23 minutes ago, Standard said:

upgrade

Lol let's bring in @Susky River Rat on this one

2 hours ago, gim said:

I wouldn't even consider trolling without rod holders anymore.

Rod holders also have a better hook up ratio if you ask me.

I've trolled for walleyes before and when you hold the rod you always want to set the hook a bit just like any other way of fishing. Just rips the crank out of their mouths.

Better to sit back, throw it in a holder, and enjoy the scenario. Pretty boring until you hook a good one. What's also boring is drifting or trolling around with a bottom bouncer. BORING.

IDK, I like to cast.

There’s a huge different between throwing a line out going to the next spot and trolling a 3-6 rod spread not getting it tangled and know exactly where to put each bait.

34 minutes ago, HawkeyeSmallie said:

IDK, I like to cast.

This ^

I've been trolling on the Great Lakes for trout and salmon before and it was ungodly boring. All we did was troll the open lake looking for a school in a desert of open water with down riggers. No thanks

I fish out of a 16' Alumacraft powered with 30 hp tiller, Terrova with auto-pilot and 4 rod holders. I'm pretty well set up to troll, HOWEVER... since I became more sedentary in retirement, I would be fast asleep before I reached the other side of the lake and ran out of water!

oe

55 minutes ago, Susky River Rat said:

There’s a huge different between throwing a line out going to the next spot and trolling a 3-6 rod spread not getting it tangled and know exactly where to put each bait.

I'm the former.

However, unlike several of you, I don't find trolling to be boring. Like I said at the beginning, trolling lets me really enjoy the day.

It is incredibly boring. Outside of salmon fishing, if I have to troll I would rather just go ride my dirtbike or take a nap.

Why don't I troll? The same reason I don't put out a run of jugs, it's not my preferred style of fishing. I like bass fishing with lures.

I like bluegill fishing with lures and worms on occasion. It's actually quite fun to catch bluegill on a tiny crankbaits.

2 minutes ago, Bazoo said:

Why don't I troll? The same reason I don't put out a run of jugs, it's not my preferred style of fishing. I like bass fishing with lures.

I like bluegill fishing with lures and worms on occasion. It's actually quite fun to catch bluegill on a tiny crankbaits.

Bazoo, I've been worried about you!!! Good to see you post, Buddy.

29 minutes ago, Swamp Girl said:

Bazoo, I've been worried about you!!! Good to see you post, Buddy.

Thanks. Miss all yall here.

I fall asleep !

I like to work my lures and see what presentations work the best. Part of fishing for me is throwing whatever lure out there and seeing if twitching, stop and go, letting it sit at the bottom, etc works.

If I’m trolling, it kinda takes a bit of the fun out of it for me.

I have landed a 12-4 and a 10-10 bass while trolling BITD, and numerous others over five pounds. I still troll occasionally, but can easily confirm that trolling accounts for less than 5% of my fishing time. If I troll these days, I am usually doing a sort of heat-check to see if bass are active in certain areas or to home into what they are doing, or maybe if I have a guest that isn't into the chuck-n-wind activities.

Ya know, I ask my self that question all the time while I'm on the water.

I've trolled in the salt for Stripers and Blues quite often.

But not in the fresh, and I'm in a kayak paddling sometimes crossing a 1/2 mile to get to another spot.

I even have rod holders with me while I'm on the water, and I know how to do it. I even have plugs with me that I could troll with.

Me thinks it's a mental block, or just the stubborn German side of me 🤔

11 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

Why don't you troll?

I troll in my kayak. I pedal at roughly 3 - 3 1/2 mph and troll a jerkbait or crankbait across a pond.

52 minutes ago, herder said:

or just the stubborn German side of me

Boy that sounds familiar ....

I troll for striped bass when they are running. I’ve haven’t caught any largemouth trolling, but I did catch a big bluegill one time. The rod tip was hanging over the gunnel and the inline spinner was in the water. I didn’t know it was in the water, thought I got snagged, I grabbed rod as it was going over, was surprised when a fish was on it.

Sometimes I will drag along a bobber step up with a wacky rig under it, does that count?

Good to see you back @Bazoo

If I’m moving from spot to spot and it’s not far, I’ll go full speed on the TM and throw out crank out and let it go to work.

We’ve caught a few pike doing this. When I was a teen my best friend and I used to troll around on his parents pontoon catching bass pretty regularly.

Trolling would be like watching paint dry to me. When I go out in the boat, part of the fun is being able to pin point casts to difficult high target spots. Fishing to me is like a game of darts. Can I hit that small hole in the mat behind all those pads. Can I throw that frog up on the bank and slowly pull it off. Can I adjust for a cross wind and hit that rock next to the bank.

All day long I’m looking for difficult targets and trying to adjust. If all is going well, I’m happy regardless of how many I catch. It’s a game!❤️

True trolling I do for stripers, with planer boards and four to six rods.

Outside of big water I pull a spinnerbait or medium diver when moving from place to place but I don’t consider that “trolling”. Technically it is, but pulling a bait while moving position is more like opportunity fishing.

I've trolled with a crankbait on my kayak a few times when running to waypoints, but I've never caught anything. And because it's forbidden in tournament fishing, it really doesn't cross my mind to try it.

28 minutes ago, Motoboss said:

I pull a spinnerbait or medium diver when moving from place to place but I don’t consider that “trolling”. Technically it is, but pulling a bait while moving position is more like opportunity fishing.

Yeah, I sorta, kinda do this, but I'm also exploring while travel trolling. This evening, I even tried trolling right alone the edge of the bog. It didn't work. The bass are under the overhanging bushes and trolling doesn't place my lures under the bushes.

Yeah, that’s why I use trolling as a selective method, using bigger equipment designed for particular trolling applications like walleye and stripers.

Pulling lures while moving in the canoe is an “always “ opportunity to pick up an extra fish I wouldn’t have. Plus I agree, moseying along leisurely enjoying nature is an added enjoyment.

14 hours ago, Susky River Rat said:

I have never trolled for bass. I haven’t caught bass trolling for musky at 5mph.

I troll for bass and I have often caught bass while trolling for musky.

@Dogface I guess I do not proof read lol. I have caught bass while trolling for musky.

I get that trolling can be quite involved. But it's not for me. I have trolled for many other species. But for me, it is way too 'passive'. I fish for bass almost exclusively now largely because for me, bass fishing is far more active than passive. Casting and directly imparting action are a big part of the appeal for me. A 4# catch while (randomly?) trolling to another spot is not anywhere near as satisfying as a 13 incher bagged by a perfect cast to a laydown.