Mille Lacs Open Water Trolling Report, 6-23-2012

The open water trolling bite just gets better and better on Mille Lacs Lake. Many walleyes are falling victim to all sorts of crankbaits in a variety of colors and styles – Rapala Deep Tail Dancers DDT11 and Storm Deep Thundersticks. Joining me on Sunday was my long time friend Joe Cavanaugh and fellow IDO members Dan Pfeifer (Bigfife) and Keith Hatcher (Hatch99). Dan and Keith both have Skeeters as well and it was fun talking about the different styles of boats.

It was a beautiful day with ideal conditions, over cast skies and light winds. We made our way out the mud flat areas where I had some success the last time out. No scouting was needed and we immediately put out our lines with high anticipation. What I noticed right away is that everyone knew exactly what to do. Guys were checking to make sure the crankbaits were properly tuned, planer boards were quickly being double wrapped, rods were properly secured in the Folbe rod holders and light drags were set. In a matter of a couple of minutes, all 4 lines were out and we were trolling. Right then and there, I knew we would be able to maximize our time on the water and make the most of our day.

Ten minutes later we boated our first walleye and we were on our way. We worked this area over and over and over again. Most troll runs were about a mile long and we would catch a few here and a few there. We sometimes would adjust by moving over couple of hundred yards and make a parallel run and be rewarded for it. We worked and we worked at it while maximizing our time on the water. It was a well-oiled machine and we were working in unison and because of that – we were rewarded for it. We ended the day boating 50 walleyes with many big fish between 26-28 inches. Joe also caught a bonus 35 inch pike.

Keys to our success:

Working together as a team. We lost very few fish on Saturday and I feel the biggest reason why is we did all the little things right and worked together as a team. As soon as a fish hits, it helps to get that rod out of the holder as soon as you can and “get into em’”. Do not set the hook, but take out any slack in the line by raising the rod tip up in the air and secure those hooks in the fish. The next thing you want to do is tighten down the drag just so you can gain on the fish. The best way to reel in the fish is to slowly reel it in and let the rod fight the fish and not your reel (don’t point the rod tip at the fish). Do not rod pump – remember that you’re still trolling and if you do this, your crankbait can go backwards as the fish goes forward and possibly dislodging the hook(s).

Another crucial moment is when you need to take off the planer board. This can be tricky when you have longer trolling rods in excess of 9 feet. It’s important to work together as a team and communicate to one another. The angler catching the fish should move himself towards the front of the boat so the person taking off the planer board has easy access to the rod tip and can reach for the planer board without having to reach too far over the boat. This can also be dangerous in big waves and the last thing you want to have happen is someone to fall overboard. As the planer board approaches, I always tell the angler “don’t stop reeling unless I tell you to”. You want it to be one fluid motion, taking the planer board off as the person continues to reel. Once you stop, that fish now has some slack and with a few head shakes, may be able to dislodge the hooks.

Once the planer board is off, the person should now work their way back to same corner of the boat from which the line was placed. This will help from snagging other lines. When fighting these fish, I like to keep the same trolling speed or I will slow down on occasion if it’s a bigger fish but I will not take the motor out of gear. You want to keep the same amount of pressure on that fish and when you stop, you have a tendency to start rod pumping and that leads to fish getting off.

As the person reels in the fish, they should communicate to the other person who’s netting the fish how much line they have left to reel in. If you have a line counter reel, you can simply tell them how many feet you have to go by looking at your line counter – 50, 30, 20, 10 …

Netting a fish with long trolling rods can also be tricky. It’s important to have a long landing net and especially one that extends to 8-9 feet. I like to hold the outside bottom of the net and the front of the handle at the same time with the same front hand. As I make my move, I will release my finger that is holding the net right before I net the fish. What I’m trying to avoid is having the bottom of the net hit the water first (you’re still trolling) and now the net is flat on the surface and the bottom of the net is closer to the fish then the opening of the hoop. This leads to disaster and sometimes your crankbait will become tangled on the outside of the net with the fish on it. Couple of headshakes and all you have left is your tangled crankbait in your net. It’s also important not to try for that fish. Instead, the angler should put the fish in the net. I see too many times, people lunge at the fish and miss it and now you’re in trouble. Another common mistake is the person who’s reeling it in sometimes stops or inadvertently lowers their rod tip right when the person goes to net the fish. If anything, the angler should accelerate as they place the fish in the net. This all sounds easy and trivia until you blow a fish. I’ve done it and I’ve seen it many times in my boat. It takes practice and team work and very few people that I know actually follow these guidelines.

It’s primetime right now to try open water trolling. The fish are out there chasing tullibees and with a little bit of scouting and patience, you can get them to go. As always, I’m here to help so keep the emails and PMs coming. I also have a few spots left for those who are interested in learning this style of fishing and would like to attend one of my open water / on the water trolling clinics – so if you’re interested, please let me know.

Until next time – keep trollin’!