What speed do you troll at?

[bdorman]

I'm new at trolling so I'm experimenting. I usually go pretty slow; a little less than 1/4 power on a 45# thrust motor; probably somewhere between 1 and 1-1/2 mph.

But here's the weird thing: When I decide to try another part of the lake...gun the motor up past 50%, probably 3-4 mph, I get some great hits! I didn't think a crappie could/would swim that fast.

I've caught more at the slower speeds but that might be because I spend 90% of time at slower speeds.

Am I going too slow?

[bfish]

Am I going too slow?

Are you using a handheld GPS to gauge speed? I think you might be estimating on the high side of the speed range.

You probably are fine speedwise with jigs, but too slow for trolling cranks.

[Jameslin]

I troll most of the time around .5 to 1.2 pulling jigs.I dont think your trolling motor is getting to 3 or 4 mph I have a 80 lb thrust and all I get out of it full charged is 2.3.so when you go to higher speeds is more like 1.2 to 1.6 or so and thats where your getting bit get you a gps and you will know how fast your going and what speed there biting at hope this helps you out some.

[tenncrappie]

We troll with planner boards pulling 1/16ounce jigs with southern pro hot grubs at .8-1.1 mph

[beagle man]

.5 to .8 jigs,and road runners, 1.5 to 1.7 crank baits, and as fast as 2 on some days

[STUMP HUNTER]

.5 to .8 jigs,and road runners, 1.5 to 1.7 crank baits, and as fast as 2 on some days

I use the same speeds as you do. The RR runs great at .8 Thumbs Up

[MEATGETTER]

jig@ .5 -1.2 minnows .3-.5

[talltimber]

Same as MG, all jigs, all the time.

[das speck hunter]

No such thing as too slow for the most part. I like to crawl at .2-.8 while slow trolling/ spidering and .7-1.5 for longlineing with jigs. No advise on cranks.

[jimp]

a $99 gps will tell you exactly how fast your going, you'll be surprised at the variances based on the wind, current, etc. I have a tracker pt175 w/ a 60hp with a 43lb TM. Starting out in the morning, I can go 1.0 to 1.2, depending on any wind, whether I have the 60 down in the water or out of the water, if going into the wind, it's .8 to 1.0 depending on if the 60 is up/down or inbetween. as the day goes on, I slow down to .7 up to .9. On high or speed 5, the TM will pull mine at 2.2-2.5 in the morning ,as the day goes on, it drops down to 1.5 to 1.7 or so. These speeds are based on a garmin gps. Sometimes a faster speed is what starts the bite, you'll learn different techniques to slow/speed up in small increments.