Here's an article written by Paul which appeared
in the Fall '07 issue of "The Next Bite - Esox" magazine.
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Vermilion
Trolling Tips
It was a cloudy, dreary October day. My friend and fishing
partner, Garrett Plotnik and I were trolling. I was watching
my rod rhythmically strumming along to the beat of a Jake
when it suddenly bent hard and then returned to its original
position. I shot out of the seat and grabbed the rod from the
holder about the same time Garrett shouted, "big fish!" I
already knew it was big just from the dead weight. After
a good battle which included another jump, we slid the fish
into the Big Kahuna. The muskie was 54 inches long, and because
neither of us had a soft tape in the boat that day, no girth
measurement was taken. Based on other fall fish which I have
girthed in the water, I'm guessing it at 27 to 28 inches, simply
a hawg.
The catch and release of that fish was the start of a wonderful
two week stretch of trolling which induced some lasting
memories. In this article, I'll convey some tactics and
presentations gained through years of trolling experience on
Lake Vermilion and other northern Minnesota lakes. On
Lake Vermilion, the whole fall muskie movement is based on
the spawning rituals of whitefish and tulibees, with the
whitefish spawning around 43 to 47 degrees and the tulibees
in the upper 30 to low 40 degree range. Well before the
actual spawning movement, the fish are staged in the open
water very close to the spawning areas. I staLt trolling when
the water temperature gets below about 55 degrees and
fish right until ice up. I know the topic ot turnover is always
mentioned about now. I fish right through it and I don't pay
a lot of attention to it. Whether I'm trolling suspended open
water fish or break lines which serve as travel ways for
muskies at turnover, the muskies are there and catchable.
I use the St. Croix PGM8OHM trolling rod with heavy power
and moderate action in an 8-foot length. The glass rod loads
up perfectly for working minnow baits through rocks with
minimal snaging because of the moderate action. And the
length is awesome for spreading the lures out from the boat
and fighting a muskie.
I use large line counter reels spooled with 80 pound Power
Pro line. 50-75 feet of line gets my baits to the depth that I
want them running. Both on the breakline or out after suspended
fish, I want my lures to run about 8 to l4 feet down. I
use a 48-inch straight wire or fluorocarbon leader with a
heavy-duty crosslock snap in 100 pound test or greater.
These leaders will take a beating and reduce the amount of
wear and tear on your line. For lures, I use Jakes and Believers
in the 10, 13-1/2, and 14-inch lengths. I use both straight and
jointed Believers, with a jointed model offering more thump
and vibration. As far as color goes, people make too much
fuss about it. I use firetiger, orange tiger, silver and black,
and redhorse sucker in no particular order. I've caught fish
on all of them in all kinds of weather. My preference on
sunny days leans toward red or orange with lots of contrast.
If the muskies don't seem to be going
on the breakline,
try tolling a hundred
or two hundred yards out into
the basin.
A lot of times, even if you aren't
graphing
baitfish or muskies, the fish
are still there and catchable.
I try to key on edges. Rather than fishing mid-lake basin
structure, I fish island clusters on the edge of the main lake
basin. Throw in a couple long points and some reefs and
you've got a prime spot. Find a spot where the whitefish and
tulibees are spawning and the muskies aren't far away. I talk
to whitefish netters and see what kind of success they're
having. This has a direct effect on my success. The
whitefish and tulibees spawn on rock, gravel, or sand, with
shallow rock piles and the edges of islands being prime
spots. Pay attention to your electronics to see baitfish
moving onto spawning structure in the late afternoon and
back off in the morning, as well as pods of fish in the open
water slightly off the structure. Sometimes you will also see large
hooks, which can be muskies around the baitfish.
The best advice I can give is to vary your tactics and fish hard. I'll
start out trolling the breakline with the lures running 8 to 14 feet
down, and I'll make several passes over a spot, usually with a
combination of jakes and believers with the rods in the holders
and the drag set fairly snug with just enough play to give if it
snags. Don't just zombie troll, but be diverse in your presentation. If
there is a spine sticking off a reef, crash it several times and vary
your speed. Run your baits up hard into an inside turn and hard back out
again. Variety really is the key. But when you find something that
works, try it again. Often a prime spot will produce multiple fish. I prefer
steep breaks because they concentrate the fish more.
If the muskies don't seem to be going on the breakline, try
trolling a hundred or two hundred yards out into the basin. A
lot of times, even if you aren't graphing baitfish or muskies, the
fish are still there and catchable. Also, if there is a cluster of
islands separated by 1/4 or 1/2 mile, go ahead and troll the area
between them. This is going to be a staging area for whitefish and
tulibees as well as muskies looking for dinner. Another option is
to run a line out on a planer board to spread out your lines.
Sometimes running a board with a bait 10 feet behind it
and in 'tight to the structure can be effective.
My friend and fishing partner Arvid Pajunen and I were
trolling and getting numb watching the rods thumping
in the holders when the topic came up as to what would produce a fish. I
said that "if it cleared up right now I bet we'd have a window
where the fish would go nuts, it's been the same for too many days
and that change would open a window." I don't claim to be
prophetic, but an hour later the skies opened up, the sun shined
down and I moved the boat out a ways off of a reef we had been
working in tight. His clicker screamed and we were soon photographing and
releasing a 50-inch muskie with a 25-inch girth. Yes, I remembered my soft tape
that day. Within five minutes of starting again my clicker barked
and I battled a 46-1/2-inch fish to the boat, where it was promptly
released after a quick photo. What this story illustrates is two
changes that resulted in two quick muskies. One, moving out off the edge
of the structure and into the deeper water for suspended fish, and two
the weather change at which time I moved to a prime spot that
has produced a lot of fish. If you experience weather change like
this, get on a favorite that has produced in the past quickly. This
is not a time to be prospecting a new spot. Everyone gets fired up
when a storm or low front approaches, but often a clearing
of the weather has the same effect on the fish.
Pay attention to your electronics to see
baitfish moving
onto spawning structure
in the late afternoon ane back
off in
the morning, as well as pods of fish
in the open
water slightly off the
structure. Sometimes you will
also see
large hooks, which can be muskies
around
the baitfish.
The muskie described in the beginning of this article was
caught trolling the breakline, but some days that just isn't going to
work. Be flexible. Another often overlooked option is night
trolling. I know the thought of being on the water in the dark in
the late fall is not appealing to some people, but it works. If the
baitfish are up spawning, the muskies are sure to be around
and can be caught. I usually slow my speed down a hair to 2 or 2.5
mph or even slower, and I sometimes hold my rod instead of having
it in the holder - easier to detect a fish and make sure the
reel clicker is on. Just try to night troll with a partner and always
wear a PFD. As far as trolling alone at night, it's not a good
idea. I do it, but I always have my PFD on and my kill switch
hooked up. There are a lot of things that can go wrong, especially
at night, including getting hooked by a fish. Be careful.
In closing, I'll mention a bit about speed. I constantly vary my
speed, accelerating into a turn and back out of it. My speed is
usually somewhere from 3 to 4.5 mph. Very rarely do I troll faster,
but I try to vary my speed within that range. When I find a speed
that works I stick with it. Here's an example of varying speed:
Once I was trolling with a young man, Rory Chopp, and as I
worked my way across a long finger projecting out from a reef, I
sped up and the lure bounced its way over the finger and into an
inside turn. Just as the Jake dropped into the deeper water,
the clicker screamed and Rory picked up the rod and battled in a
48-inch fall fattie, his first muskie. This fish was triggered by
a change in speed on a day that had thus far been unproductive -
just another example of being flexible and varying tactics to
achieve fall success. If multiple passes through an area don't produce,
try a quick increase in speed followed by a sharp decrease when working
up into an inside turn or out over a spine or projection.
Keep an open mind and vary your tactics to achieve fall trolling success.
Paul is a native of Virginia, Minnesota
and guides on Lake Vermilion in
northern Minnesota.
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