Tips for trolling?

[MadFish]

So I'll be canoe fishing a 250 acre lake in two days, and I plan on practicing trolling from the back of our craft. I'll be using a 2ft compact with 10lb line. Here are some lake specs:

- Max depth around 25-30ft
- Fish species: Yellow Perch, Bluegill, Redear Sunfish, Chain Pickerel, Largemouth Bass, and rumored catfish.
- The lake consists of one main deep stretch with four or five long shallower arms that level off to huge weedbeds at the end.

The things I'm most confused about are line lengths, weight, and depth control. I understand that these things all depend on factors like speed and water depth, but I seriously have no idea where to even start. I was thinking I'd try my 1/8oz jig head with a curly tail grub. But seriously, I've got no idea what I am doing. I do not know how much line I need to be putting out, nor if 1/8oz will be even close to enough weight. Thanks in advance.

*Update* 9/15 9pm

I posed this question in several forums and the responses from you guys have been by far the most helpful. I went to the shop today and picked up a 7-15' diving Rapala shad as my weapon of choice. I've also got a 2-4' Livetarget bluegill for the shallows. They didn't have any bottom bouncers, so that will have to wait until next trip. We're getting out there at 5:30am tomorrow and I am pumped. Bedtime now. Fish on!

[DanMarino]

Get yourself a 3/4 ounce bottom bouncer. Then tie on a nightcrawler spinning harness with a worm on it. You'll catch all types of fish. Paddle along at a reasonable pace and wait for the bites.

Alternativly you can attach a 3 foot long mono or fluro leader to the bottom bouncer and tie on your favorite shallow water floating rapala minnow lure. Start out with a smaller sized lure and troll along. You should see the rod tip vibrating if the lure is running right.

I typically let line out and keep it spooling out as I paddle for a count of 12. Then I'll turn the handle and troll along. Keep an eye out on the rod tip to see if the lure gets fouled with weeds.

I've had great success this year trolling along in 12-25 feet of water. I've caught white perch, yellow perch, crappies, largemouth bass, striped bass, and catfish using this method.

13

[Old Cajun]

Dan,
What is a bottom bouncer? I heard you live in the Columbia area? I do to. Always looking for a fishing buddy.

[DanMarino]

This

Dan,
What is a bottom bouncer? I heard you live in the Columbia area? I do to. Always looking for a fishing buddy.

http://www.basspro.com/Northland-Fis...product/20839/

[ictalurus]

Trolling with an 1/8oz lure probably will only be effective in shallow water, and you'll probably have to go slow. J.A. Veil uses this technique very well for white perch and pickerel.

I've had luck trolling in St. Mary's Lake with a Norman Deep Diving Little N. I cast it out, start paddling, count an addition 3 or 4 seconds, close the bail, and cruise on. This is how I do most of my trolling in saltwater, and I used to catch most of my stripers and blues this way using Sassy shads and Tony spoons. If I don't have luck after a while, I'll let out more line, or reel some line in.

A better way to go would be to mark your line so you know exactly how much you let out. I've found that most of the crankbaits I use only dive to a certain depth regardless of how much line I let out. My deep diving Yo-zuri Crystal Minnow doesn't get much below 7-8ft. My Stretch 15 barely gets down to 10-12.

If you have a depth finder, you can go to a certain depth, cast your lure out and start trolling. Then you can let out line until you feel the lure bounce off the bottom. Then you can mark that point for that depth.

You can modify DanMarino's suggestion by using an inline sinker that is enough weight so that the line hangs vertically at your cruising speed. Tie a leader and your lure to the end of the sinker, and lower it to the desired depth and cruise on.

[jad66]

where do u go fishing in Columbia? have you ever had any luck at Centennial Park

[perchy]

Try a shad rap RS. They go down 8-12' and suspend.

[MadFish]

I picked one up that looks just like a bluegill. Excited to try it out.

[perchy]

Sometimes stuff like firetiger works better than natural bluegill/shad colors... I noticed this firsthand at Rocky Gorge. The flouro colors seem to be visible from farther away and they will "react" to the chartreuse color aggressively.