Various Trolling Questions

[Divemaster]

9 minutes ago, Dr Hook said:

You may have to add weight such as a Dive Bomb to get 10 colors that deep

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Really? Theoretically, if I had all 10 colors of leadcore out plus a 50' 20# fluoro leader in front and a few feet of backing down before attaching the board, and I used a lure like a Reef Runner 800 Deep Diver or Flatfish M-2, approximately how deep would that go? Or maybe even something like a flutter spoon to stay shallower if there's no boats around. For the sake of this example lets say I'm trolling 2.5-2.6 mph. I have the precision trolling app on my phone but it doesn't cover all scenarios and speeds and I can only get data for up to 162 total feet of line out using leadcore trolling at 2.0mph so that can't be very accurate.

[FBD]

I''ve stuck a deep thunderstick off a full core into the bottom in 65', rolling 2.5-2.7 on the g p s.

[Divemaster]

16 minutes ago, FBD said:

I''ve stuck a deep thunderstick off a full core into the bottom in 65', rolling 2.5-2.7 on the g p s.

I guess I'd better add a few more shallow Rapalas and Bay Rats to my box then haha.

[Dr Hook]

7 hours ago, FBD said:

I''ve stuck a deep thunderstick off a full core into the bottom in 65', rolling 2.5-2.7 on the g p s.

I can see that in 65 ft with a lipped diving bait.

[Sly Selea]

No way 10 color is hitting 100' feet at 2.5.  Maybe bounce your balls or divers if your going for Lakers.  I would also humbly suggest not using body baits for Lakers, but rather spin n glows with cowbells (gotta go slow) or Dodgers.

 

 

 

[Divemaster]

4 hours ago, Sly Selea said:

No way 10 color is hitting 100' feet at 2.5.  Maybe bounce your balls or divers if your going for Lakers.  I would also humbly suggest not using body baits for Lakers, but rather spin n glows with cowbells (gotta go slow) or Dodgers.

 

 

 

Okay, I wasn't expecting it to hit the bottom, just get within the bottom 20-30'. We don't have any of that last stuff yet but I'll be ordering some flies, spin'n'glows, cowbells, gangtrolls, flashers, and dodgers within the next couple of weeks (not buying all that at once after our major boat expenses!), can you suggest some good brands for any of the things I just listed?

[village]

On 3/1/2016 at 10:25 AM, Divemaster said:

Has anyone ever used the Penn Squall for trolling? I know Penn makes great reels but most don't have line counters (for saltwater trolling), the 20 size model of the Squall does, though. I was thinking of using a pair of them for dipsies, I still am considering the Tekotas as well but for $80 less (each) the Squalls seem pretty nice! The gear ratio seems a little high to me (4.9:1) for pulling divers but what do you all think? The 20 size is also the second smallest model, but it still takes 455 yards of 50# braid which in my mind is pretty impressive! I was also thinking if I used braid, the rods could be multi-purpose and I could also use them as Flatlines if I was trolling shallow, but if wire makes a big difference in the divers I'll go with that.

 

Also, I'm thinking of using a medium-heavy power Uglystick Tiger for my planer rods instead of a heavy power Tiger Lite, as some folks over at the fisherie.com forum were saying that heavy power was too stout for my primary target species.

 

Sorry for all the questions, I just want to make sure I buy the right gear that'll work well and last before I dish out a couple hundred dollars.

Even the Medium heavy are on the heavy side. We used few as starter rods for catfishing in Missouri. Also not sure how wide a spread your looking for but most tiger's are on the short side. We use the old ugly stick and diewa heartland. 8'6 to 9'6 is what we run. Staggered by depth. We run a  high line or 3 collar 5 or 7 on the inside. Than  full core or 150 copper. Also run 225 copper. If you get time check out Dawias webpage. They do a good break down of length for recommend fishing technique. 

[Hockey390]

Okay, I wasn't expecting it to hit the bottom, just get within the bottom 20-30'. We don't have any of that last stuff yet but I'll be ordering some flies, spin'n'glows, cowbells, gangtrolls, flashers, and dodgers within the next couple of weeks (not buying all that at once after our major boat expenses!), can you suggest some good brands for any of the things I just listed?

Everyone needs to figure out what works for them and how to catch fish but just to help you think big picture if your trying to get down deep for Lakers with lead core and lipped stick baits, you might get down but what everyone else was saying is you might want other baits (spin n glows, cow bells, etc.). Now to think big picture, if you put spin n glows behind cow bells and run it on a lead core you will have a huge rig with a pretty good amount of drag behind your lead core. The more drag you have, the shallower your presentation will run. Im just estimating but with a 10 color pulling that setup I would estimate you'll run between 30-45 feet deep, maybe a touch deeper if you go slow. I'm not trying to ruin your plan, but it might save you some time and headache to think that piece through some more before you buy a bunch of tackle. Maybe invest in a fishhawk td so you can see how deeo your getting. Learn from our mistakes

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[Divemaster]

1 minute ago, Hockey390 said:

Everyone needs to figure out what works for them and how to catch fish but just to help you think big picture if your trying to get down deep for Lakers with lead core and lipped stick baits, you might get down but what everyone else was saying is you might want other baits (spin n glows, cow bells, etc.). Now to think big picture, if you put spin n glows behind cow bells and run it on a lead core you will have a huge rig with a pretty good amount of drag behind your lead core. The more drag you have, the shallower your presentation will run. I'm not trying to ruin your plan, but it might save you some time and headache to think that piece through some more before you buy a bunch of tackle. Learn from our mistakes

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I wasn't planning on running spin n glows on the leadcore, but rather on our downrigger and Dipsy setups. For the leadcore I plan on only using spoons, Crankbaits, and worm harnesses (when walleye or drum fishing).

[Hockey390]

I wasn't planning on running spin n glows on the leadcore, but rather on our downrigger and Dipsy setups. For the leadcore I plan on only using spoons, Crankbaits, and worm harnesses (when walleye or drum fishing).

Gotcha, makes sense. I thought you said you were trying to get to the bottom in 100 FOW.

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[Divemaster]

1 minute ago, Hockey390 said:

Gotcha, makes sense. I thought you said you were trying to get to the bottom in 100 FOW.

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No, just somewhat close to it. Now as far as Downriggers go, yes, I'll be within a foot or two of the bottom if possible.

[jmohunts]

If you want to get deep, bag that leadcore and switch to copper or Weighted Steel. Much deeper with less out.

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[Divemaster]

Well, we did pretty good this Sunday for our first trip of the year. I landed all three of the Lakers that were on including the heaviest fish of my life, a 35" long by 24" around 25.04 pound Laker (first picture), a 30" long by 20" around 15.00 pound fish, and finally a 28" long by 18" around 11.50 pound fish. The first two were on the right (deeper) Downrigger 56-58 feet down and the last fish was on the left dipsy 40 feet down. All fish were caught on 3-5" MI stingers in about 60 FOW. I also had four other releases on one of the left rigger rod but not one time was a fish on the end of the line after it popped, any ideas on that? I changed the release in the ball and it still happened once after that, maybe the rod was too tight or a fish just T-boned and spit out the lure before it was hooked? 

 

PS, anyone know how to identify the different strains of Lakers? I know USFW stocked 3-6 strains of Lake Trout in Lake Erie and I can see the differences between the first two fish and the last one below but not sure what strains they are. I think the first two were either finger lakes or lake Champlain strain and the last one sort of looks like a lean Lake Superior strain.

[Divemaster]

Thanks to everyone who posted on this thread over the last several months, I wouldn't know half of what I know now about trolling without the help of you all!

[Sly Selea]

Heck, the learning is half the fun.  Your obviously intelligent and inquisitive.  I predict a boatload of fish for you,