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Trolling Speed????

1316 Views 8 Replies 4 Participants Last post by  laker taker
I would like to get some input on what you guys think is a good trolling speed and for what what kind of fish at that speed. I ask because when I'm trolling with my motor guide 36ibs thrust on setting 2 or 3 Im gettin passed buy other guys using ther regular motors.??? am I going to slow? I got a 20hp johson is it trolling worthy :-\? any way some input would be great thanks ;D :eek: :D
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I'm not a big trolling guy but I can tell you varying your speed will increase your catch rate. A slow reaction strike or a fast aggressive strike all depends on the fishes mood, and you have to cater to that.
When I troll for lakers, rainbows or Kokes I always use the big motor right at idle speed, when fishing for walleye I use my trolling motor anywhere from 1 to 5 on the speed dial.
G
I only use my electric for maneuvering around or through structure when stealth is important or I'm in shallow water. When trolling I use my 4 stroke. When foward trolling, speed is subjective to the species & mood of the fish. Try your troll at idle on your motor. While trolling, make s turns of medium to small size, just make sure they are big enough to turn your lures, not too big to cross your lines. If you find your getting hit during turns, notice which side off the boat is getting hit. If the inside lure is always getting hit, slow your troll. If the outside is getting hit, increase your troll. Some lures require a faster troll to get proper action, always check the lures action next to the boat at your trolling speed to make sure your getting proper action and nothing is wrong with your bait. You will learn what fish want at different times of the year. Right now, I troll SLOW. Cold water usually = sluggish fish. Most times I troll about 1.8 mph. I also use speed to contour troll lead and downrig. Speed will decrease the depth of your lead line or downrigger weight. As you see a hump or decrease in depth on your finder, increase speed and your lures will come up, if you find you get hits at that time, determine if, 1. was the strike due to your speed?
2. was the strike due to the structure?
3. was it maybe a combination of both?

When you find what works, reproduce as much as possible. I usually will always increase and decrease speed on a random basis. Change it up, when not getting hits. Even the occasional stall to stop the baits. Sometimes a sudden change will get a strike. When your casting a lure you usually impart some type of action to the bait. Do the same with your troll.
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G
Your 20 Johnson would be great for trolling. If a foward troll is to fast, turn your boat around and troll backwards, this is called back trolling. Back trolling is super for control in the wind and precise contour trolling as it imparts better control of the boat. By trolling backwards your pulling a flat surface through the water compared to foward trolling your pushing a hydrodynamic surface through the water.

Alot has been written for walleye anglers about trolling different methods. If you have a small tiller steer, or big tiller steer for that matter, back trolling is awesome. I like the control alot. Waves coming over the transom could be a problem though. If so:

https://whitecap.hypermart.net/index.html 

Buy or build yourself something like this.
Like a few others have said. change your speed and see if you get hit. When flatlining/toplining sometimes ill grab my line just above my reel and pull a few ft of line out and let it go. Sometimes a fish will be following it and by letting the line go you create a small change in the biats movment which sometimes triggers a bite.


[me=Jay_In_Parker] [/me]
The white cap guard looks like it could be made fairly easy with some plexi glass or other stuff like it nice post thanks
so trolling with the 20hp jonson would not be to fast for lakers in say 60fow? Kokes same? just trying to improve fishing Grandby in July, Love the lake but the fishing has not been the best to me.,
G
Your 20 would be fine. Granby can produce 100 fish days, easy. Finding the lakers is the key. I'm not a big fan of Granby for Kokes, but you can still catch them.
I'm curious why you ask,
so trolling with the 20hp jonson would not be to fast for lakers in say 60fow?
Why 60 fow? Is that the depth you usually fish at? Does 60' have any significance? PM me and I'll give you a good starting point for Macks at Granby.
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