Strolling

I started experimenting last year with Strolling/mid-Strolling/Hover-rigging, etc… I didn’t form much of an opinion, in part because the rigging was a PIA. Most came with separate hooks, then wiggling a nail weight into the nose of the plastic. I caught a few fish, but the nail weight had a tendency to tear or just fly out when fighting a fish.

The professionals are sure winning their share of tournaments Strolling, so I experimented further. I gravitated to some of the newer rigs with the hook and weight integrated together.

The ones I’ve settled in on and like are:
* Owner Range Roller
* Core Tackle Hover Rig

I favor the Owner because it’s so simple to rig, the Hover Rig is good too, but it’s a little more tricky to hook the tip of the plastic (but it’s something that can be pretty easily done).

Lighter weights seem to get the “hovering at mid depths” thing best. I mostly use either the 1/16 oz Range Roller, or 3/64th oz Hover Rig. For these smaller weights, I like using Zoom Jr. Flukes, Jackall Rhythm Wags or Maxscent Flat Worms. The next size up I use when fish are deeper are the 1/8 oz Owner, or 1/8 oz Hover Rig – and with either the Rhythm Wag or 4 inch Caffeine Shad. Never felt the need to go heavier although those weights are available.

Medium light rods seem to work best with 6-8 lb test line or braid to leader. I use 7 lb Sniper on BFS, but most people use spinning.

Both the Range Roller and Hover Rig have a great hook up percentage which is key in deeper water hook sets.

It really seems to fit that elusive mid-depth or suspended fish range. Most other lures struggle to get and stay in that range. I’ve also seen fish “rocket” off the bottom in 20 feet of water to smash a lure moving slowly that’s suspended at about 10 feet down.

I think one of the better short videos on how to fish this way is by the guy that markets the Hover Rig. In this video he shows 3 different retrieval methods that all work at different times.

I think in Minnesota in the pre and post spawn this technique will be a winner.

Overall Grade: A

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I just loaded up with all of the Core Tackle jigs (Hover, Tush & Ozark). Looking forward to throwing them this year. That is a good video, one of the ones that got me intrigued about their products.

I think the smallest hover rigs will be great for Crappie too, they just showed up at my house yesterday and I can get my preferred Bobby Garland 2″ baits on them.