Basin Trolling-Report & questions

Went out of the West side this week and tried a little Basin trolling for 6 hours. Ended up catching 3 eyes, bigest being 26.5, off of the different flats in the area. We seen a lot of bait fish 200-300 yards off the flats, but didn’t really mark any eyes around the bait fish until we ventured more into the basin off the flats.(.5-1 mile off) Most hits came off of TD PurpleErodecent. The weird thing was we lost 5 hits. Two of the fish popped the board off and they got off when the board smacked them in the face. The others hit the boards and were on for about 5-10 seconds and by the time we started realing the boards in , they were off!!
Any one else have this experience of loosing so many strikes fishing suspended eyes in the basin?
This is only my second year really trying this basin trolling stuff, and have learned a lot over the few times I’ve been out. I always find it strange that I rarely see another boat around me trolling. I always seem to be second guessing myself when I’m out there and why I don’t see others trolling around me. Just wondering if those more experienced than I would like to shed some light on this. I know no one wants to give out exactly where they are fishing, but do you see a lot of others boats trolling around you when you are out in the basin. Maybe I’m fishing in the wrong areas. Any one be willing to share a “general” area where they troll? Again, not looking for GPS spots but a general area like around 7, 8, and Boot Flat, or are you guys really out in the basin miles away form any flat?
Just thought I’d give quick report and ask a few questions.

Do you sharpen your hooks? It is the 10% solution we all tend to overlook until we have a bad day.At least you are being bit!
Tom

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The others hit the boards and were on for about 5-10 seconds and by the time we started realing the boards in , they were off!!

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Some of these “Bites” are actually brief snags on fish. Foul hooked for a few seconds then shake off. There are a lot of fish out there!

-J.

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Most hits came off of TD PurpleErodecent. The weird thing was we lost 5 hits. Two of the fish popped the board off and they got off when the board smacked them in the face. The others hit the boards and were on for about 5-10 seconds and by the time we started realing the boards in , they were off!!

Any one else have this experience of loosing so many strikes fishing suspended eyes in the basin?

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First off – thanks for the report and congrats on catching your first 3 open basin walleyes!

However, you shouldn’t be losing that many fish. I lose about 10% for a comparison.

Here are some things that you can try to help increase your odds:

Sharp Hooks!

There are several things that can lead to fish not staying hooked when trolling crankbaits with planer boards. Like Tom mentioned above, you must have sharp hooks.

Planer Boards:

Your boards won’t pop off if you double or triple wrap them. I also like to use the OR-18 clips (you buy them separately and attach them to your planer boards).

Drag:

Another thing is your drag. It’s extremely important (especially when using braided line) that you keep your drags set on your reels as light as possible. The way to do this is set your drags just so the planer board doesn’t take out line.

Trolling Rods:

Another key factor is to use a trolling rod with a very soft tip. There’s a lot of pressure on that fish due to the speed of the boat, the planer board and wave conditions. Let the rod absorb the shock and not the reel or a stiffed tip rod.

Reeling in a walleye:

Another thing that leads to fish getting off is improper playing of the fish. Do not do a hook set with your rod – the fish already has caught itself. Do not pump your trolling rod back and forth as you fight the fish. All you are doing then is allowing the hook to go back and forth in the walleye’s mouth increasing the chance for it to get loose. Try to maintain constant and consistent pressure on the fish and try to keep in the water versus thrashing on top of the surface. This is once again extremely important when using braided line that has no stretch. Once the fish hits, you will have to tighten the drag a bit so you can gain on them, but don’t tighten it so tight that no line comes out – just enough drag so you gain on them. Once the board is off, you may want to back off a little bit more. Another critical time is when you take the planer board off. It’s important not to hesitate and stop reeling in the fish. Try to do this as smooth as possible without any hesitation. The person fighting the fish should not have to wait or stop reeling.

Boat Speed:

I also like to keep my motor in gear. It’s OK to slow down but if you take the motor out of gear, this sometimes allows the fish to swim around freely down there with so much line out.

And sometimes as Jon eluded to…. they just get off!

I do not relate to any type of structure when it comes to open basin trolling. I’m sometimes 1,2,3 or 4 miles from a any type of flat. These suspended walleyes are relating to baitfish (primarily tullibees) and bug hatches. Find them and most likely you will find the walleyes.

I cover miles and miles to find these fish. I wrote a report on how I do this here:

Mille Lacs Lake Open Basin Walleye Fishing Report

Hope this helps.

Another suggestion would be replacing the original hooks on your cranks to Mustad Triple Grip hooks. These hooks penetrate well and usually take a bit of doing with a pliers to remove so you know they hold well when reeling the fish in. Also, from your post it sounded like your boards may be rigged to slide down the line when a fish hits. The releases Brad mentioned are simple to work with and hold well, and would be a great option. It’s a pain to deal with a board coming off when you have a few lines out but it’s also no good to have your boards slapping the walleyes in the face. Good luck on the next trolling excursion.

When rigging my board to slide back I always put a barrel swilel in the line about 5 ft up from the crank , then replace the back clip on the board with a snap swivel small enuff so it cant go over the barrel you have on your main line. This stops the board from sliding all the way to the fish and prevents slapping. Congrats and good luck

I personally never rig boards to come off. I just picked up some of the OR 18 clips after using some Jon Jordan had last weekend. Big difference!

Also, when taking the board off, it is good for the person reeling the fish to jump up on the bow and allow the person below to let the line run through their fingers guiding the board to them. Then once the board gets there, the person reeling continues to do so, and the person releasing the board slowly releases the line for the remainder of the fight.
Rods I like for this are 9’6″ and 10’6″ St. Croix Wild River Rods. (Order them from Dean at Everts, the price isn’t that bad!!) and I cut about 6″ off the butt. They are FANTASTIC rods for this kind of work because the whole rod loads up, and a fish has a very hard time shaking hooks because of the bend in the rod acts as a built in shock absorber. It also helps pull the board through the water much smoother for the same reason.

Recently, the bite has been what you have described, and should get better as the Summer goes on.
Nice job!

What type of line are you using? Mono or braid? I use a braid when trolling open water to eliminate any stretch in the line. If you run boards way out to the side ( like Rob does) you have to have a no stretch line to keep everything tight, slack line when reeling in any fish will increase the chance of the fish popping the hooks.

Congrats on catching some nice fish!

I will second or third that you should rig the boards to not come unclipped when a fish hits. From your report, that the first thing that jumps out at me.

What is your trolling speed for this time of year?

I’m using 10lb fire line, with church boards, and double wrap the line around the clip. I’ve been boarding eyes for a few years and seam to be doing everything as others suggest. My hooks are good and sharp, and just wondered if this is a common occurance of loosing fish trolling the basin. I didn’t know since the eyes are suspended and probably coming up under the bait when they hit, if this causes more lost fish. Usually when I troll eyes, I’m trolling near the bottom.

Onto my other question, do you guys see a lot of other boats trolling around you? I just wonder if I’m in the wrong places some times. Do you guys hang around the northern flats, or are you south of them in the middle of the lake around nothing except deep water?
Any extra info would be great, as I’m trying to pattern this technique. Where do you guys start to look when you go out?
(I read some of the reports about scouting before you get the lines wet, and cover ground and find a lot of active bait fish. I do this, but probabaly not as much as I should. I see a lot of bait fish pods, but not always eyes hanging around them, or at least not that I see on the depth finder.)

Cal, you mean me???

Yes definitely rig it so the board stays on and does not travel back. OR-18 Clips are a must for any serious troller and on flat clam days I do push my boards pretty far out. As far as boat traffic out in the basin or other trollers, this is the beginning stages of the bite, so many people are not out there quite yet. The trolling speed that I found was best this past weekend was 1.8 mph. Setting the proper drag is VERY IMPROTANT for not only detecting bites but also keeping fish hooked. Like Brad mentioned a smooth reeling in process is essential to landing those fish also. As far as location this varies constantly, as long as you are graphing fish that is all that matters. Find the bait & bug pods and the eyes will not be far behind. They are just starting to bunch up out there. They will become easier to find every day that passes.

Lastly, Congrats on catching some fish and good luck. I suggest you read Brads reports form this year and all the trolling reports from the last few years and piece them together and you will have quite a bit of info.

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Where do you guys start to look when you go out?

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Once you have done it awhile you have hunting grounds that produce fish every year. But starting fresh, I like to look around flats edges and then veer off from there. I think the biggest mistake people make, including myself at times is just wetting a line and trolling. This can produce long hours of no action and troll dead water. I prescout using my electronics to find fish. The difference in precscouting and just trolling is I can go around 20 mph and have the ability to read my depth finder and mark fish, Think about it, trolling @ 2 mph you cover 2 miles of water in an hour. Even if you went 6-8 mph you are covering 3-4 more times the water. This is very hard for people to do as they rather be fishing, but it pays off in the end because you locate schools faster.

I have had days on the water where I have driven around on the lake for hours just finding and marking schools of fish. Some days I never even fished, but came back later the next day or week and was able to locate that school I previously marked on my GPS and the school increased in size and I the fish that day. Why???? Because I was ON fish 100% of the time, instead of trolling and wasting my time in dead water. When these fish begin to really school up here shortly, these schools can be a mile or 2 long, so prescouting will pay off for you in the long run.

If you are using te Church Boards and double wrapping the front, how are your boards traveling back and knocking of the fish?????

Thats a good question on how the board slides some times when it is double wrapped. It just happens to me some times.

It sounds like you might have to take a screw driver and tighten down the tension adjustment screw on the clip so the double wrapped line will hold if you have not done this already. Just a thought. If this is done you should not have any boards sliding down the line to the fish.

Yep, what Tim said. With my Church Boards I would tighten that screw all the way down!

what’s the trick again to swing them out further is it just to let more line out? I can’t remember

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what’s the trick again to swing them out further is it just to let more line out? I can’t remember

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You got it right. The more line you let out once the board is attached the farther out to the side it will run. A good suggestion is the calmer the wind the farther out you want the board so not to spook the fish with the boat going over the top. However if there is some wind and wave action this is not quite as necessary but still can’t hurt.