Trolling speed

I know in the spring you are supposed to troll slow, 1.0-1.8 mph and then later in the year 2.2-2.8 but at what point do you start trolling faster? I don't have any way to measure the water temp other than the surface and am seeing 69-70 degrees now. I am worried I am going to slow and I could be covering a lot more ground if I picked my speed up a bit but at the same time, I am also worried about going to fast and not sure when I need to start picking things up a bit in the full sun hours.

Jamie

Sorry I don't really understand the problem, I never go out and say 2.5 MPH from 11-1 then 3 MPH between 3-6 I experiment until I find that magic speed.

I always start extremely slow and speed up, throw in some s bends on your troll to have that speed change can help in figuring it out.

If your finding you have to cover so much ground for success always I would spend more time learning the water your fishing more than worrying about trolling speed.


If a fish wants it they can catch it!

Thanks, fisherman, I spend a lot of time out there trying to learn my local water. Only my second season and when I am out there on long days this time of year I often start worrying I am going to slow and speeding up would help me cover more ground and get more fish, but then I also worry the fish are still lazy from spring and I am lowering my chances at the same time. More of an internal argument in my head that I was just hoping to hear some other opinions for speeds this time of year.

I like the idea of speeding up after starting slow if nothings biting slow why not keep speeding up I will try that method next time thank you.

a lot of the time it depends on the bait you are running. i try to put my bait in the water beside the boat to see how it runs, action etc. before i. send it down. different baits require different speeds to be effective. dosn't mean theyare acting the same down below. water currents can be a factor on your speed at the ball among other things. i am far from an expert at this salmon game but am starting to put a few in the boat. hope this helps. dan

I wish there was a formula to plug all your variables into.... And you know than no one has this answer to give out. If you're running spoons this time of year (likely so?), your speed is pretty forgivable by the action of the spoon itself (water test new/unfamiliar spoons alongside the boat that makes sense).

The speed range you mention is reasonable for sure. Bumping the speed up/down, and/or some "S" turns (....just not in front of me!) will help you get an idea of what the fish want that day. "OR" what they want the next time out -- things change unfortunately! You don't want to be afraid of speed either; remember than a couple good kicks of their tail and their up and onto the lure.

Out west, many of the older, experienced captains set their boat speed by the angle of the rigger cable (about the 45o angle) when chasing salmon; and if they can get the cables "humming" (vibrating) that's perfect = "when the mermaid sings!" My original Walkers would hum loud enough to make you want to step out of the boat for a few minutes. My cannons were rare and the last couple Scottys I don't remember them humming at all. But it was used as a measure of good trolling speed.

With summer here finally and the water temps setting up, you should be able target your area of GB much better. June can be a tough month for any consistent successes.

Good luck on the water.

Thanks for all the tips, I am aware of making sure you're using baits that match your speeds, etc but I should probably drop some more lures beside the boat and refresh myself as to how they are spinning at different speeds, not just the speed I am currently going as of late. I use a very old Big Jon downrigger from 1982 that I picked up and she hums like a champ and that's usually how I set my speed myself! I guess what I am trying to ask is should I not be afraid of picking up my speed too much (2-3mph range), in my boat so far this season I haven't gone up over 2 mph ( for some reason I feel I have to go slooooow until august and worry I might be shooting myself in the foot ). Next time I am out I will try bumping it up a few notches and changing my speed throughout the day more than I usually do, thanks everyone.

Jamie, when I am out there, I usually run from 2.5 to 3.0mph and mix in some turns to change lure speed and depth. If the salmon or steelhead want your lure, they will get it. Lakers might like it a bit slower, but I'm not really targeting them.

Totally agree with checking lure action beside the boat before you let it down.

Experiment and as I have said before, keep a log in the boat of what catches fish, so that you can look back and see what worked, when and how.

Copy of my fish log follows.

Good luck.

Ralph

Let me know if the document will not open and I will do something else.

Ralph

Thanks Ralph! You left out the GPS coords.... I will definitely try mixing in some more speed with my slow. Couple guys, I know in person that fish keep telling me the waters cold go slow its still "spring" action but I think its time to turn it up a bit if not a few weeks ago already.

Launched out of Meaford marina this morning and headed straight for Cape Rich, went 2/3 on lakers- nothing of any great size. All 3 hits on a Orange crush spoon. Fished 80-105 FOW and takes were around 55-70 feet. Not seeing a whole lot of fish being landed. Trolled between 1.7 to 2.5 mph.

New to the area and board and look forward to catching my 1st GB salmon this season.

This post has been edited by sluggo64 on Jul 04, 2020 - 11:14 am

You got this Sluggo! They are will be here in force soon, you can get on them now but in a few weeks, it's hard not too.

Some good answers here..


Change it up is what I say...It's not spring anymore

currents come into play for sure and if you are not targeting lakers, then anything from 2.2 to 2.7 is for sure worth trying

I have been running at 2.4-2.6 using mag spoons and doing okay with salmon even though it's a different lake

But the salmon don't know that

Thanks longshank, that's all I was trying to figure out when do you stop fishing like it's spring but thinking about it if I'm out in 100+ fow and it's 30+ outside obviously it's not spring anymore, duh.

Jamie

I have always felt lure speed is the single most important factor in the complicated trolling process. Lure compatability is definitely a major consideration as well. If you are running an array of different spoons, it is definitely worth taking the time to drag each boatside to ensure the action is closely similar. Shank mentions current, a factor that makes speed control at the ball a tricky proposition at times. It would be much easier if you could simply pay attention to your GPS speed over ground readout (SOG) but currents can have significant effects on the speed of trolled lures. Listening to the hum of the rigger cable or the angle of blowback or the presence of bubbles on the cable to accurately calculate lure speed is really a crap shoot. Many anglers have actually replaced the traditional wire rigger cable with braid to eliminate wire hum. Georgian Bay has its' share of deep water currents and the effect on your lures is very significant. You can be trolling far too fast running a pattern in one direction then turn around to retrace your route back through a promising show of bait and hooks on the graph screen and, despite no change in SOG, be moving way too slowly to get maximum action from your lures. This is why some very experienced trollers argue that their single most important piece of trolling equipment is a probe that gives you temperature and speed at the cannonball. Wave height is yet another speed factor. For many, the most "comfortable" directions to troll when the Bay gets lumpy is directly into or with the waves. This plays havoc with speed control. To attain crucial steady speed control, I have always "trolled the trough" when fishing tournaments with buddies who are not prone to sea-sickness. Admittedly, this is not a wise procedure to follow when fishing with a first mate spouse who has a penchant for imitating a green leprechan very quickly after running the trough.
Patience is definitely a virtue, especially for fishermen (and women). After well over sixty years of fishing Georgian Bay, there are still lots of little "tricks" and strategies to learn. There are some hardfast approaches to be mastered but speed at the ball will always top my list of important factors in ensuring a successful outing.

Ah yes, the little green leprechaun. Almost met him last time out.

Thanks alot for all of the input Jim. Been out Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Mainly been going by the blowback and hum of the down rigger wires, well talking about how nice a fishawk would be to get in the zone. I think we've been out enough now to know where the zone is currently. We went from a bow on Friday, to nothing on Saturday but boats that showed up around us were getting fish all over the place to losing two huge salmon this morning before 6 am and landing a decent Laker shortly after sunrise. We just missed the storm that rolled in today by about 5 minutes, talk about timing