Trolling Walleye
Trolling walleye is a fantastic way to target bigger fish. Troll at a speed of 2 to 2.5 mph, (you may need to go either faster or slower depending on the time of year, but 2- 2.5 is a good average speed). Let out line until your lures begin to hit bottom, and then reel up until you are only hitting bottom occasionally. Make passes with your boat next to the shoreline, in depths of 10 to 30 feet. Look for structure such as ledges or drop-offs, submerged trees, rock piles, or road beds and target these areas. Walleyes seek cover in these areas, and will be found schooled there. Use any lure that resembles shad, and you will start catching walleyes. There are many lures on the market to catch walleye but here are the best walleye lures on the market.
Trolling Rods
When looking at trolling rods there are a few key traits that you want to make sure the rod has. The first is that the rod has the right action. Medium/medium heavy will provide enough backbone to support the pressure of trolling a lure, as well as the initial strike from the fish. The Daiwa Medium Action Accudepth Trolling Rod has great action and will not put a dent in your wallet. Any rod will work, but it just needs to have enough support to bring your catch into the boat, and have enough support while trolling walleye.
Trolling Reels
The reel is one area where an angler shouldn’t skimp out on quality. The most important feature on a reel for trolling is that of a line counter. This device on the reel counts the length of line that has been set out. This is critical because once a fish is caught, the line can be set to the previous depth. And this puts the angler in the area where most of the walleye are at.
Another function of the reel that is important is retrieval rate and drag quality. Retrieval rate is listed as a ratio. The higher the ratio of the reel, the more line will be retrieved per rotation of the handle. This becomes very important when trying to reel in extensive line distance. The higher the ratio, the quicker you will be able to reel in your bait. Drag quality is also imperative. A cheaper reel generally has a sub-par drag. This means the larger fish that are caught, the quicker the drag will burn out and turn the reel to a bundle of garbage. Buy a reel that is made well, and has lasting quality. It will help in the long run, and provide many years of fishing. The Okuma Cold Water Linecounter Trolling Reel has stood the test of time and has never failed in normal fishing conditions.
Line
There has been a recent shift in mono-filament, to lead core. Lead core line is manufactured by encapsulating a lead wire with a braided line composite that provides strength and abrasion resistance. This aids the angler in achieving deeper diving depths of their lures and removes any additional weighting techniques such as down riggers or dipsy divers. The line is multicolored and corresponds to the length of line let out. Which is convenient if the angler is not using a line counting reel. Sufix Performance Lead Core 100 Yards Metered Fishing Line is the best lead core line on the market.
Trolling walleye, is an endeavor that takes a lot of practice and patience. Fish where others are fishing, look for structure, put forth the time to learn how to fish for them, and you will become successful.
