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Captain Troy
419-569-3100
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TROLLING LAKE ERIE STYLE
It’s no big secret that
Lake Erie has long been known as the " Walleye
Capitol of the World” and why. I can remember back
to when the lake was a mess, but it was still a must
to fish on Lake Erie. We would fill coolers with
perch and it was always a rush to grab a good drift
and drag Erie Dearies behind the boat with an ‘eye
practically ripping the rod from your hands. I have
seen my share of rods take a dive while reaching for
another chip!
Lake Erie still holds that reputation but we have
had to make changes to our arsenal. Its cleaner than
in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s, and on any given day can
hold thousands of fisherman in a pack of boats
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anything from an old
Erie Dearie to a homemade weapon of choice.
Every season seems to bring its very own new
challenge.
This bite has changed, again. With water clarity
such as ours, at times visible to 20’ or more,
tactics for ‘eyes’ change drastically once the
spawn transition is over. Once the early
morning breeze settles for its daily nap and the
pack of boats watching your net fly for the last
hour dies off, especially in the
mid-summer months of June, July & August, it's
time for a program change. After all, this is
Lake Erie and change is something your gonna
face all day long!
I will never dispute
the fact that casting for Walleye is very
successful, I love a good drift and casting, but
when this Lake dies down to a mirror like
surface in clear water, don’t throw in the
towel; simply switch to another program.
As a Captain on the Lake, many of my customers
demand the change. They are paying for me to put
fish in the box and at times the challenge is
nothing short of just that. I am not implying
that we can’t catch ‘eyes casting when its calm,
we catch our share, but on occasion my customers
want more than just the fight; they want
excitement!
With that being
said, its time for Plan B! Time to get away from
that pack and “Spread our Wings! I'm talking
Trolling; “Lake Erie Style.”
I can feel the adrenaline pumping through my
veins thinking about it. There can be nothing
more exciting to some of my customers than
trolling on Lake Erie. There are many of my
customers that come for that alone. They like
the time they have to do as they please, enjoy
their drinks and talk. They also love the
anticipation and excitement of seeing a Dipsy
Rod start hammering and the Captain yelling
“FISH ON number 7” and in many cases, by the
time they get to “7” they are hearing, “ 8, 9,
and 10.” before its all said and done!
I am often asked how
trolling can be so successful that time of year.
After all, those fish are long gone, right?
Well, here are a few responses.
First off, ‘eyes are
predators. You get something in front of them
that gets them aggravated and they are going to
kill it. I think often when I am trolling the
mid-summer bite; those fish are not feeding,
they are reacting. By the hook-up alone you can
often tell that it was just a strike out of
aggression, Its not inhaled as if they are
feeding. In tank demonstrations I proved
time and again, that walleye that's in a
negative holding pattern will at least snap at
whatever it is that just crossed his nose!
Instinct!
Second would be the fact that you can cover a
lot of water. With the packs of boats on Lake
Erie today, often the best choice is to get away
from them all and find another school of fish to
tease! In our hottest part of summer these fish
begin to scatter, looking for food and
continuing on a migration pattern. It is not
uncommon to cover miles of open water in a given
day.
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Third would be
the ability to present countless variations
of food. We pull anything from spoons to
Divers and even Crawler Harnesses. Lead
followed up by Crank Baits, and even
plastics that is quickly taking a whole new
avenue on Erie 'eyes. The list can go on
and on, with my preference being the action
produced by spoons. Here is a brief run down
of the program that I use. Keep in mind,
your program can change daily or many times
in one outing. Just as important, it can be
downsized and modified to work on any body
of water.
Another note; leave the pack first!
I normally run three Luhr Jensen Dipsy
Divers, size 1 with "0 Rings", set at 1,2 &
3 positions and then “Spread our Wings” both
directions with Planer Boards pulling up to
four Jet Divers off each side, ranging from
Size 20 to 40. I know my depth for the Dipsy
and Jets by referring to Luhr Jensen's tech
sheets and reports available in detail on
their Web Site, which explains the depth,
distance and speed conversions. An important
note about the dipsy divers and the chart on
the back of each one. It is not designed to
be read in the manner we are used to. If
your looking out the back of your vessel,
which we usually are while setting gear,
then it is laid out backwards. A simple die
change, but mentally changed in our minds is
in order. When your looking out the back,
point the arrow to the right to go right and
the arrow left to go left. I know to some
of us it seems easily logical but I still
get emails almost daily as to why the dipsy
wants to run under the boat. That is why!
Another little avenue to your repetition of
success would be the addition of Line
counter reels to improve my accuracy.
My planer boards
are large, approximately 48” long. This will
enable them to travel beyond the wake
produced by my 30’ Sport and stay there.
More importantly is the fact I can now
target ‘eyes that are suspended in the water
column that are otherwise inaccessible due
to shadows and noise created by my boat.
Get out and away
from that boat wake, and catch more fish!
As you can see the releases in the picture,
rubber bands are attached to the clip and
the line. It's not as complex as it
appears, really! We add the rubber band for
a couple reasons. One is to aid in vision,
to let us know things are performing as
planned. When it stretches beyond that of
the others we know something is happening
out there. It could be grass, a fish or
just simply a bait not pulling correctly.
The other reason is to buy me some time.
When it is simply a set up consisting of the
line pinched into the release I lose more
fish. Once the fish strikes, the release
does its job and releases. I then have a
couple seconds to get the slack out or ole'
marble eyes is history. With the addition
of a rubber band, I now have that rubber
band stretching and stretching, keeping the
tension I need to buy that extra few seconds
that it takes to get to the fish and prepare
to break it free from the release.
Another tool that will aid in your program,
especially for novice trollers would be the
Precision Trolling Book, with the newest
addition of their big water title. It's
built for folks just like us. It covers in
great detail all the dive curves,
conversions for line diameters and strength,
as well as just about all the baits that
will hit the water. It is if anything, a
great place to start. It can be purchased in
many retail Bait & Tackle Shops. I keep one
on board at all times. Its like a passport
and I refer to it often.
I watch my Color Graph and my GPS like a
Hawk. Once I have good marks of target fish
and have selected my target range, I begin
to fine tune my presentation. Trolling is
not a matter of dropping some lures in the
water and taking off, its as a customer told
me on a trip last summer “ Trolling is a
science!”, with a basis of efficiency and
accuracy. I am always making adjustments in
colors, depth and speed until I have it
narrowed down to specific zone. A little
fine tuning and multiple fish at once is
common! Yes, 10 fish at one time and landing
them all! My speed is critical, one minute
the fish are taking the spoon at 1.5 mph and
the next minute can be wanting the spoon at
2.5mph. Variations in speed are common, so
don’t give up. The GPS is important in the
fact I want to know where I have been. When
I find that Hot Bite, I want to work that
bite until either we are done, or the fish
have had enough. It also gives me a good
place to start the next day if I finished up
with a good bite. Don’t forget about the
Radio, listen to it! Someone is always
letting another know what is working for
them. Don’t be a Radio Chaser, just listen.
Occasionally there is good information being
shared.
We could go on forever about Trolling.
Techniques that work, when and where to use
them and so on. Its a course of life
lessons. It takes time and practice to
master the science. You will develop your
own methods and style and trolling may not
even be your cup of tea, but it can
definitely put fish in the box when all else
fails. The intent here is; change your
program!
My customers have said many times, “We're
like a big Street Sweeper...!” When there is
a change in store and you need to put fish
in the box, get away from that pack of boats
and go trolling "Lake Erie Style". It can be
rewarding, and at the very least, exciting!
Good fishing,
Captain Troy Young
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FOR INFORMATION OR TO
RESERVE A TRIP:
Captain Troy Young
(419) 569-3100
captaintroy@eriesfuture.com
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