Shallow Trolling

I noticed in some earlier reports the mention of trolling shad raps in 5 feet of water. How is this accoplished without digging up the bottum? Thanks

In a good current, a #5 shad rap will only dive down 7′ – 7.5′ max and it takes a good chunk of line to get that accomplished. (the story is much different in a lake / calm water) In 5′ of water I’m usually running somewhere in the neighborhood of 60′ – 75′ of line out and not hitting bottom often at those line lengths.

But don’t overlook “plowing furrows” as a great way to trigger fish. Frequently we throw back a lot of extra line when trolling sand flats to intentionally force the plug to hammer bottom and the fish respond very well to this on occassion.

Thanks i’ll go expirement a little

Don’t discount tapping bottoming while trollling shallow flats. Sometimes it can be very effective for enticing strikes.

Gator Hunter

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In a good current, a #5 shad rap will only dive down 7′ – 7.5′ max and it takes a good chunk of line to get that accomplished. (the story is much different in a lake / calm water) In 5′ of water I’m usually running somewhere in the neighborhood of 60′ – 75′ of line out and not hitting bottom often at those line lengths.

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James do you ever use larger line diameter or troll faster to keep your lure so it doen’t dig in as much???

JIM

Hey Jim

No, I don’t have the luxury of the available rod storage that would be needed to have 2 sets of trolling gear loaded with the different lines. (wish I did! ) I find it easier to just adjust running depth by using a variety of different crankbaits. There’s just so many styles available that an angler can easily hit just about any depth when trolling… from sub-surface down to 20’+.

pickin up a few eyes on pool 9 longlining a #5 firetiger ShadRap—fishing in 10 feet…maybe a little shallower. This bait usually only ticks bottom @ about 6-7 feet. Think it may be working at 10 foot contour ’cause fish are holding just off the bottom above the silt in our rising, muddy ol’ River 1

Ever have any luck trolling husky jerks and floating rapala’s in really shallow water? In know they will work in the lakes but how about the river or lake pepin?

For real shallow water (less than 5 ft) I like to troll small blades–or my favorite–the old Heddon Sonic. Also, from now until fall a crawler harness is a great way to go, adding a split shot about 3 feet above the harness. Firm believer in big blades–#5’s and partial to the Lindy hatchet blade. Be sure to hook the crawler thru the tip of the head, with a #6 treble back a couple of inches penetrating the dew-worm’s body. If you don’t hook the nightcrawler thru the tip of the head, the spinner rig won’t track right. I’m thinking with all the high water a lot of fish are back in the running sloughs, not fighting the current…with a slower in-your-face maybe better than trucking by with a ShadRap !?!

Oh heck yeah, the stickbaits will work in the river this time of the year. Pay attention to some of the more successful boats fishing Bay City flats and you’ll see a few of them trolling the stickbaits exclusively.

In the real shallow water the shad rap ssr (bent lips) work real well as do the stickbaits already mentioned and you’ll not want to overlook trying a lipless crank from time to time. Those rattle traps and similar work darn good on a troll from time to time.

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Ever have any luck trolling husky jerks and floating rapala’s in really shallow water? In know they will work in the lakes but how about the river or lake pepin?

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