Newbie to the lake Pepin, Fished Saturday afternoon. Caught 3 walleyes around 15-16inch on flicker shads. Little guy got his first northern trolling. I fished with lindy rig with worm harness off the bottom, couldn’t get one bit!? Even a sheephead would have been fun for the kids to catch on it.
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The sheepies loved the flicker shads on my boat. Amazing how aggressive they can be at times.
Looks like a great day with the kiddo…great pic with that pike!
If I’m consistently catching sheepshead, I speed up.
We were out Thursday, Saturday, and today. In that time we caught 2 sheepshead and a lot of saugers and walleyes. The one and only sheepshead we caught today was at 2.4mph. I immediately bumped us up to 3.0-3.2mph and never had another. The saugers and walleyes had absolutely no issues keeping up, even the day after a cold front and 20 degree temperature change 
Since new to trolling i didn’t think the height of my rods would affect the dive as long as i let longer line out. Only 1 sheephead off those rods all afternoon. But the rod my son was holding in back of boat was non stop action. I guess i should have mounted them lower after all?
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Since new to trolling i didn’t think the height of my rods would affect the dive as long as i let longer line out. Only 1 sheephead off those rods all afternoon. But the rod my son was holding in back of boat was non stop action. I guess i should have mounted them lower after all?
Height of rod holder does not matter as long as there is the same amount of line in the water.
A more likely reason for one rod out fishing the other is the lure. A lure out of tune don’t catch crud.
Another possible is line counter calibration between reels. You might think they’re the same length but they’re not.
Another possible is line size. Different line sizes different dive curves.
Another yet is rod in back vs rod in front. Often times if your speed is not right, when turning or frankly steering on a windy day a lure can pick up speed and slow down thus triggering a reaction bite from a following fish. Rod up front with tip higher will likely speed up and slow down to a lesser degree than a rod in the back lower to the water.
Thanks for the info, i apprentice it! Since it was just the boys and i, kinda of just left everything simple for first time trolling but maybe next time ill switch it up more!
Few of my rods i noticed i could diffidently use some new line.
I think a line counter reel will be in my future. i just used a slip knot at 100ft to have somewhat of a gauge.
But the rod my son was holding in back of boat was non stop action.
If he was actually holding it. Likely he was jerking and pausing the rod. If that caught fish, then you were going too slow.
Anytime I’m going a speed, and catching them on the twitch or pause… Speed up to catch them without needed pause or twitch.
Water temp skyrocketed over the past few days from low 60’s to 73~. That can mean going 1-2mph faster than what was needed at low 60’s.
yep he was just holding it in his hand, i thought i was going a decent speed but never realized there were so many variables lol.
Thanks again, i will make sure to keep track of speeds and whats work vs not.
Still cant believe i couldn’t get a bit on a worm harness, i just had the weight in front of the swivel on the lindy rig. maybe 3 way would have been better?
I usually always hold the rod when I’m trolling – I’m usually in my own boa so steering and running 2 rods is alot to think about. For me, the feel of the rod and what I’m contacting is critical to success. I also tend to troll rocky and woody areas so snags are a constant issue.
I agree with the guys – more speed is usually better, especially in warmer water. Once we got above 2.5mph we kept the sheepies off. As we get further into summer I’ll get up to 4.0 mph or even faster.
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