# Trolling



## backcountry (May 19, 2016)

I'm dipping my feet into trolling for trout in my new boat. I've trolled for bass east of the Mississippi but western trout lakes are new to me.

Any advice? I've bought an array of new items. I won't be able to afford a downriver for a while but I've got a diver . Do most people use rubber snubbers or are those really only needed for Kokanee?

Looking forward to learning and hopefully getting into some bigger fish.


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## 3arabians (Dec 9, 2014)

For trout I’ve had good success trolling with the basic pop gear and a worm setup. Pick a pop gear of any size and then tie a hook on 3 feet of leader and bait a worm. 

Kokanee is of course a bit more complicated with needing down-riggers and all that 


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## taxidermist (Sep 11, 2007)

I've hooked many Kokanee without the use of a downrigger. Just need to pick up some clips and add 3-4oz. weights. I use a level wind reel with the line counter. Let 50-80 feet of line out. clip on the weight to the line, go out another 50-100 feet and wait for a strike. Some refer to this method as a "poor mans downrigger". We were at Strawberry Thursday and Friday and I'd bet 70% of the fish landed were on this set-up.


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## backcountry (May 19, 2016)

3arabians said:


> For trout I’ve had good success trolling with the basic pop gear and a worm setup. Pick a pop gear of any size and then tie a hook on 3 feet of leader and bait a worm.
> 
> Kokanee is of course a bit more complicated with needing down-riggers and all that
> 
> ...


Kokanee is a ways off yet.

Bought 3 pop gear setups to see what works. Might have to go rummaging through my compost for some night crawlers. 

Thx!


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## Elkdude (Oct 25, 2014)

Besides worms on pop gear, you can also use lures behind them. When using worms, we hook them up with a worm threader. They are pretty easy to use and more often you can catch multiple fish with a single worm. For lures, we use Rapalas and flatfish. For the flatfish, we've always found the F7 frog, rainbow, perch, and a black and white speckled to be our go tos. You can also use those without the pop gear. We use leaded line which helps to get deeper in the water. Those items have worked in just every body of water that we've trolled in.


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## Finnegan (Sep 7, 2007)

Specific rigging depends on the target species, but I think there are a couple general trolling tips...

1. Speed makes a difference. I don't know why. But if you aren't hooking up, change your speed or navigate in a winding pattern (which changes the speed of the lure).

2. Depth obviously makes a difference, but you also need to consider the fact that fish cannot survive if they're caught in water that's too deep. I've heard "experts" claim that 60 feet is the maximum for catch and release. We can argue about whether one species can withstand the bends better than another, but if catch and release is your objective, be mindful. I like lead core line spooled on a salt water reel (gear ratio) but rarely fish deeper than 45 feet.

3. Rapala. If you fish for multiple species on multiple waters, you really want to have several of these lures in different sizes.


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## Packout (Nov 20, 2007)

I usually use rubber snubbers with pop gear.


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## backcountry (May 19, 2016)

Finnegan said:


> Specific rigging depends on the target species, but I think there are a couple general trolling tips...
> 
> 1. Speed makes a difference. I don't know why. But if you aren't hooking up, change your speed or navigate in a winding pattern (which changes the speed of the lure).
> 
> ...


For now I'm likely limited to 18-25 feet until I get a downrigger. Given conditions this year I might be going too deep with even that at Panguitch. It will take some experimenting.

Luckily I have an assortment of rapalas. I grew up fishing them for bass and inherited some over the years as well. 

Thx for the heads up on depth. I'll keep that in mind as I experiment over time with different waters


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## backcountry (May 19, 2016)

Packout said:


> I usually use rubber snubbers with pop gear.


Thx for that response!


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## Catherder (Aug 2, 2008)

For many of the (relatively) shallow lakes in your neck of the woods, you will have decent success longlining things like wooly buggers, leeches, spinners and Rapalas. Those don't tend to require the expensive trolling gear to work.


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## taxidermist (Sep 11, 2007)

Depth fishing can be accomplished without a downrigger. There are many products on the market available....Dipsy divers, led line, clip weights and so on. A downrigger just takes the "experimenting" more or less out of the equation. Even with a rigger you still have to match the lure with boat speed. Even with a downrigger trolling at 1.7mph using a #8 ball at 60' depending on the lure, doesn't actually place the lure at 60'. It all takes time and experimenting to get the right combo that works for the water and species of fish your after.


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## backcountry (May 19, 2016)

I just mentioned downriggers as I'd love to spend a lifetime getting to know Fish Lake and the like. Definitely not needed for most of my local options.

I bought a 20 ft Jet Diver which with my setup and likely trolling distance will be closer to 15-18' if I'm reading claims correctly. Everything else will be long lining and weights. Lots of options.

Can't wait to fish Minersville this week.


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## CHIEF_10_BEERS (Mar 24, 2021)

You defiantly don't need downriggers to catch fish at Fish Lake. I didn't have downriggers on my old boat for the first 10 years I owned it and still slayed the fish up there. I started out using lead line to get down deeper and then experimented with divers like the Deep Six and Dipsey Diver. Mostly used pop gear and a worm threaded on a red hook and up the leader with a worm threader on the lead line rods. We also caught plenty of fish just letting a Jakes or Rapala out with no additional weight. 

A lot of old timers don't even use rods at Fish Lake and catch huge Macs using steel or copper line and a paddle board.

That being said no way I would go back to long lining after buying and using downriggers. The control and speed of lure placement is a huge plus as is using lighter tackle.

Good luck with what ever method you decide to use


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## PBH (Nov 7, 2007)

The majority of the trolling that we do for trout involves using lures like triple-teasers, needlefish, or a wooly bugger. We simply slide on an egg sinker, tie on a swivel, attach a leader to the swivel, then tie on the desired lure (triple-teaser, needlefish, flatfish, shallow rapala, or any assortment of flies). 

At Minersville, I would highly recommend a hot-pink or orange triple-teaser, or your favorite wooly bugger.

Optionally: I've heard reports of people catching a LOT of really nice trout at Minersville fishing bait from the shore.

I would like to make one other recommendation here: KISS
Keep It Simple Stupid.


don't make this any harder that it really needs to be. After all, you're just going fishing. Get the lure in the water, and have some fun!


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## Vanilla (Dec 11, 2009)

When I troll I usually start out by saying something like, "Patagonia sucks!"


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## backcountry (May 19, 2016)

Okay flatbrim. 😝. Used my Simms hoody today so no troll landed with me today 😁

Got our butt kicked at Minersville today. Tried a little bit of every technique and lure/bait combo I know. I'm hoping to go again later this week and I'll keep your recommendation in mind, PBH. My trolling setup isn't that complicated and I mostly used a needlefish today. Only significant hit I got today was on a homemade Marabou jig. Tapped it twice with interest but never took the hook. 

I'll probably plan on shore fishing some on the next trip. Getting skunked with emergency measures in place is .... unfortunate, even if I chalk it up to my trip there.


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## Catherder (Aug 2, 2008)

Vanilla said:


> When I troll I usually start out by saying something like, "Patagonia sucks!"


Ok, smarty pants, since you brought it up, other good lures of that genre that work well to get hits around here include Bears Ears, SFW, Trump ,Biden, "They're coming for our guns", Zinke, the gubmint, and a few more I'm sure I forgot. One never gets skunked around here with those.


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## backcountry (May 19, 2016)

I'm too scared to say any of those words three times in a single post. **** beetlejuice. Beetlejuice.....


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