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Reelin in the Fish
By John Campbell
Suspended fish can be caught using a couple of different techniques.
Usually when the fish are suspended they'll spread out. The trick is to
cover a lot of water and put a bait near as many fish as possible. Crankbaits
will allow you to cover quickly and big walleyes have a strong desire to
crush these baits.
Bottomline
NCC5300 |
I will run back and forth over an open water area many times with my
eyes glued on my Bottom Line Tournament NCC 6300 until I pinpoint the exact
location of the fish or ball of baitfish. They might be suspending off
a small finger extending from a sunken island or to a tiny corner on the
point. Once I have located these fish, my presentation and bait
selection is very important. |
Crankbaits run at specific depths depending on size, diving lip, line length
and trolling speed. Within the natural diving range of each lure, depth
is fine tuned by adjusting line length. Trolling reels with line length
indicators have become popular for exact replication of productive depth
and pinpoint control. Many manufacturers offer line counting reels now
so anglers don't have to count the number of throws a reel goes through
to set a specific depth.
Shimano has introduced the Tekota^(TM) line counter and I believe it
is one of the best. The drag system on the Tekota is made from material
that provides a wider range of drag settings than normal star drag materials,
along with the smoothest drag. It also has put on the non-disengaging level
wind system which allows the line to track back and forth as the line comes
off the spool. This feature eliminates the drastic line angles caused by
disengaging level wind systems. An added plus of this reel is that the
line counter is accurate in feet and easy to reset.
Few crankbaits dive deeper than 25 feet, even on a long line. To reach
depths exceeding the natural diving ability of crankbaits, weight must
be added to the line to drop lures down into the fish zone. This is just
as true for presenting spinner-crawler combos. Walleye anglers have several
solutions for increasing running depth while maintaining control.Traditional
deep water trolling was once accomplished with leadcore line. Leadcore
line is braided dacron with a thin lead core, creating a sinker running
the entire length of the line. Leadcore was used to toll deep water for
walleyes or trout. The answer to the solution of depth was to simply let
more line out and the lure ran deeper. A monofilament
leader between the lure and leadcore minimized spooking. When a fish
hit, you simply reeled the leadcore up into a large capacity trolling reel.When
leadcore was first used with planer boards, it was too heavy; anything
more than about 30 yards of leadcore sunk a typical board. This was remedied
by tying a 10, 20, or 30 yard segment of leadcore into the main line, 50
feet ahead of the lure. The segmented leadcore approach took lures down
to about 35 feet, but was somewhat confusing to most anglers. Multiple
reels with different lengths of segmented leadcore were needed to effectively
cover a variety of depths.
Church Snap Weights Click
here
for more Information |
Open water trolling for suspended fish also taught anglers that walleyes
could be caught tight to the bottom. To do this run snap weights near
bottom, or switch to three-way rigs or bottom bouncers to make lures
or
baits run just above bottom. Bouncers run the closest, while three-ways
are adjustable by varying dropper length. |
Lindy No snagg Kits Click
here
for more information |
I prefer to use the Lindy No-Snagg. It is a banana shaped sinker that
has balsa, lead antimony weight, surrounded by epoxy paint and a protective
clear seal coating, with a special rubberized coating on the outside. The
sinker also has a stainless steel wire feeler out of the bottom that is
tipped with a colored bead. This has the super principles of the 3-way,
and the bottom ticking ability of the bottom bouncer.
Also, the No-Snagg, when it hits an obstruction simply pivots away
from the snag and doesn't get hung up. This pause surge pause method of
presentation has captured a lot of walleyes in reservoirs. |
Trolling large open water expanses has recently been applied to some areas
that previously would not have been attempted, with amazing results. This
summer don't keep pounding the shoreline in hopes of catching a few fish
when you should be reelin in the fish, get out and troll some open water.
If you get a chance drop me a line at www.walleye.info.
Hope to hear from you soon!
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