I was fishing the other day on the river on a cold very windy day and started to get frustrated casting into the wind wit no results.  I decided to troll lizards which always produce strikes for me when bites are scarce.  I wasn't having much luck with the lizard either so I grabbed my crankbait rod and started trolling a kvd black/chartreuse 1.5 squarebill at the slowest trolling speed my 90 hp merc will go which is 3.5 mph out of curiosity and desperation.  Holy crap what a surprise.  I caught  5 in a 100 yard stretch that were very good size in aboyt 30 minutes.  Thought it might be a fluke so I tried it the last couple of times I have gone fishing and once again had remarkable results.  The cool thing is that it is a great search method.  Once I catch a few fish this way I plop the trolling motor down and fish the surrounding areas by casting and have produced quite a bit of fish.  Just curious if others have tried this. 

Yes. That was standard operating procedure for me and my buddy out of his small boat with no fish finder. we liked to troll white grubs on a jig head and rapala jerk baits/floaters

You can use the search tool and read several "trolling" threads.

Frowned on by today's bass anglers, standard angling practice 40+ years ago.

Trolling crank baits with high HP outboard would be difficult to control the speed and technique. The walleye anglers still do a lot of trolling.

Tom

Welcome to trout fishing in 17 degree weather. I pull a minnow jerkbait behind the boat in December and January. Covering water for scattered fish. It's boring, but beating the bank at these Temps is painful, and ice in the guides is a pain.

I fished with my ex's dad a few years ago. We had fished for hours without a bite. So he says "wanna troll some crank baits back to the ramp". I said yes...but was thinking this will be a waste. In less than an hour we landed about 7-8 nice bass. No real pigs but I think all were keepers except for one if I remember right. People can frown all they want but it was fun. I don't troll much, but occasionally I'll troll back to the ramp and usually pick up one or two.

3.5 mph, man that's fast for trolling.

 

I do a good bit of trolling for walleye, and we always catch bass along the way, and it seems that 0.8 - 1.2 mph is the golden speed zone for trolling. Any faster and we don't get anything, any slower and the baits don't work or dive properly. 

Trolling was SOP on Lake Ontario back in the 90s, for me.  Catch three on a pass, you anchor up, and start soaking tubes.

I prefer trolling with The Rig and big deep divers. This method is productive and

a lot of bass are caught in places you would never consider fishing.

Yep, I always liked throwing a Bagley's Dredge crankbait... Then trolling, caught Bass/ striper.. Plus learned some neat details about the lake..

Trolling for bass has become passe' because it's not permitted in BASS and FLW tournaments.  That doesn't mean it's not effective!  In fact, tournament anglers get around the prohibition by "long lining" - casting a bait out, then using the trolling motor to move the boat a hundred yards away before starting their retrieve.  That's just a very tedious and time consuming way to get the same effect as you get trolling a bait.  Ideal freshwater trolling speeds are usually 1-2 mph, which is lower than most bass boats can go. 

I've got my boat specifically rigged to troll. Not just cranks but bottom bouncers with spinner/crawler harnesses work great too for locating deep fish. Dont even need live bait for em just throw a gulp earth worm on. I have a drift sock that I can rig off the back of my boat to slow down my big motor. I will usually let the terrova on the front do the steering and the big motor for pushing. I think the reason its frowned upon in the bass world is cause it is against the rules during the tournament. But lets face it when we see them in the tournament most guys know where there fish are already and dont need the method to land fish. I know a few of the guys that will troll cranks practicing to locate fish. I think alot of guys just fool themselves that its not being done when in fact it really is. I dont know about the rest of ya but I like catching fish and if a tactic is going to help me solve the puzzle faster im going to do it.

I've got my boat specifically rigged to troll. Not just cranks but bottom bouncers with spinner/crawler harnesses work great too for locating deep fish. Dont even need live bait for em just throw a gulp earth worm on. I have a drift sock that I can rig off the back of my boat to slow down my big motor. I will usually let the terrova on the front do the steering and the big motor for pushing. I think the reason its frowned upon in the bass world is cause it is against the rules during the tournament. But lets face it when we see them in the tournament most guys know where there fish are already and dont need the method to land fish. I know a few of the guys that will troll cranks practicing to locate fish. I think alot of guys just fool themselves that its not being done when in fact it really is. I dont know about the rest of ya but I like catching fish and if a tactic is going to help me solve the puzzle faster im going to do it.

I couldn't agree more.  We aren't all pro's and unless you are a tournament fisherman (I am not)  at the end of the day it's about catching fish.  When I get tired it's always fun to troll around a bit.  The older I get I'm sure the more trolling I will do! 

trolling is standard procedure for me a lot of days in the kayak....  when moving from spot to spot, i will throw a small crank out and let it roll.  if i get bit, i may fish that spot for a minute or two before moving on.  i remember one day catching at least 8 in about 2 hours just paddling with a KVD 1.5 tied on...  actually had 2 of them out, but only got bit on the gizzard shad pattern i think it was and never bit on the sexy shad.

Good search tool. I like it when you find deeper structure and don't want to get all set up positioning the boat and trying to make a perfect cast. Throw a diver out the back and make a few passes over the area to see if there are active fish around. Great time saver.

I wonder why trolling motors are called "trolling" motors....