the changing weather, light conditions and water clarity for the most success.
