Trolling

[Hodgey1]

I am cautiously optimistic of the possibility of being able to make Alwaki lodge this September. The fall trips have been with my wife and as much relaxation focused as fishing. Since it’s been almost 2 years since our last trip, I plan on fishing more. My favorite means by far to catch walleye at Kipawa is jigging With live bait.

This year I would like to spend more time on the water fishing and because of that I’d like to change things up a bit now and again also. My thought is to do some early morning and evening jigging and mix in some daytime trolling for walleye. The problem is I have done almost no trolling for walleye at Kipawa. So I wanted to see what people suggestions are and what is most productive for them.

I have done plenty of trolling on lake Erie, but that is a much different animal than Kipawa. If you would, let me know your favorite techniques and lure recommendations, trolling speeds, diver depths and any other tips for success, keeping in mind it will be the first week in September.

Edit: It felt pretty darn good to have a fishing related topic to post here……. It’s been a tough couple of years.

[tbayboy]

Good topic Hodgey. I enjoy trolling around a fair bit to mix things up as well. I can usually pull in a few fish using a bottom bouncer (2oz usually) with a leach on a harness behind it. Often I'll use that if the wind is working in my favour and I can drift along at about 1mph but now that I bring up my own boat the trolling motor makes that really easy, I usually drag these pretty close to shore (15' or so) and you have to really watch the bottom - lot more snaggy rocks and trees than the giant bowl of Erie.  During the afternoons or when I'm moving from one jigging spot to another that isn't a huge distance I'll often troll with cranks - typically tail dancers or the like. I troll those back about 100' at 2.5-3 mph. Usually I'm just following shore lines aiming for about 20' and around the island sides with wind blowing in. That said I haven't fished Kipawa in September so who knows

[limacharley]

Hodgey-Do you have downriggers?

In my opinion only-Walleye should be deep in the mid day sun so trolling with downriggers at 40-50 feet is not unheard of. Besides, you may troll past some lakers and get one.

I've used William Wabblers-if I recall silver on a very sunny day and gold on overcast days. Ryback can correct me if I have it wrong.
I've also trolled with a worn harness-again the color might matter??
Finally, some crankbaits like Shad Raps, Wally Divers, HotnTots. Again, color may matter.

I love trolling. Pack a lunch, a bottle of wine for the lady and some cold beer for yourself. And you get to visit the shore as you float by at 2-2.5 mph.

[Ozzy30]

Here's hoping Hodgey.  We troll a lot and they were very elusive of my hot n tots last weekend.  Most of our fish were tight to bottom as well as the bait.  Silver and Blue is my #1 for walleye or lakers.  I do throw in some green hot n tots but they have been slower this year.  I tried worm harnesses last weekend and really only caught bass.  Was a very tough troll, the people jigging and the one morning I jigged I caught lots. 

[NortonJoe]

We have trolled at various times during the day and mix it up with jigging/drifting.  As far as trolling specifically, we  usually use hot n' tots and find that gold or silver seem to work best in the 2" size (although we've caught them using every color scheme). A decent troll speed will get it down to around 15 ft. so we hug a drop off, preferably with some rocky structure nearby.  Find a spot where they are hitting and just keep running back and forth over that spot.  A lot of times, you will only catch them going one way though.  Plus, you get to enjoy the occasional pike who decides to hit the lure. We have also used spinners and worms/leeches.  Again something flashy like a Mepps gold spinner or silver works well with half a worm or a leech.  Happy fishing--I am jealous and can't wait for next summer!

[Jay Thomas]

While we haven’t fished Kipawa since 2013, we fish nearby in ZEC Kipawa. Most trips have been in Aug or Sep â€" only difference seems to be the depth where you find walleye. Our group are primarily trollers (80% of our fishing is accomplished via back trolling). Typically, we troll worm harnesses behind bottom bouncers at 1 to 2 mph trying to catch bottom hugging walleye in 25 to 35 FOW. If and when we come across small pods of walleye, we’ll switch to jigging with plastics or crawlers. If neither of the aforementioned methods are working, we’ll switch to another method (i.e. crankbaits) looking for a solution.

With respect to limacharley’s suggestion of trolling for walleye with down riggers in 40 to 50 FOW, that method may very well catch walleye but the majority of those walleye caught will not survive being brought to the surface due to blown swim bladders. On lakes where there are harvest length limits, we don’t have the luxury of keeping every walleye caught.

Have a great trip!

Jay

[limacharley]

While we haven’t fished Kipawa since 2013, we fish nearby in ZEC Kipawa. Most trips have been in Aug or Sep â€" only difference seems to be the depth where you find walleye. Our group are primarily trollers (80% of our fishing is accomplished via back trolling). Typically, we troll worm harnesses behind bottom bouncers at 1 to 2 mph trying to catch bottom hugging walleye in 25 to 35 FOW. If and when we come across small pods of walleye, we’ll switch to jigging with plastics or crawlers. If neither of the aforementioned methods are working, we’ll switch to another method (i.e. crankbaits) looking for a solution.

With respect to limacharley’s suggestion of trolling for walleye with down riggers in 40 to 50 FOW, that method may very well catch walleye but the majority of those walleye caught will not survive being brought to the surface due to blown swim bladders. On lakes where there are harvest length limits, we don’t have the luxury of keeping every walleye caught.

Have a great trip!


Jay

You have to FIZZ them Jay.

[Jay Thomas]

While we haven’t fished Kipawa since 2013, we fish nearby in ZEC Kipawa. Most trips have been in Aug or Sep â€" only difference seems to be the depth where you find walleye. Our group are primarily trollers (80% of our fishing is accomplished via back trolling). Typically, we troll worm harnesses behind bottom bouncers at 1 to 2 mph trying to catch bottom hugging walleye in 25 to 35 FOW. If and when we come across small pods of walleye, we’ll switch to jigging with plastics or crawlers. If neither of the aforementioned methods are working, we’ll switch to another method (i.e. crankbaits) looking for a solution.

With respect to limacharley’s suggestion of trolling for walleye with down riggers in 40 to 50 FOW, that method may very well catch walleye but the majority of those walleye caught will not survive being brought to the surface due to blown swim bladders. On lakes where there are harvest length limits, we don’t have the luxury of keeping every walleye caught.

Have a great trip!


Jay

You have to FIZZ them Jay.

Thanks for your response limacharley. While I'm well aware of the "fizzing" technique, I'm also well aware that it is a technique not recommended for use by "fishermen". The Ontario MNR published such an opinion. Indeed, a majority of fish biologists steer away from the fizzing technique due to their poor success rates with the technique. Consequently, for me, I'll simply stick to fishing for walleye in less than 40 FOW.

Jay

[Lizard King]

The “trolling cranks is lazy fishing” mantra is a fallacy.

As stated:
-speed
-lure running depth
-amount of line out
-color of lure
-etc…are all variables in play to tinker with.

But just as changing your jigging technique or mixing up your cast/retrieve….work your lure while trolling cranks, OFTEN.
Subtle flicks of the wrist or pumping the rod changes the action of the lure, even for a brief moment.
My favorite….jerk the rod hard towards front of boat as if setting the hook.  Then instantly move rod tip towards back of the boat.  Your lure will scream forward, then suspend for a few seconds until the line draws tight.  When the lure goes from suspending to moving forward again is when I get a vast amount of hits.

Above someone mentioned trolling between spots while jigging.
If you choose, just use your jigging setup for trolling.  Launch the jig/tail/leech (or worm) via cast and give the rod 2-3 extended pulls to let out more line before closing the bail.
Many an eye has been put in the boat using this method.

[GregL]

Agreed! If your sitting around when your trolling....t hen ya ain't doin it right. Unless of course your on a trolling pattern you got nailed down. I rarely have a pattern nailed down that good that I can just sit back and watch my tips bounce..  LOL!

We are constantly changing lures, speeds, depth.

Hodgey1, I got 4 rod holders now.. lets go do a walleye troll one afternoon

I am against fizzing, I don't like targeting fish deeper than 25-30 and bring them up very slowly!

This is a tool I keep meaning to buy, seems like a really good idea.. it's probably overkill but you can get a model that will work between 30 & 70'..

https://seaqualizer.com/

[puckster_guy]

I'm going trolling tonight. We'll b dragging deep diving cranks in 70 to 120 fow. Randomly turning sometimes in large circles mid lake. Been getting some nice walleye that way lately.

[T-Bone]

We plan on trolling everyday so I’ll let you know how/ where we do Hodgey on your way in.

[limacharley]

While we haven’t fished Kipawa since 2013, we fish nearby in ZEC Kipawa. Most trips have been in Aug or Sep â€" only difference seems to be the depth where you find walleye. Our group are primarily trollers (80% of our fishing is accomplished via back trolling). Typically, we troll worm harnesses behind bottom bouncers at 1 to 2 mph trying to catch bottom hugging walleye in 25 to 35 FOW. If and when we come across small pods of walleye, we’ll switch to jigging with plastics or crawlers. If neither of the aforementioned methods are working, we’ll switch to another method (i.e. crankbaits) looking for a solution.

With respect to limacharley’s suggestion of trolling for walleye with down riggers in 40 to 50 FOW, that method may very well catch walleye but the majority of those walleye caught will not survive being brought to the surface due to blown swim bladders. On lakes where there are harvest length limits, we don’t have the luxury of keeping every walleye caught.

Have a great trip!


Jay

You have to FIZZ them Jay.

Thanks for your response limacharley. While I'm well aware of the "fizzing" technique, I'm also well aware that it is a technique not recommended for use by "fishermen". The Ontario MNR published such an opinion. Indeed, a majority of fish biologists steer away from the fizzing technique due to their poor success rates with the technique. Consequently, for me, I'll simply stick to fishing for walleye in less than 40 FOW.

Jay

Are these the same biologists who can't decide which slot size is the best for the fishery.....and keep changing it over several years.....those biologists??

[NovarDave]

What is fizzing please

[limacharley]

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=fizzing+a+walleye&&view=detail&mid=FC9D3B253EA3458CD288FC9D3B253EA3458CD288&&FORM=VRDGAR&ru=%2Fvideos%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dfizzing%2Ba%2Bwalleye%26FORM%3DHDRSC3