Trolling speed?

[Predator861]

So I've read and read and read and read some more about pushing miners and speed. Everything has said to slow my roll if they ain't biting. Typically I start out at .3-.4mphand will go down to .1mph if necessary. However, today a friend fishing across the lake told me to speed up to .6-.7mph. At first I thought he was lower trolling. But after an hour of a slow bite I tried it out and IT WAS ON!!! Within 15-20 mins we were catching fish. We left with 16 keepers, but caught roughly 30-35.

My my question is trolling at that speed pushes the minners back to a considerably shallower depth. So why would I not reel up and slow troll? Everything has said go slow, but today a fast push (which I am assuming gave our minners some extra action) was the ticket. So I a, a bit confused with this whole thing. If I wanted more action at shallower depth, why not reel up and tie a longer leader from main line to top hook and leave longer length on bottom non weighted hook?


also, as a subpart, or to get me thinking ahead to late spring, when trolling jigs, does the top weighted jig not sit close to the main line while trolling? Is there a way to spider rig with jigs, say an 1/8 or 1/16 jig head on bottom, 3/4oz egg sinker, and a non-weighted jig or tube on top hook?

[vic n]

All good questions and all good things for you to try!

[huntinslabs]

Sometimes they are just wanting to chase bait. Playfull maybe? I dont know the answer to that part, but have had to pull as fast as 2.8 longlining to get a bite when I normally pull .8 to 1.3

[CrappiePappy]

I push jigs at 0.6-0.8mph ... spider rig fish minnows at 0.1-0.5mph ... push cranks at 1.8mph

And I've probably trolled blade baits and/or cranks w/jigs on a leader at 2mph or better

Sometimes they want to look it over, smell it, taste test it, and then make up their minds whether to eat it or not ... and sometimes they just don't have time to do all that, either because of competition from others around them or simply from the speed the baits are moving.

You could have reeled up and slowed the boat down ... or speeded up and dropped the baits deeper --- the first factor may not have been speed, but the depth the fish were holding. Appears as though they were actively feeding, and although the speed may have triggered the bite ... it didn't do it alone. You have to get the bait within their zone, by whatever means or method it takes ... or the fish may ignore it, or not even see it.

... cp

[IceNitro]

Higher speeds get more reaction strikes when fish are in a less aggressive state. I always try to keep track of the depth a bait I actually running in a given situation. Repetition is the key to consistency...

[Predator861]

Thanks

[wicklundrh]

I think pappy nailed it. It might have been more to do with depth and less to do with speed. Simply put, your drop down was too deep for that slower speed. The same drop down had more lay back in the water at a higher speed thus it put the bait higher in the water column.

For what it is worth, I've had my best success trolling at .5 to .8mph. Several years ago, I was fishing in a pretty heavy wind. After fighting and fighting it, I decided to just let the wind push me. I took note of my speed while this was happening. It didn't matter what depth I was at and the fishing was fast and hard. Since that time, I've mimicked that speed on several occasions with the same or similar results.

I will say though that this is long lining. I do believe there is a big difference. A couple of weeks ago we had an outing on a local lake of mine. One of our members was pushing jigs (spider rigging) while I was long lining. We were running similar depth and speed. He caught 2 and I caught 22 fish.

For me, I adjust my depth by the weight of the jig. 1/64, 1/32, 1/16, 1/8 and even 1/4 oz jigs. Last weekend, my buddy and I did this with 4 rods. Each of us ran a 1/16oz and a 1/8 and both rods caught fish.

[Jjsmarlin]

Have you ever put in-line trolling sinkers in front of small crank baits to keep the baits at a specific depth?

[CrappiePappy]

Have you ever put in-line trolling sinkers in front of small crank baits to keep the baits at a specific depth?

The crankbait pushers around my neck of the woods do !! They use a 2oz sinker about 5ft from the cranks, on a lighter pound test leader line. Trolling speed is generally averaging around 1.8mph, and Bandit crankbaits are the ones most widely used.

The trade off is : less line need be out to get to the desired depth, and more control over the path of the bait .... vs .... sacrificing most cranks that get hung up (since you cannot stop the forward motion of the boat without potentially putting more baits in jeopardy, due to the weights dragging them down towards the bottom).

... cp

[Cray]

I normally push jigs tipped with minnows. I use a 1/8 poney head on bottom a1/2 oz weight and a gnat on top tipped with minnow. Most of the time I'm .2 to .4 but if bite is slow I will speed up and have pushed them up to 1.0. I agree that your bait is going to rise some but don't think that is what gets the bite. Like Icenitro said I believe it is just more of a reaction bite than anything else. The speed stimulates them to strike at something food related that they are about to miss. I have found when it is slow do something different from the norm. May not work every time but often enough to make it worth while. Your observation that someone was doing something different and willingness to change got you bit.