Deep Deep Down

Deep, Deep, Down……………….
By Jon Neafcy
Controversy
Recent discussions suggest that there appears to be some controversy over the effectiveness of trolling lures, particularly on the large glacial lakes, without downriggers, as a method to catch big pike. Some experienced piker’s have tried & given up with the method, others discount it, so why is this? Some piker’s see the method as a means of catching small pike only, others doubt it’s capability as they do not feel that the lure is at the optimum depth, in the stike zone consistently enough. I thought that I would share my experiences of the method with you.
Fascination
I caught my first lure caught pike as a young boy on a tiny Mepps spinner & I have had a fascination with lures & lure fishing for many years, I own several lure rods & a large collection of lures, I have everything from surface crawlers, to lures that only dive just below the surface on the retrieve & all manner of sub-surface lures, numerous makes, designs, colours, shapes & sizes, some are very fish like & some are downright mutant looking creatures. In addition to casting lures the Trolling lures offers another valuable tool in our armoury as pike anglers, a method that can on its day, & has produced some excellent results for me. I like the variety that Pike fishing offers & I enjoy both bank & boat fishing, static & roving methods & whilst I have had many good days boat fishing with float-fished static baits, a method I often employ is trolling deep diving lures on large glacial lakes & reservoirs. However there are those who only bait fish or those who only use casting lures, so each to their own, personally I like the potential that using of a range of methods can offer. Many, many years ago I first trolled but not for pike, we fished for lake trout & Char, using a variety of spinners & spoons etc., the method proved very effective at times both with & without downriggers, we rowed the boat & that was often the hard part controlling the boat in the wind on a big glacial lake. That was how I cut my teeth at trolling so to speak. I have had some good days pike fishing trolling lures, I don’t claim to be a trolling expert or anything & I realise that much has been wrote about this method before (but what method hasn’t?). I thought it may be of interest to go through some of the details from my own experience that have helped me to put a few extra fish in the boat for those who fancy giving this, what can be a productive method, a go. I will re-count some memorable captures of trolled lure caught pike along the way…………….
Why?
Simple! As I have already said, I have enjoyed many good days fishing trolling lures, including venue personal bests on two waters. This I have been able to pas-on to other pikers like newcomer to piking my mate Andy Cooke who took his current p.b. on a trolled lure whilst we were fishing together! I will often troll lures in several circumstances. Firstly it’s a good method to cover a lot of water, also trolling a new venue can help top locate underwater features & prey fish shoals etc. quickly, when you locate the fish trolling you can anchor up & bait or lure (casting) fish that area if you choose to do so or you can continue to troll over the same area again, a ploy that can work. Secondly I use trolling lures as an alternative to live baiting where live baits are not permitted. Thirdly I use trolling as a change of method when tactics such as static bait-fishing fail to produce. Do not think that trolling lures is just a ‘back up method’ only to be tried when all else fails, or so to speak, as it is most certainly worthy of more merit than that. On some venues that I have fished trolling lures is very effective. On one reservoir that I fish I will often leave the bait fishing gear at home & just take the trolling gear & a modest selection of lures, on this venue when its not freezing cold trolling lures has consistently out-fished bait fishing for me. I have taken fish upto 23.7 trolling on the large glacial lakes.
Method/s
The main method that I will cover here is the use of deep driving vane’ lures fished at various depths trolled behind the boat. I will also touch on the use of lead heads such as bull-dawgs & replicants as these require different a slightly different approach. As for choice of power for the boat whilst trolling, I personally generally troll with the petrol outboard (where permitted) when using vaned lures & with lead heads I will often use the electric engine. I seldom troll under my own steam by rowing anymore, I use an outboard engine, I guess that’s just laziness on my part & for convenience. I rarely troll any faster than a reasonable walking pace with vaned lures (3-4mph), often slower, it depends on the trolling depth & the lure/s used, for lead heads you need to go slower (more details later). The basics of the method for me is to propel the boat forward whilst letting the lure out of the back of the boat, to the side, once the desired amount of line is out to fish the lure at the required depth then I adjust the bait run & put the rod in the rest. I don’t ‘cast’ the lures out anymore when trolling I merely flick them out of the side of the boat & then use the bait run on ‘free spin’ (lowest setting) to allow the lure to dive, if necessary with my thumb on the spool, as the lure drives, I can see & feel the lure start to dive right away, this saves the odd ‘rouge’ cast where the lure for what ever reason e.g. hooks tangled, fails to dive. The amount of line put out to get the lure to the required trolling depth depends on several factors including - the lure itself, the diameter of braid used & the trolling speed. I never use mono for trolling due to its stretch properties & its thicker diameter. Some lures that are suitable for trolling have information supplied with them on the approximate depths they will dive with various diameters of line at various trolling speeds which is good as a general guide when selecting lures. It’s basically a matter of trail & error until you get to know the performance of your set up, more about the lures themselves later.
Tackle?
This is very much a personal choice thing & many different set-ups are available from many retailers. Unlike many other pikers I do not use multipliers for my lure fishing, I realise these are good tools & my mate John Sands puts them to good use on his lure rods, however they are just not for me. I have used several different set ups & my advice is simple - choose a robust set up to cope with the stick the gear can get, a set up that you yourself are happy with. After trial & error I have settled for 6.6ft heavy jerk bait rods matched with a smallish Shimano bait runner reel (3500 original or 5000 aero) & at least 50lb braid & I personally use the solid jerk bait traces for trolling. A reasonable selection of lures is required to cover various depth ranges (I will cover some of the lures that I use later). I use the danica/fladen/Berkley style rod holders to hold the rods in place whilst trolling, doing this one angler can troll two rods, when two of us are in the boat then we only use one trolling rod each. I sometimes hold the rod whilst on the troll. What ever suits you ensure that you are vigilant & keep a watchful eye on the rod/s. I have a large boat landing net with lure-proof mesh, this is always kept readily available, close at hand. I find that needle nosed pliers or the fox/ET style long nose pliers are better for removing lures than forceps. The boat floor is lined with carpet & a large unhooking mat for pike welfare. A set of wire cutters is carried just in-case I ever need to cut the hooks or in case of accident etc. A fish-finder is invaluable for trolling & I use a hand held GPS (I’m just upgrading to a combined GPS/Fish finder). Early experiments for me with the GPS have been more to establish the trolling speeds at which takes occur more than for chart plotting etc., however I will be using more of the many features on the new model I’ve purchased. Another handy item of tackle is the line counter, this simply fastens to the rod & the line flows through it giving a reasonably accurate reading of the amount of line out, useful in conjunction with the fish-finder/GPS for judging lure diving/line out/Speed ratios, I only use the line counter whilst the lure is diving releasing the line from the line counter this whilst fishing.


Know how
I find that it’s generally a good idea to try to find features to troll, often on large glacial lakes & reservoirs I have trolled the drop offs to good effect, I have also trolled near to other features such as boat moorings, inlets & other areas of interest. However I have also caught fish in flat featureless areas, covering a low of water enabling you to pick up the odd fish or two. It is not uncommon in my experience to find areas where takes will often occur time after time & other areas that will be barren of pike activity. Often I will set lures to trip the bottom, this has induced many a take for me, when tripping the bottom you can get snagged, however in the boat you can usually manage to free them. Takes have also occurred trolling lures sub-surface at various depths over water much deeper than the lures diving depth, however in my experience these are generally from the smaller pike. You can use other factors such as weather conditions, water temperature, wind direction & speed, location & depth of prey fish to assist you in selection of lure, likely areas & trolling depth. Generally the faster you troll & the more braid you have out with a diving lure the deeper it will go upto its maximum, if you go too fast some lures spin & come to the surface. It’s best not to have excessive line out & personally 30-40yrds is my maximum limit. When turning the boat around until you become experienced reel the lures in to avoid tangles or fouling the prop. It’s usually easy to differentiate a take from the lure getting snagged with the action of the rod tip & most experienced anglers will have no trouble differentiating the erratic pull of a fish (like the bit when quivertiping) to the straight wrap round of a snag, otherwise again its trial & error. When you do get a take you don’t need to strike as such, disengage the bait run, lift the rod & wind down. I suspect that the majority of fish hook themselves on this method. If the boat is drifting too near too danger when playing a fish then I drop the back anchor.
‘Lead heads’
I once heard the bull-dawg style lures referred to as snag finders (I’ll let you make your own mind up on that one) through they can undoubtedly be good fish catchers & have taken many, many big pike they are not one of my personal favourite lures of choice, although I do own & have used a few. I prefer the replicant type lures, amongst others, but maybe that’s just me. To troll with these type of lures, lead heads, as I call them (& I use the same methods to troll spoons) bear in mind that as they do not have a diving vane that if you go too fast they will come up towards the surface due to the pull on the line from the boat, so troll these lures at a slower speed than those with a diving vane. With these lead head type of lures (& spoons) I generally make a note of at what speed they are work/are active from & then troll at that minimum speed to keep them deep down in the water, by doing this you can fish them deep, deep, down. So again it’s a fine balance between not going so slow that the lure is in-active & not working, or too fast that it rises too high in the water.
Memorable Captures
Some memorable captures of good pike caught on trolled lures. The first was on a large reservoir. I got the tackle ready the day before as usual, which was a mild day. On waking up the next morning it started off as a cold day. The chosen venue usually produces the goods on lures, both cast & trolled, particularly trolled, on this occasion, I had also taken the bait fishing gear as a back up. Cold weather & cold water temperature with no takes on the lures saw me bait fishing, without a run. I have used again as a guide the surface water temperature to judge the minimum trigger temperature for takes, on this particular venue I have not had a take on a lure at a surface temp of below 40f. The temperature warmed up as the day went on, warming upto to just below 40, I reeled the bait rods in & started to troll, initially no takes were forthcoming. As the surface water temperature rose to just above 40 I got a take on one of my favourite lures the Rapala Rap-Shad. This resulted in a venue best pike for me of 17.10, I was made up. Fishing alone the camera & tri-pod were set up, a couple of quick photos & she was slipped back. Had I stuck it out bait fishing would I have caught? I only had the one take that day, but in the end that was all the opportunity that I needed to boat a decent pike.
The second capture was whilst boat fishing a large glacial lake, we had taken a few fish that trip on baits to double figures but it had gone quite. So we decided to troll along an area that can produce the goods. The first troll along the shelf at about the low 20ft mark failed to produce so we turned round & went over the area again, slightly further out, & slightly faster in about 25ft, a ploy that has worked before. As we reached the midway point around a good underwater feature, my rod went. Initially when I picked up the rod there was no movement, was I snagged?! No it started to move, it was a good fish, when it reached the surface my boat fishing partner that day Fire fighter Matt Keoh said ‘its defo a 20+’, I agreed, although I usually net my own fish Matt offered to do the honours (he is no slouch with the net), so I let him do the honours & he netted her expertly. She was quickly unhooked & Matt confirmed her weight to be 23.7, my P.B. for a lure caught pike. A few quick photos & she was returned flicking me with water with her tail as she went. Had we ‘stuck it out’ on the baits would we have caught this fish?
The third capture did not come to my rods but to newcomer to piking my mate Andy Cooke. Andy often has itchy feet & is always keen to try other areas of the larger lakes at random, however on this occasion we were trolling one of my favourite hotspots on a glacial lake, an area that often produces the goods to trolled lures, when other areas fail to produce. We were trolling in the 20ft+ depth band with the lures set to just trip the bottom a fair bit of the time & we got snagged up several times, then Andy’s rod started to bounce & he took his first lure caught pike on a trolled lure going 15.3. Half an hour later Andy set himself a new p.b. with a magnificent 19lb trolled lure fish setting himself an admirable target to beat in the future.

The Lures
Most of my trolling with lures is done in approximately the 10-30 ft range. I have in the past experimented with but no longer find it necessary for my fishing to use down riggers, preferring the use of self diving lures. I have experimented with assister vanes to get the lures to dive more deeply & although I have caught fish using these I don’t generally need to use them. I have used several of the well known lure suppliers including the Lure shack, Sovereign Super baits, Harris Angling & Neville Fickling’s Tackle-shop as well as the local tackle shops etc. Many companies such as Rapala, Musky Mania, Joe-Bucher, Mann’s, Storm & many others make some decent deep diving lures in various shapes, sizes, colours & patterns that are suitable for trolling. You can often get information from the supplier on how deep they will dive whilst trolling to use as a general guide for your own fishing. I will list a few of my own favourites that are well worth a try. Lures can be expensive, what I did whilst building my lure collection was to buy one lure a week to spread the cost, you don’t need a huge range of lures to catch fish, although it’s nice to have a decent selection available to use, some times I stick to the old favourites that have caught me many fish, other times I try something new, there are lures in my boxes that have not been used yet (come on Pikers I bet I’m not the only one) & I think that there is a fine line between being a lure angler & ending up a being a lure collector. Once again it’s a personal choice of how much expendable cash you have & how much you fish. Due to available space here I have limited the range of lures that I have listed here to two or three of each depth band as a starting point or to give you a change of lure if you need one. The info below is approximate only by depth band range as an indication ONLY & it’s best to experiment with the lures yourself (remember diving depth varies with line diameter/amount of line/trolling speed):
Shallow Range (may go 10-15ft)
Rapala ‘Super Shad Rap’’, infamous hard bodied lure, many good patterns
Musky Innovations ‘Shallow Invader’, rubber tail, black & silver or perch work for me.
Joe Bucher ‘Shallow Tail’, these lures are the second generation from the great shallow raider series, these lures are basically a cut down version of the old raiders with a grub type rubber tail
Deep Range (15-20+)
Musky Innovations ‘Deep Invader’, This lure has a solid main body & a rubber tail, it will dive to over 20ft, the silver & black pattern has worked well for me particularly on waters containing a lot of roach, the perch pattern has also been a good produces for me.
Joe Bucher Depth Tail, , these lures are the second generation from the great depth raider series, these lures are basically a cut down version of the old raiders with a grub type rubber tail these will dive to 20+
Very Deep Range (25+)
Mann’s ‘Magnum Stretch (30+)’, A large solid bodied lure that is available in various models to suit different diving depths, my favourite is the 30+, a real big boy of a lure that dives unassisted as the name says to over 30+! It’s worth saying that its smaller brothers that don’t dive as deep are also well worth a go. Holographic/prism style & red head have worked well for me.
‘Megabait’ (30+)! Very similar characteristics to the above lure. The large 30+ diver has caught me a good few fish. The colours/finish are a little different from the above but again the prism/holographic work well for me.
Storm ‘Deep Thunder’, Again a solid bodied lure, this lure is modestly priced & has put a few decent fish in the boat, it will in my experience dive upto about 25ft+ (rated to 30ft), the metallic finish ones have worked best for me.
So there we have a reasonable selection of lures that will get us trolling at depths from 10-30ft+
We all have our own little tricks to improve methods & there are more than there is room to list here, some of you may do things a little differently, each to their own. I hope that this has given you an interesting & thought provoking in-sight into trolling with lures.
Tight Lines
Jon Neafcy
(Wigan Piker)