Late Report

[minnesotatuff]

"During his seminar at Appledorns, Tony Roach said he likes to bang his cranks into rocks and let them dig into the bottom, and he mainly runs his rods in rod holders when he does this." ill bet it doesnt matter how many lures he loses... :-)

regards,

minnesotatuff

[PerchJerker]

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ill bet it doesnt matter how many lures he loses... :-)

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Could be, but he said he doesn't have a crankbait sponsor right now. I was surprised he left them in the rod holder so I asked him twice, and that's what he said

[Paul Waldowski]

I leave my rods in the rod holders about 99% of the time also. I like to keep those cranks banging on the rocks most of the time. At the first hint of a snag I will lift the rod up about 2 feet. Works every time, as I hardly ever lose a crank.

[Mykal]

What a great thread! I want to add that line counters help me to repeat a pattern once dialed in. (I need to calibrate them form the sounds of it). I run as far back as 125 to as short as 35 feet. Last week my buddy caught a 26" fatty only 25 feet back while he was fiddling with something on his reel. I too usually take out several (5-6) setups. From 30lb Stealth to Mono. Each has a purpose and it's place. Thicker line will float the baits up higher and I like this in the weeds, especially earlier in the fall. 10 20lb is ideal for my rock running, and very rarely these days but yes I too like Mono. 3 years back when we were getting alot of short strikes it seemed to help a bit with the added stretch value. Negative is the lack of feel. Another thing that was mentioned is crankbaits and there running depth. Most of my suspending Rouges actually float, my Huskies, suspend, some nose up, nose down, some float, and my favorite Rainbow HJ actually slowly sinks! My advice, if you have a bait that is working, pull it boatside and see what it is doing in the water if you can. We usually try to run and tune cranks BEFORE dark and set them aside. If nothing else it will give you confidence knowing the bait is performing for you. Last thing I want to add is rod length. I run a tiller kicker and If I am running short lines say 50-60 feet back I like an 8 foot rod to get away from the boat. I believe that the fish actually will drift away from the noise of the motor at times. This is another reason I feel "S" turns work, in addition to the pause and burst of speed aspect, in getting your lures over the fish.

[Dhenry]

I have to have my rod in my hand as I'm addicted to the bite of the walleye while trolling. sometimes it a smash, sometimes its a quick peck and others its just like you've pulled through a weed. I will have to admit though that it's kind've cool when you've got your rod in the holder to net a fish for someone and as you turn around you see your rod get snapped back. I agree with what Mike said about the line, but I've never used mono while trolling. Also, I've never really checked to see how my baits sat in the water...I've only made sure they are running correctly.

[rodmaker]

I use a G. Loomis IXM, ML 7' 10" (custom built). I believe the longer rod & Med light action works better for trolling because of the hooksetting sweep on the initial hookset & and it absorbs any runs the Eyes make or the initial hookset. If you sometimes use a Med to med heavy rod, they rip the hook out because of too much backbone, and not a soft enough tip. Helps also if someone has their drags set too tight.

[Team Otter]

Those darn rock fishermen.

Great information everyone! Bring on the November full moon.

[Bigeye30"]

Wow this thread has alot of great info, the one thing that i use for boat control, in wind, or situations that I can run the kicker, is to use the kicker for power only, i lock the kicker down and fine tune my speed then I steer everything with the bowmount, for me this has worked great in wind, when I dont feel like running the bow mount at full thrust all night and burning the batteries. Thanks all for the info This also allows a very fine tune of speed, through the adjusment of the bow mounts power.

[MuleShack]

That is a good idea.

The wind was my big problem with the console steering with a kicker, where if you take your hand off the wheel for a second to tie a line or put a new bait on...the boat would be swinging around. That would help keep the front in line better.

[minnesotatuff]

any of you guys going out soon? it looks like after tomorrow the highs are only a little above freezing. couple that with some wind/spray and youve got the most extreme walleye fishing weather. the last night last fall we had ice on the gunnels. thats a little extreme for me anymore. its like icefishing in the rain... at 55, i can honestly say, "been there, done that" and i dont need to do it again. :-)

however, im glued to the reports and trying to absorb all the information i can from all of you. its like being a little kid in a candy store. thanks again!

regards,

minnesotatuff

[Team Otter]

I'm going to decide Thursday on whether or not to head North.

[Tyler Holm]

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I'm going to decide Thursday on whether or not to head North.

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Thinkin' I'll be there Sat evening!

[MuleShack]

I did Tonka last weekend. Might do that again on saturday OR might come north...depending on how strong the wind is.

[rodmaker]

How did you do???

[MuleShack]

caught one 18" eye and a bass trolling and Goggleeye caught a nice musky over 40". I'll have to post a pic on the metro site when i get a chance. all C&R'd

[crazyice]

Sounds like the wind on Saturday shouldn't be much of a problem, like 6mph tops during the day and almost nil at night.