trolling question

Hi guys. Earlier this season (in May) I had done some trolling for walleyes in Wissota and up the river with limited success. I discovered a Rapala Minnow Rap runs about 12 feet deep, so I just trolled (with the electric trolling motor) along in 12 to 13 depths as long as I could feel an occasional tug of a weed or bump of the bottom.
I did pick up an occasional pike, walleye, and catfish (what a surprise!). Last time I trolled from the Rod & Gun up the west side and got nothing, but I assumed that’s because I was fishing the bottom in 13 feet when the shore actually dropped to 30 feet. I’m guessing I should have been fishing the bottom of the 30 foot drop.
If I want to troll deeper in the main lake, is it best to try trolling the bottom (with a 3-way rig or something) or is it still worthwhile trolling 12 feet down despite the bottom depth being 30 feet?

This is my first year trolling and I like it because I can cover so much water but I have a lot to learn.
I’ve been up by Hayward most of June (and again the week of the 4th) so I haven’t had time for Wissota.

Thanks, in advance, for any advice
John

I’d would say learn more about your electronics, no matter where your fishing if theres no fish you will not catch any thing. I would zig-zag this drop off while trolling and see what depths the fish are relating to, also looking for points or any kind of structure above or below the water.
Lure depth is not accurate via the depth finder when fishing a drop off. Example your boat maybe in twelve foot of water, depending on transducer location, how steep the drop off is, lenth of poles…width of boat, you maybe 3-5 foot outside of your transducers cone angle which in return means you could be in 7ft on one side of the boat and 16ft on the other.(Again depending on the statements above)
Hope this helps and good luck!

John, forget about that deep stuff. Active walleyes feed shallow. We caught all our fish (11 or 12 over ~ 3 hours)this afternoon and evening in 12 feet of water, or less. Many of our later fish came from 6-7 foot depths. The deepest I would consider fishing in the main lake is 18-22 feet, around the periphery of shallow main lake structure.

When I want to troll in deeper water (15-20+ feet), I’m typically trolling with leadcore line or with really deep divers, like a wally diver or a #7 jointed shad rap, on superlines. Alernatively, you might consider pulling live bait on spinner rigs with bottom bouncers. But again, focus on the water that is adjacent to shallow structure.

Hey Jason…fish any new spots?

Good one Mike….it’s hard to get this old dog to try new tricks during the league events. Usually Sully and I go with the old tried and true methods and spots….even when they don’t pay off like they should.

Sounds like I might be taking the neighbor kids out with my son on Sunday evening…might try a couple different trolling spots! But if that doesn’t work…like you said Jason….go back to the places that have!

Good input Jason. You’re right that I need to learn the shallow structure and work edges or dropoffs related to those. I just need to learn the lake better in general. It is very helpful that you gave me some idea what depths to focus on. That’s a great help – Thanks.
In May there wasn’t much for weeds so trolling was a way to start learning the underwater structures, or lack thereof. If I can get out there in July, I can go looking for weed edges.

On another topic, when I fish the Chippewa Flowage (Hayward) people say to slip-bobber leeches in the weeds for walleye. Whenever I do that, I’m harassed by bluegills. Does this tactic work on Wissota, and how do you keep the bluegills away so a walleye can find the bait?

I tried slip-bobber with leeches about two weeks ago with ZERO success! Now I’m not a professional at it so maybe I was doing something wrong. But I was in an area that produced quite a few eyes pitching cranks in about 5 fow around a weed edge, so I figured a slip-bobber rig would work too! I had absolutely no bites…nothing from walleye, bass, northern or bluegills! Not sure what the story was…maybe just the location I guess!