Shallow water trolling

  • zachary Wietzema
    Posts: 37
    #1774904

    I’m looking for an alternate walleye lure to use for trolling in water 6-10 feet deep than a shallow running rapala shad rap. Something that just helps me stand out from the rest. I’ve heard about salmo whitefish but I can’t seem to find them online. Any suggestions would help. Everybody I know uses the same lure with the same action. Thanks everyone

    Mike W
    MN/Anoka/Ham lake
    Posts: 13294
    #1774935

    Flicker shads, smash shads, shadow raps, husky jerks, rattle traps, rippin raps. walleye divers, rouges, just to name a few.

    nhamm
    Inactive
    Robbinsdale
    Posts: 7348
    #1774954

    Floating spinner rig with 1/8oz bullet weight.

    watisituya
    North Metro
    Posts: 238
    #1774956

    I killed it one year with a curly tail grub on an 1/8th oz jig 1mph at that depth

    rod-man
    Pine City, MN.
    Posts: 1279
    #1774957

    all I have to say is FLATFISH !!!
    Just don’t tell anyone what your using
    they will think your a time traveler or nuts LOL

    tbro16
    Inactive
    St Paul
    Posts: 1170
    #1774964

    Floating spinner rig with 1/8oz bullet weight.

    At what speed are you targeting with a floating spinner rig? Ran into a dilemma the other night where the flat I was fishing was too small to be trolling 2 mph with rapalas. Figure maybe trolling something different, like a spinner, at a slower speed would be a lot easier. Seems more efficient than casting too.

    mojogunter
    Posts: 3301
    #1774966

    With the water cold now like it is I would slow way down pulling cranks. Last weekend I was pulling at 1.2-1.4 mph and did pretty well.

    tbro16
    Inactive
    St Paul
    Posts: 1170
    #1774969

    I really need to get with the times and get myself a trolling motor. Unfortunately 1.8 mph is about as slow as I can get. Maybe I could get a little slower on a back troll. Main reason why I don’t use spinners too often, theyre a drift only rig for me crazy

    zachary Wietzema
    Posts: 37
    #1774971

    Flicker shads, smash shads, shadow raps, husky jerks, rattle traps, rippin raps. <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>walleye divers, rouges, just to name a few.

    How do you fish the rat L Trap? Any extra weight on it or just troll it behind. And how much line is everyone using for these techniques. Most of the time I fish. 6-10 pound mono

    tbro16
    Inactive
    St Paul
    Posts: 1170
    #1774972

    When I’m pulling original floaters in 4-6 fow, I’m letting out 100+ feet of line. Mono gets a little tricky because of the stretch. I felt like I was losing more fish than I should have been, so I’ve since switched to braid and have found it to be much more successful. Also much easier to feel if you’re dragging even the smallest of weeds with braid. Just my findings and I’m sure some people will say differently!

    nhamm
    Inactive
    Robbinsdale
    Posts: 7348
    #1774986

    With spinners as slow as you can to spin the blades, don’t have to be spinning super well either. Float helps keep the bait levitated.

    I’m not good with blade sizes but smaller the better imo. Wouldn’t go heavier than 10# leader

    Smaller high pressure lake flats I’d opt for putting the weight 8-10″ above and just casting it out. Very successful at times when spooky fish don’t want to be trolled through.

    Mike W
    MN/Anoka/Ham lake
    Posts: 13294
    #1774989

    Just cast them out and start trolling. Like many of the crankbaits you will need to balance out how much line out and speed to get the desired depth. Ive trolled these a lot in the river. They will call in fish from a long way. As with almost all my trolling the fishing pole is in hand and keep moving those crankbaits forward and back. That will really get the rattle traps clacking away down there. You can get some pretty violent strikes this way to.

    sticker
    StillwaterMN/Ottertail county
    Posts: 4418
    #1774994

    River rockers have been working very well for me the last year or two. I’m in the same situation, lots of people pulling shad raps and flicker shad. The river rocker has a different look and action, much like the flatfish or lazy ike.

    buckybadger
    Upper Midwest
    Posts: 8165
    #1775009

    #5 shad raps are awfully tough to beat. If you are long-lining them and holding the rod in your hand, it’s easy to run them in depths as shallow as 5-6′. I’ve also caught some early in the year on smaller husky jerks just long-lining with a spinning rod at slow speeds. This is a great bait for guests who don’t want to use a rod holder. Have them pulse the bait and then give it slack periodically and fish tend to smack them while suspended.

    As far as speed goes, I caught plenty of fish last night and Sunday evening pulling cranks shallow at 2.2 – 2.6mph. If I can get fish to commit at that speed, it’s that much more water I can cover versus 1.5mph or so.

    Chris Messerschmidt
    Minnesota
    Posts: 615
    #1775022

    With the water cold now like it is I would slow way down pulling cranks. Last weekend I was pulling at 1.2-1.4 mph and did pretty well.

    I was on Mille Lacs on Saturday pulling #7 Flicker Shads along the north end break in the sand during the day. Walleyes were smashing them at 1.8-2.2MPH. While everyone was in shallow jigging the crank bite slightly deeper seemed to be very good.

    In Shallow water like the OP mentioned. I have pulled spinners behind planer boards in the depth mentioned and even shallower…. like 2-3ft of water. Put a larger sinker up a few feet to get the spinner down in the water and it can be a good tactic.

    I always run boards in shallow water as it seems those fish seemed to sometimes get spooked by the boat and push away. Especially in clear water.

    Also you may want to look into a #1 offshore tadpole. These things are awesome when pulling spinners. 10 feet back at 1.25 MPH is 6 feet down, 18ft back is 10 ft. They’re good for deep water as well. 123ft back 1.25mph is 34 feet down. So they’re very versatile.

    404 ERROR
    MN
    Posts: 3918
    #1775030

    Hornet, Hornet, Hornet. The Salmo Hornet has put just as many fish in the boat as a Shad Rap, Flicker Shad or Smash Shad for me. They’re amazing little baits that don’t get enough attention.

    Slow death spinners are another bait I love using. Last week fishing with my brother, he pulled out his mini planer boards and rigged it on a spinner. He swore by it and now I’m tempted to give it a try this summer.

    BigWerm
    SW Metro
    Posts: 11632
    #1775034

    x2 on the Hornets, also for that shallow I wouldn’t rule out swim baits/plastics.

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