Prop Wash?

[Pete Collin]

I love early spring trolling, but never get to go enough each year to get good at it. One thing I don't have a handle on is when the fish want to hit a lure in your prop wash. Last year I was out I'm March with my buddy, and we got 6 browns. Feeling good, we met guys at the launch who had a 25 fish day. They were very nice and tried not to be condescending.  Turns out the secret was that they were running long leads off their planer boards, which were let out far from the boat. What I gathered from that was that the fish can be skittish of your boat. Next trip out I used long leads and fdid far better.  What I wonder about is that I remember trips where I put a lead core with a snap weight right behind the kicker. In 10 foot of water, it got a lot of the action. What determines that?  Why would fish be either spooked by the boat or attracted by the churning propeller,,?  I never get to make enough trips to figure it out for myself. 

[Gill-T]

Always give’em a little of both to keep them honest. 

[Legacy]

  On 4/8/2025 at 10:17 PM, Pete Collin said:

I love early spring trolling, but never get to go enough each year to get good at it. One thing I don't have a handle on is when the fish want to hit a lure in your prop wash. Last year I was out I'm March with my buddy, and we got 6 browns. Feeling good, we met guys at the launch who had a 25 fish day. They were very nice and tried not to be condescending.  Turns out the secret was that they were running long leads off their planer boards, which were let out far from the boat. What I gathered from that was that the fish can be skittish of your boat. Next trip out I used long leads and fdid far better.  What I wonder about is that I remember trips where I put a lead core with a snap weight right behind the kicker. In 10 foot of water, it got a lot of the action. What determines that?  Why would fish be either spooked by the boat or attracted by the churning propeller,,?  I never get to make enough trips to figure it out for myself. 

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In Spring, more often than not long lines seem to out produce everything else in the boat. However... Im always amazed at how well my divers have on certain days. And some of those days I can literally see my diver in the water,

[HB2]

I think what happens , especially in shallow water , is the boat spooks the fish to each side of the boat to get out of the way . Your divers ( and boards )  are in the right spot so as to put the lure right in their face . Prop wash they see the turbulence and curious fish check it out 

[reeltrout]

What do you think of running a kicker motor instead of the big motor for shallow water fishing? Do you think the smaller motor would scare less fish? I have a kicker motor I just hav'nt put on the boat yet.