Trolling for Walleyes

Hey guys,

This past Monday afternoon a buddy of mine and I went to Mille Lacs. We trolled an area and pulled 4 walleyes out; 18, 21, 22, 24 inchers. Good healthy fish. We noticed 3 of them hit when we were turning and whoever was on the side of the boat where the lure wasn’t moving, was the one that caught the fish. The 4th one, the 24, I had actually clicked the bale to let a little bit more line out, not a lot, and when I clicked it again, the walleye was there. I know it’s a very common occurrence to catch them like that. We marked plenty of fish on the unit and we began to wonder how many other fish trailed us, but never ended up hitting.

My question: When you notice that happening and you aren’t getting anything when your actually moving, what are some tactics you guys use? Do you slow down? We were going 1-1.2 mph. Do you stop trolling and cast? Do you slip bobber it? We caught them on spinners/bottom bouncers rigged with leeches. Not all 4 were caught in the same spot. We were trolling an area about 500 yds long.

When trolling for any species I always do the “s” and pump the rod. This creates times when the bait speeds up and when it almost stops.

You can also throw the motor in neutral for say 20 seconds, then take off again. You’d be surprised how often it works. I do the S turns as well. If you really notice this happening often, throwing that motor in neutral can send multiple lines back at once. I’ve done this on Green Bay and had 5 out of 6 boards go back at one time with fish.

I firmly believe that fish will follow cranks for a long time and hit when something different happens. I will even pause a crank when casting at wing dams etc… Sometimes moving the rod tip to change the direction the crank is moving triggers them etc… You’d be surprised how often Walleyes follow a crankbait all the way to the boat.

wimwuen wrote:

You can also throw the motor in neutral for say 20 seconds, then take off again. You’d be surprised how often it works. I do the S turns as well. If you really notice this happening often, throwing that motor in neutral can send multiple lines back at once. I’ve done this on Green Bay and had 5 out of 6 boards go back at one time with fish.

I firmly believe that fish will follow cranks for a long time and hit when something different happens. I will even pause a crank when casting at wing dams etc… Sometimes moving the rod tip to change the direction the crank is moving triggers them etc… You’d be surprised how often <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>Walleyes follow a crankbait all the way to the boat.

Thanks guys. We did start pumping the rod a bit to create slack for a moment until trolling motor pulled it tight again. We probably didn’t do it as often as we should have. We’ll definitely try stopping the motor next time though, that’s a great idea.

You say you were pulling spinners, I wonder if you were fishing them too high and when you slowed down or the person on the inside turn, the spinner dropped down to the feeding zone.

I usually like to stay real close to the bottom with spinners, then if I see a fish up high I raise the spinner up to them. Also pumping the rod is a huge help in getting them to strike.

sticker wrote:

You say you were pulling spinners, I wonder if you were fishing them too high and when you slowed down or the person on the inside turn, the spinner dropped down to the feeding zone.

I usually like to stay real close to the bottom with spinners, then if I see a fish up high I raise the spinner up to them. Also pumping the rod is a huge help in getting them to strike.

At first I started out a little higher in the water column with a crank and my buddy started out with bottom bouncer/spinner setup. He out-fished me 3-0, then I switched to a bottom bouncer setup and snagged the 24. My point being, you may be right in that maybe we weren’t on bottom.

A bottom bouncer only is only a foot off the bottom, is that 1 foot that big of a difference? If it wasn’t for the fact that we only caught them on whatever lure was stopped, I’d say that could be it, but I’m leaning towards the strategy that we should done more stop and go. But who really knows, its all speculation anyway on what the reason was for only catching when stopped.

I do get hits after pumping the rod or when the lure briefly hits bottom, or after pauses on the retrieve when casting — it’s definitely worth testing out your theory.

If you were sure the bottom bouncer was in contact with the bottom, then I would say that isn’t the case. If you just drop it to the bottom and then click the bail, often times it will pull up a foot or two as you troll depending on speed and depth.

sticker wrote:

If you were sure the bottom bouncer was in contact with the bottom, then I would say that isn’t the case. If you just drop it to the bottom and then click the bail, often times it will pull up a foot or two as you troll depending on speed and depth.

That makes sense Sticker. I’m picking up what you’re putting down. To be honest, I felt like I wasn’t on bottom just because it didnt feel like I could feel the bottom bouncer dragging. I did as my buddy if he could feel bottom and he said yes. Maybe that’s why he out-fished me 3-1

Kyle Wills wrote:

I felt like I wasn’t on bottom just because it didnt feel like I could feel the bottom bouncer dragging. I did as my buddy if he could feel bottom and he said yes. Maybe that’s why he out-fished me 3-1

Hmmm…question, were you trolling over rock reef or gravel bar…or were you out trolling over or off a mud flat. If you were out on the mud, you most certainly do NOT want your bottom bouncer dragging. Regardless, given all that you described I think might have been the time to abandon the trolling technique and setup with slip sinker rigs, perhaps slip bobber or jig and leech. You stated that you were marking plenty of fish. There are often times when they won’t chase something down but would readily grab live bait offerings dangled in front of them.

Hmmm…question, were you trolling over rock reef or gravel bar…or were you out trolling over or off a mud flat. If you were out on the mud, you most certainly do NOT want your bottom bouncer dragging. Regardless, given all that you described I think might have been the time to abandon the trolling technique and setup with slip sinker rigs, perhaps slip bobber or jig and leech. You stated that you were marking plenty of fish. There are often times when they won’t chase something down but would readily grab live bait offerings dangled in front of them.
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Right you don’t want the bottom bouncer clouding up the water dragging in the mud.

We were trolling in mainly gravel, but you could see a decent size rock mixed in here and there.

1-1.2 mph is perfect speed for trolling spinners. A good rule for weight is one ounce per 10 feet of water you are fishing. I rarely go above 2.5 ounces and use 2 ounces 90% of the time in depths up to 35 feet.

In regards to dragging on the mud, don’t be afraid to try it with a pencil weight or bottom bouncer. One of the best rig fisherman on the lake uses a pencil weight dragging on the bottom. Same thing for spinners-Shawn Flemming owner of Jolly Roger tackle drags his bouncer all of the time.

Fife wrote:

1-1.2 mph is perfect speed for trolling spinners. A good rule for weight is one ounce per 10 feet of water you are fishing. I rarely go above 2.5 ounces and use 2 ounces 90% of the time in depths up to 35 feet.

In regards to dragging on the mud, don’t be afraid to try it with a pencil weight or bottom bouncer. One of the best rig fisherman on the lake uses a pencil weight dragging on the bottom. Same thing for spinners-Shawn Flemming owner of Jolly Roger tackle drags his bouncer all of the time.

Oh yea? What do you know? Dragging bottom bouncers through the mud? You don’t know anything about fishing Mille Lacs.

For those of you who have not seen this or would like to watch again, here is a Mille Lacs trolling clinic put on by Fife Fishing.

Always fun to rewatch that video. We were trolling for suspended Walleyes. If you notice on Day 2, 2 of the fish hit on outside turns. That day I was also cranking my speed up to 3 mph to trigger bites.

Fife, were you at Red Door last weekend? Think I passed you by the boat launch, we were in the other Skeeter 1910 in the harbor.

Anyways, I think the most important aspect is keeping your line at a 45 degree angle and making sure you are in the vicinity of bottom. I’ll drop my bouncer down every few minutes and stir up the bottom, I think this does trigger bites at times. The other thing I see people doing is using too light a bouncer or moving too fast which pulls the whole rig well off bottom.

brian_peterson wrote:

Fife, were you at Red Door last weekend? Think I passed you by the boat launch, we were in the other Skeeter 1910 in the harbor.

You never know with Fife, he fishes out of a Warrior too. Kinda sneaky he is.
Interesting info here, I have been told unless you’re checking bottom to determine your depth to otherwise never let whatever sinker you’re using to drop into that mud. Supposedly sends them scurrying.

Fife, most trolling techniques for Mille Lacs…if not on the gravel, sand breaks, or around rock reefs would be out on the edges of the mud flats. Curious what compelled you to troll for them suspended unless of course you were marking them suspended. If so, were you marking that many more of them compared to the “traditional” structures? Also, what depth were they suspended at? I know I am asking alot for you to disclose your tournament secrets on a social forum but I am still the walleye student.
If you could answer my questions right away, I am heading up this weekend and will be walleye fishing on Mille Lacs for the next 3 weeks of my vacation. If you care not to share, no worries…I will have plenty of leeches, crawlers and minnows to try.

The 1910 is my Dad’s boat and it unfortunately hasn’t been on Mille Lacs all season. That will change on Saturday. Great boat! My boat is a Warrior 2090. We try to use the Skeeter for the MTT tournaments since Skeeter is a big supporter of the circuit.

Trolling the basin is very effective. The fish suspend out there from just off the bottom up to 15′ below the surface. My last couple trips we never came within .5 mile of a piece of structure and caught Walleyes from 13-29 inches. The best bait has been bright-colored deep taildancers run 28-30′ down. Good luck! Even though I think the shutdown is a joke, it couldn’t come at a more ideal time for me. Baby due any day now.

Fife wrote:

Even though I think the shutdown is a joke, it couldn’t come at a more ideal time for me. Baby due any day now.

Shutdown?? What shutdown?

Oh sure, I remember the baby now. I have grandson #6 coming soon too.
Remember this?

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Walleyestudent Andy Cox wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>brian_peterson wrote:</div>
Fife, were you at Red Door last weekend? Think I passed you by the boat launch, we were in the other Skeeter 1910 in the harbor.

I am heading up this weekend and will be <em class=”ido-tag-em”>walleye fishing on Mille Lacs for the next 3 weeks of my vacation. If you care not to share, no worries…I will have plenty of leeches, crawlers and minnows to try.

You do know of the walleye closure… right?

walleyevision wrote:

You do know of the walleye closure… right?

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Walleyestudent Andy Cox wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>walleyevision wrote:</div>
You do know of the walleye closure… right?

I know Andy isn’t serious but consider that there could be inexperienced anglers or out-of-staters reading this thread. So just adding the link to be safe I guess. http://news.dnr.state.mn.us/2017/07/07/reminder-mille-lacs-walleye-fishing-closed-from-july-7-27-2/

pool2fool wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Walleyestudent Andy Cox wrote:</div>

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>walleyevision wrote:</div>
You do know of the walleye closure… right?

I know Andy isn’t serious but consider that there could be inexperienced anglers or out-of-staters reading this thread. So just adding the link to be safe I guess. http://news.dnr.state.mn.us/2017/07/07/reminder-mille-lacs-walleye-fishing-closed-from-july-7-27-2/

Thank you for your supervision on this. I realize now that I reduced this thread to my personal exchange with Mr. Fife.

enjoy the weekend andy

Holy crap Fife! That video is awesome! Makes me want that 1910 even more now as well. Love the layout. I will be out on the big pond once she opens back up to troll cranks. I also can’t wait for October. Love pulling monster creek chubs around for the big girls to chow down on.