What tail dancers work best for you?

I don’t own any tail dancers and am thinking about heading to the pond for some fall fishing. With reading the post on how these are producing, I’d better go pick some up. What colors and sizes would you suggest to have aboard? Thanks for any info, Hoistafish

If you are coming fall fishing, and only had one lure to fish with. It would be the #12 Husky Jerk in Firetiger color. Other personal favorites are tennessee shad, black/gold and clown. There are tons of others out there, but these are definitely one of the most consistent baits each fall.

Hoist-

Tail Dancers are my go to bait in the Summer, but in the Fall that changes and do not use Tail Dancers at all trolling for eyes. Are you talking about night trolling?? If so, my 3 go to baits right now would be Husky Jerk #12’s, Smithwick Suspending Super Rogues, and Bent Lip Shad Raps #7,8,9’s. Variety of colors. Anything close to Clown or FireTiger and then get some more Nuetral/Natural Colors. Black/ Silvers, Blue /Chrome, Tenesee Shad, And Lazer Craw in the Smithwicks. Hope this helps.

I came to really aprpeciate the “hot steel” pattern in shallow shad raps last fall, especially early in the evening before darkness set in.

I have a spot that is 3-4 fow over boulders. So what’t a bait with plenty of action for this spot. My go to color is perch pattern. Thanks

We did great on the real small ones last fall. I think they were #7’s. They ran about 5-6 ft. down with about 75-80 ft. of line out and were perfect for right over the weeds. Black and silver, perch color, or emerald shiner if you can still find that color.

Bill,
I would use either a #11 or #13 floater…I like to use these to target the depths you refer to….I’ve noticed lately that the rocks that I fish have a lot of moss on them, so if you pull a lure that runs too deep you will be spending the majority of the time cleaning your lure or running with a fowled crank….you might also have to experiment with the line that you are using….I use both 14# fireline and 8# powerpro….when fishing that shallow I will switch to the fireline because it won’t run quite as deep and it also allows me to get the crank farther behind the boat.

Are most of you guys doing your trolling runs between 4 to 9 feet? If not, what depths have you been targeting?

4-8 FOW

Thanks for the reply crawlerking. I have tried those and they work well I just wish they had a little bit more action. Another one I have tried is the bomber long A. Problem is that they come out of tune quickly. And you’re right you can’t pound the rocks too hard. Not only will you get fouled up and snagged you probably won’t get bit as much because the cranks always on the rocks where the fish can’t grab it.

Lip Ripper, are you doing anything to those shallow runners to get them to run deeper when trolling? Do you want them raking bottom like the deeper diving cranks?

Martin, I’m not doing anything. I’m just long lining them out the back. I troll mainly 4-8 fow and these lures will knock into the rocks @ 4-6 fow. When I’m trolling in 8 fow they are 1-3 feet of the bottom. At this depth I rely on the walleyes feeding upwards in the water column. You must remember a walleyes eyes are on the top of their head and it is a lot easier for them to see/feed upward in the water column. When I’m in 4-5 fow and banging I figure this causes ruckus/noise and they will look or swim downward to see what it is if they are up off the bottom a foot or 2. I can’t tell you how many times I have bumped rocks 3-4 times after coming up on a hump and BAM…………FISH ON.

Hope this helps.

Perfect!!!

Thanks for the heads-up Ripper!!!

I’m heading up on Sunday PM.

Thanks for all the info guys! I’ve aready got a lot of the cranks talked about so I don’t need to spend any more money on tail dancers this year any way. All I have to do is get on the water before the snow starts flying. Thanks again for the info!

Lip makes a good point.. Its best not to be so concered about your bait running close to bottom. To many guys want to tick bottom or they lose confidence.

When you long lining them how much line are letting out???

I almost always am running in the 85-105 range. However, occasionally I’ve let a 150 just to get the lures further back. Doesn’t affect the depth, just let’s the spooky fish settle a bit.

Same as Kooty.

I have even had like 65 feet out before, but Kooty is lengths are probably the typical.

Okay one more stupid question, what is the best speed???

Schrumy
early in the fall the speeds are a bit more quicker than later. typically it’s in the 1.8-2.6 or 7 range. once the water temps dip into the lower 50’s and cooler, they tend to want a bit slower. there are nights that if you can’t get it down below 2 you won’t get bit. later it’s somewhere between 1.3-1.8 or so. the rule of thumb is to let the fish tell you what they want when you are up there. try different speeds until you get bit. also, try “s” turns and pay attention to when the fish hit. lots of times the guy on the inside of the turn will get bit right when you’re bait speeds up or comes out of the turn. sometimes it’s the guy on the outside so when you bait speeds up. also, try long rod pumps so you’re bait sits motionless for a bit. be sure to make mental notes of when you get bit and try to repeat that process as it can be the difference between a great night and an average night. hope that helps.
micah

Good question, this is one of the big reasons people get sunked in the fall on mille lacs and Micah pretty much nailed it on the head. Some of these fish are plum full of bait and choking up food when caught. If your getting bit in the inside lines, slow down. These fish will just follow your bait if your not hitting the right speed.

Absolutely a good point. I know James, Dustin and I have had to pry piles of frozen puked up perch off the carpets! We will often times put the boat into neutral for a bit. Then as soon as you click it into gear BOOM!

Here’s another example in human terms. I just whacked down a Jumbo 16″ Pizza Man Classic. And maybe a few hot wings and some cheesy bread. I start to slow down and head for the couch. Man I’m stuffed. As the evening goes on I’m laying on the couch and then I hear razing, razing, razing. ICE CREAM MAN!! I run out the door and hes driving so damn fast I cant see what I want. Hes waving at me and I’m wavin back but I’m still pretty full from all that Pizza Man. Ice cream man keeps going and I say the hell with it. Then, at the end of the block he turns around and comes back. This time with a bomb pop and drumstick hanging out his window, and hes barely moving. So I wonder over and thrust at his window with cat like reflex and take my late night snack.

Then I see Tuck pushing a hot dog cart down my street.. But thats it for me.. Time to stage and wait a few hours.

Thanks for all the good info

I love the way Taildancers roll or pop free from rocks. They are the least likely bait to snag up IMHO. I go to them 1st in late Aug/ Sept. I’ll try the smallest this late in the year in hot chub or such. No bites, then Shads, then it is Rogues, HJ, F13’s.

Bladepuller, have you been pulling any blades during the day at all??

No. I quit right after July 4th due to that pesky thing called work. It looks like I’ll be off for a couple of weeks now Derek. I’ve still got a half of box of crawlers left and if there are any sunny days I’ll give them a try.

BTW, I used Gulp on one rod and crawlers on another this year and Gulp held it’s own.

After seeing this thread, seemed more appropriate to move this from a post I made to another thread on the General Discussion Forum.

Question for you experienced fall night trollers…

Let say you come up out of deep(er) water and top out at 6-8 feet aways off shore (anywhere between 1/4 mile and 1/2 mile) and that the depth stays pretty consitent/gently levels off between that point and shore. In general, have you found that the fish tend stay somewhat close top of the break (to have quick access to deeper water) or are they not afraid to roam this vast “flat” on a search and destroy mission looking for food.

Thanks,

Jim

><(((>