The speed at which you troll determine the depth and action of the lure that you use. By changing the trolling speeds, you also change the depth and action of the lure. If the trolling speed is too slow for the type of bait that you are using, the bait will sink too deep into the water or it may foul the propeller of your fishing boats.
Conversely, if the trolling speed is too fast for the bait that you are are using, the bait will rise towards the surface of the water and you will miss the area where the fish is located. The optimal trolling speed for most fishing rigs are between one and five miles per hour. If you troll outside of this speed range, your lure will become less predictably in there movement through the water.
How Trolling Speed Changes Lure Depth and Action
For example, diving lures use a plastic lip to force the bait to move downward through the water. However, if the trolling speed is too fast for the diving lure, the water will push against that plastic lip and force the diving lure to move upwards toward the surface of the water. Thus, fast trolling speeds will force diving lures to move to more shallower depths in the water.
Cranking baits use the angle of the lip that dive into the water to determine the depth of the lure. Crankbaits with a steep lip angle, such as thirty degrees, will dive to deeper depths then crankbaits with a more gradual lip angle. Such deep diving crankbaits is useful for catching walleye that live in water depths of between ten and twenty feet.
Additionally, using lighter fishing line will allow the crankbaits to travel to greater depths. For example, using a crankbait at a trolling speed of two and a half miles per hour may cause the crankbait to remain between ten and twelve feet in depth. However, trolling at three miles per hour may change the depth at which the crankbait dive into the water.
Lead core lines are a different type of fishing rig altogether. Lead core lines are heavy with lead and, therefore, tend to sink to the bottom of the location in which they is being used. Additionally, you can determine the depth of the lead core line by counting the number of color change on the fishing line; each color change represents ten yard of fishing line.
However, the same principle that applies to cranking baits also apply to lead core lines; if you increase the trolling speed, the lead core line will move to shallower depths in the water. Thus, if deeper depths of water are targeted, the trolling speed must be decreased. Planer boards are fishing line spreader that add depth to the line.
Some planer boards are inline versions that can be clipped onto the fishing line, and inline planer boards are useful for catching pike in depths of between five and fifteen feet. Other planer boards use a mast structure to hold the fishing line. Using the mast allow fishermen to spread many lines simultaneously into the water.
Additionally, the same principle apply to planer boards as to cranking baits; if the trolling speed is increased to speeds like four miles per hour, the fish line will move to shallower depths. Downriggers are fishing rigs that provide more precision in the movement of the bait to the fish than do free-line rigs. Downriggers use a heavy weight to hold the lure at a specific depth.
The trolling speed of the downrigger lines can also impact the depth at which the lure is held; if you increase the trolling speed, the angle at which the line hang from the downrigger will increase. An increased angle mean that the lure will be shallower than the set depth on the downrigger. For example, using a ten-pound weight with a downrigger trolling at two and a half miles per hour can hold a lure at a depth of thirty feet.
The action that the lure exhibit while being trolled at various speeds changes based off the trolling speed. For example, trolling speeds as slow as one and a half miles per hour will cause the lure to make a slow, wide wobble in the water that is useful for fishing in cold water temperatures. However, trolling speeds between two and a half and three miles per hour will cause the lure to vibrate at its peak; this vibration is the setting that are ideal for catching walleye.
However, trolling speeds above three and a half miles per hour will cause spoons and flashers to rise towards the surface of the water with flashing light. Each type of fish require a specific trolling speed and rig. For example, you can catch walleye using cranking baits at a trolling speed of two miles per hour.
Salmon live in deeper waters in which flashers or tubes attached to downriggers is used. Pike like to chase spoons at fast speeds in shallow waters. Additionally, muskie use large diving lures at a trolling speed of five miles per hour.
Thus, by using the correct fishing rig for the type of fish that is being targeted and by trolling at the appropriate speed, you will catch the fish more frequentley.