spring trolling................

[finnlander]

this will be my first year fishing lake ont and need some help. i.ll be fishing from port hope to pickering. from the posts i gather that early spring means flatlining in water 10 to 20 or 30 ft? what lures or spoons do best and i think you have to troll far behind the boat so as not to spook the fish. how far and whats the best kind of line to use and is it the same for rainbows or are they deeper? thank you

[pikeopay]

finnlander,

 

I fish out of Oak Orchard and troll with my 17.5 tracker boat (40hp) and fish anywhere from 50ft to 5ft of water in early spring through about the 1st week in june, I flat line with 2 lines generally 60 to100 feet back depending on the clarity of the water and do the same with my 2 down riggers (I will fish the downriggers 8ft to the bottom if Im in that 20ft to 50ft range), I try to fish a mud line if possible and kind of zig zag in and out of it. I like to fish with stickbaits  the Bomber 15A's in  different colors and Dream Weaver spoons (Mag size) Purple and green worked great for me last season though my biggest brown 18lb 6oz last season came on a wonder bread Bomber, Believe me I'm no expert and a lot of it is trial and error but that is part of the fun. I have been out there on days when I caught as many fish as a charter boat  and days when I can't catch a fish while other boats are killing them but thats fishhing. Oh 1 more thing my trolling speed is between 2.0 & 2.5 Good Luck !

[pikeopay]

finnlander,

 

I use stren mono 17-20lb and I do catch browns, coho's, & steelies with the some Laker's and King's using the methods I posted to you in my 1st reply to your post. 

[finnlander]

finnlander,

 

I fish out of Oak Orchard and troll with my 17.5 tracker boat (40hp) and fish anywhere from 50ft to 5ft of water in early spring through about the 1st week in june, I flat line with 2 lines generally 60 to100 feet back depending on the clarity of the water and do the same with my 2 down riggers (I will fish the downriggers 8ft to the bottom if Im in that 20ft to 50ft range), I try to fish a mud line if possible and kind of zig zag in and out of it. I like to fish with stickbaits  the Bomber 15A's in  different colors and Dream Weaver spoons (Mag size) Purple and green worked great for me last season though my biggest brown 18lb 6oz last season came on a wonder bread Bomber, Believe me I'm no expert and a lot of it is trial and error but that is part of the fun. I have been out there on days when I caught as many fish as a charter boat  and days when I can't catch a fish while other boats are killing them but thats fishhing. Oh 1 more thing my trolling speed is between 2.0 & 2.5 Good Luck !

thanks loads....... your advice is well taken, gives me a good place to start.when i read all the posts it gets a little confusing maybe i.m trying to learn too much too fast thanks again what you say seems to make sense.

[dreucarver]

You can get a lot of info from "Great Lakes Angler" Magazine the recent issue had some very good advice for early season and transition to summer trolling advice  for Browns.

Also try last years spring addition as I recall it also had very good early seasos advice