Trolling speed

[Sharpie]

Will be fishing Slave Lake mid August. Any tips for trolling speed on this lake this time of year. We be doing all kinds of fishing not just trolling but curious what people have found trolling that time of year on Slave.

Thanks

[old dog]

I normally trolled about 2mph. Good luck. Friends up there right now. Walleye are in about 25 feet of water so they r jigging.

[Deep]

Any time trolling should be SLOW....I see boats clipping along and they say "not a bite". Another tip is to zig zag as the presentation changes level with even more strike potential. Good luck.

[bobalong]

Regardless of lake I pull bottom bouncers about 1.1-1.3mph. If I am getting short hits I will slow down and use smiley blades to about .7. Lindy rigs about .03mph.

[stubblejumper01]

Originally Posted by bobalong

Regardless of lake I pull bottom bouncers about 1.1-1.3mph. If I am getting short hits I will slow down and use smiley blades to about .7. Lindy rigs about .03mph.

Good tips. A lot of the time at Slave the wind blows from the west. When you find a good drop off I usually drift with the wind and bottom bouncers along the ledges. Usually non stop action once you find them

[CDNPiper]

I troll a lot on my kayak and my fish finder tells me I'm doing between 2.5 and 3.5 Km/hr. Had lots of luck at that speed.

[TROLLER]

1mph is a good start for bottom bouncing walleye. You may have to go even slower. If you do speed up it should not be much more than 1.2-1.3 mph the 2 mph guys are usually trolling for trout.

[huntsfurfish]

During summer peak, speed is good sometimes(quite often actually). Talking over the usual .1-1.5mph speed(1.5mph+). Sometimes triggers the larger fish.

Have not fished Slave lake, but would expect speed to work there as well.

Speed triggers fish.

[millsboy79]

Check to make sure your lure is giving you the action you want before you let out your line. I have a few swim baits that need around 3 km/hr to swim properly and others that work great at slower speeds.

So I would say 2-3kph for the most part.

[mclean]

Originally Posted by huntsfurfish

During summer peak, speed is good sometimes(quite often actually). Talking over the usual .1-1.5mph speed(1.5mph+). Sometimes triggers the larger fish.

Have not fished Slave lake, but would expect speed to work there as well.

Speed triggers fish.

I do have to agree, at this time of the year walleyes are in generally on a feeding frenzy and faster is usually better and depending on the type of lure one is pulling, If this does not work one can always slow down and try other presentations.

[TROLLER]

If you want to keep catching the small walleye then stay at a faster speed. The big walleye are caught with a slow presentation or off a lindy rig set up at least that has been my observations over the years.

[huntsfurfish]

Originally Posted by TROLLER

If you want to keep catching the small walleye then stay at a faster speed. The big walleye are caught with a slow presentation or off a lindy rig set up at least that has been my observations over the years.

Not mine.

Fish will determine the speed they want.

[elkonthemind]

I have to agree with the slower speed we do alot of trolling for walleye and my experince is fast for the small ones. fishing last weekend reeled in 40 walleye not one under 5lbs biggest being 10 but i like the slow homemade walleye specials with trolling leach or minnow works best for me pretty much just fast enough to feel the bottom bounce here and there

[mclean]

Originally Posted by Sharpie

Will be fishing Slave Lake mid August. Any tips for trolling speed on this lake this time of year. We be doing all kinds of fishing not just trolling but curious what people have found trolling that time of year on Slave.

Thanks

Always when i go to a lake for a day of fishing in aug. i personally would troll a lure or crank bait at least 1 to 2 miles an hr. to locate the walleye , once you locate the fish then one can try different presentations, if trolling does not produce the size one wants then jigging, slip bobbing, lindy rigging are all good options.

[EZM]

I like to bottom bounce slow 1.0 +/- but, as noted, vary the speed to see what seems to be working that day.

For crank baits (with or without planer board) on walleye - a little quickers - like 2.5 mph so the action makes the crank vibrate.

Lots of zig zags and speed up and slow downs tends to trigger more action.

At the end of the day - as Huntsfurfish correctly pointed out - the fish will let you know.

[RavYak]

You are asking the wrong question.

There is no good trolling speed as it all depends on the lures you are using. Some lures you do 1 kph, some 2 kph, some 3, some 4, some as fast as 5-6.

Every lure has a sweet spot in which it acts a certain way to best entice fish. Very rarely does a lure actually work better outside of this sweet spot so what you need to do is figure out the speeds for each of your lures and fish them appropriately and find out which lures work best on given days. Sometimes the fish will be lazy and you really have to slow things down, sometimes you need to give them less time to think and strike out of aggression and use faster lures.

Simply put stop thinking about trolling speed of a boat speed and start dialing in your specific lures/presentations, you will catch more fish if you do this.

[schmedlap]

Originally Posted by RavYak

You are asking the wrong question.

There is no good trolling speed as it all depends on the lures you are using. Some lures you do 1 kph, some 2 kph, some 3, some 4, some as fast as 5-6.

Every lure has a sweet spot in which it acts a certain way to best entice fish. Very rarely does a lure actually work better outside of this sweet spot so what you need to do is figure out the speeds for each of your lures and fish them appropriately and find out which lures work best on given days. Sometimes the fish will be lazy and you really have to slow things down, sometimes you need to give them less time to think and strike out of aggression and use faster lures.

Simply put stop thinking about trolling speed of a boat speed and start dialing in your specific lures/presentations, you will catch more fish if you do this.

Depends on so many factors - time of year, depth, temperature, etc. Sometimes, with "big shiny" stuff, I have most success with "burst and stop" trolling, where you speed up the lure and consequently bring its depth up, and then drift and let it fall and "flutter", then burst again. For the most part with cranks it is finding the speed that best keeps them barely in the depth zone they are designed for, with sufficient action. With bait, whether on jigs, bouncers, or lindy's it can be stationary, minimal movement, or just "slow". Just try different presentations until one actually works (?).

[Red Bullets]

I would think it might be worth a try trolling a 6 inch or bigger len thompson spoon for an hour or two also. There has to be a big pike or two wanting to be caught in Slave lake too.