Fish-Hawk.Net

Morning All,

I've been thinking about this for the last couple of days and it's been bugging me enough that I thought I would post for your thoughts. I've been fishing Lakers for the last 2 weekends on Charleston Lake. I've had some luck both weekends (didn't get skunked) and the question of trolling speed has been a hot topic both weekends.

I've been told to troll at 0.9 mph to 1.2 mph. The funny thing is I see other boaters out there trolling much faster than me and they still catch fish. Can anyone tell me what the magic speeds are? I run 2 drift socks off the back to get my boat down to 1.2 and the trolling motor down to get me to 1.0mph, but do I need to be going this slow?

Gordo

I'm certainly no expert but I think the matter of trolling speed has more to do with the type of lure. Spoons such as Suttons would not work right with a fast troll while heavier spoons or minnowbait needs more speed.

Despite all the rhetoric around a slow troll for lakers I'm of the opinion if any fish wants a bait they'll get it. Look how fast bass anglers reel certain baits.

I wonder if a slow troll is a carry over from the days of wire/steel line where a slower trolled bait was able to get deeper.

I was probably running almost 2mph all weekend...GPS batteries were dead..

Best bet would be to let some line out and check your bait out....if its running properly.....your speed is fine...

Like Ganman said....some baits just wont run right at higher or lower speeds!

RJ

I found the slower the better ... I usually troll with very light spoons however so the speed matters.
I also find that changing the speed (via turns of the boat) generates strikes. As you turn the lure slows down and then speeds up and the lakers will often hit at that point

i like lazy S trolling patterns..2mph is fine..they can pick up speed when they want to eat.

I would say any where between 1.9 and 2.2 mph, but as others said....depends on the bait you are draging....trial and error

I like to troll pretty fast in the early portion of the season when using northern kings and williams dartees and other spoons. But if you are running a gang troll/minnow I would troll at around 1 Mph or under as the gang troll would be spinning too fast at higher speeds. I would try experimenting with the speed to see how active the fish are.

Are gang trolls better than lures for lakers? I'm kinda new at trolling for lake trout as i've just bought a downrigger. What kind of lures should I buy? What should I put behind a gang troll? Are there any differences or just preferences?

I'd avoid gang trolls, they can be productive at times, but other methods generally catch just as many fish. You lose all the fight out of most fish using the gang troll and heavy tackle used.

I use long med-light action rods with 30lb powerpro on my downrigger with small spoons. Lake trout are great fighters if you have the right tackle. The PowerPro I find is very effective in detecting tiny trout that fail to release the line. Nothing worse than trolling around the lake with a dead trout on the end of your line. Tough to detect a 10" trout on a big gang troll.

I occasionally use gang trolls, but as muskiemagnet says it does take some of the sensitivity out of detecting a strike. Because of this I tend to use small gang trolls not the large ones my grandfather used (We called them christmas trees back then)..

I am real interested in the speed issue, I am hoping my boat will slow down enough. Probably will be dropping drift sock and hoping that the extra weight of 4 other people will slow it down enough. I guess you always could put it in and out of gear could work.

What kind of lures should I focuse on? Does it make a difference?

My favorites are williams wablers (silver, silver/blue, silver/gold), williams whitefish (same colors), Kwikfish/FlatFish (X4 size in silver or silver/blue), jointed rapalas (charteuse,silver/black).