GPS speeds

[180ccf]

I can't buy a bite out here. I read all these reports of guys going out just for a look and boating several fish on 1 hour on a whim. I go out for 8 hours of hardcore trolling and I got no releases in 8 hours (changing speeds, depth and lures flys you name it). So my guess is speed is my enemy. I don't have a Fish Hawk. All the fish I have caught this year have been south troll only fish at 2.6mph. What surface speeds on GPS are you guys going out of the ROC / ibay area. The down currents are crazy out here. Pulling the riggers under the boat on an east / west troll. This morning it looks like the thermocline is at 55 on the graph and all the marks say 55 also. Is anyone fishing deeper than 55 this morning out of IBay. I am in 150 to 250 down 50 to 80 across my spread with 4 rods out. This morning we're running Coyote Ugly and Northern King mags. 

[Grand Slam11]

Northern kings are a heavy spoon. A fish hawk is a game changer but without one I would rather be trolling too fast than too slow. I’d go 3mph speed over ground. Try and keep your lines pulling straight so adjust your direction to do so. 

[TheToadHunter]

I can't buy a bite out here. I read all these reports of guys going out just for a look and boating several fish on 1 hour on a whim. I go out for 8 hours of hardcore trolling and I got no releases in 8 hours (changing speeds, depth and lures flys you name it). So my guess is speed is my enemy. I don't have a Fish Hawk. All the fish I have caught this year have been south troll only fish at 2.6mph. What surface speeds on GPS are you guys going out of the ROC / ibay area. The down currents are crazy out here. Pulling the riggers under the boat on an east / west troll. This morning it looks like the thermocline is at 55 on the graph and all the marks say 55 also. Is anyone fishing deeper than 55 this morning out of IBay. I am in 150 to 250 down 50 to 80 across my spread with 4 rods out. This morning we're running Coyote Ugly and Northern King mags. 

I also don’t have a Fish Hawk, so GPS speed, diver rod bend, and Downrigger cable angles are all I rely on. My 150HP Yamaha also only gives me two somewhat OK trolling speeds, so I’m fairly limited. It’s between 1.75-3.25 mph depending on wind, waves and current.

I’ll troll until I find fish and then change troll directions. If I don’t get hit between 4 directions I’ll change spoons and try again, speed up, or go find new fish.

I’m no trolling expert, so take this as you will, but I will run different sized spoons and spoon brands on the riggers until I find out which ones are providing the best action/hits at the speeds I’m limited to for the day. Dreamweaver Standards generally give me the best action, Michigan Stingrays are next, mags/super slims/stingers/NK all have their place too.

Good luck out there! Wish I could be out today.

Mike


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[HB2]

So Look at the angle of your cables as judge of speed . 

 

If you have 12# weights and you have 90 ft of cable out , your angle back should be about 30 deg . If they are 10# more angle . 

 

You should be slow  turning constantly with , against ,and sideways to the waves so your lures are going the right speed at least some of the time.  Look at GPS speed and direction of troll on hit . 

 

Standard and Mag spoons in the PROVEN colors for best chance of hits 

 

 without speed indicator , your dipseys should be your best producers . 

 

You can get a surface speed temp probe add on for your depth finder which will help a lot for not a lot of money . I used one for years before my fish hawk . 

 

 

 

[RH93]

Have you tried throwing in some turns while trolling? See if you get any hits from rods on the inside or outside of the turn?

 

I use a moor sub troll, and the speeds we get at depth are not that much different compared to what the gps says. But we are over here in Mexico Bay, maybe our currents aren't as bad as yours out west. 

 

We were out all day yesterday, water temps were pretty warm all the way down to 120', Salmon bite was non existent.  marked alot of fish in 190 FOW but had no cooperation.

 

Came in to 90' and had some good luck with the browns. 

 

[RH93]

Have you tried throwing in some turns while trolling? See if you get any hits from rods on the inside or outside of the turn?

 

I use a moor sub troll, and the speeds we get at depth are not that much different compared to what the gps says. But we are over here in Mexico Bay, maybe our currents aren't as bad as yours out west. 

 

We were out all day yesterday, water temps were pretty warm all the way down to 120', Salmon bite was non existent.  marked alot of fish in 190 FOW but had no cooperation.

 

Came in to 90' and had some good luck with the browns. 

 

[Andiamo Outdoors]

What are u using for the setup? Weighted line, dipseys, riggers? How heavy/ long of a leader? What color spoons and flys?

 

One unproductive troll may just be bad luck but repeated days of unproductive 8hr trolls and there is something flawed in your spread that goes beyond speed.

[the czar]

I fished all last week with a fish hawk. To maintain 2.4/2 .5 at the ball i was fairly steady at 2.7 to 3.2 on GPS. Each day and direction differed of coarse but that's the best consistency I had

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[180ccf]

As asked, our setup is mostly NK spoons (mags right now). I have boated fish, they hit mostly black/purple and green glow. I do have spin doctors and flys, dodgers, flashers. No diver rods (I have them with mono but don't use them). I run Scotty riggers with 12# Cannon, balls and Roemer releases. Speeds are between 2 and 3 on GPS mostly 2.5ish. I will add I have been fishing this lake since the 70s and have won a derby with these fish. The past few years with new gear has been tough. I should go back to the old Proos downrigger and the old Heartland Diawa rods and Sealine reels they worked great for me. Thanks for all the great tips. Many we have tried. Some guys today came by my boat when they were pulling their boat out and said they boated 10 fish. When we compared notes we ran almost the same stuff, same speeds and depths except he did a laker program with cow bells and that did well for him. My cow bells are in my storage locker. 

[dickey]

Before I had a fish hawk I went off my dipsey rod bend and drag setting. I had a good bend and clicker on drag would click every so often. If I was going to fast the bend would be severe and drag would start clicking more . Too slow and there was not much bend in the rod. I sent my dipsey drags so it was easy to pull like by hand with a little effort. 

[Jack ozyp]

On 8/6/2022 at 7:50 AM, 180ccf said:

I can't buy a bite out here. I read all these reports of guys going out just for a look and boating several fish on 1 hour on a whim. I go out for 8 hours of hardcore trolling and I got no releases in 8 hours (changing speeds, depth and lures flys you name it). So my guess is speed is my enemy. I don't have a Fish Hawk. All the fish I have caught this year have been south troll only fish at 2.6mph. What surface speeds on GPS are you guys going out of the ROC / ibay area. The down currents are crazy out here. Pulling the riggers under the boat on an east / west troll. This morning it looks like the thermocline is at 55 on the graph and all the marks say 55 also. Is anyone fishing deeper than 55 this morning out of IBay. I am in 150 to 250 down 50 to 80 across my spread with 4 rods out. This morning we're running Coyote Ugly and Northern King mags. 

Fish hawk for down speed and temp 

[john1947]

I always went by the humm on rigger cables .for fall kings 3 to 4 did the trick

A diamond king abou 40 back with a silver bullet stacked 10 above behind the spoon

All hits were almost violent

Hard to get the rod free

The good old days

[greenhornet73]

I haven’t trolled a lot up there and also don’t have a fish hawk but it has been helpful to watch other boats trolling direction and try to fish the same speed from a distance and remember those speeds in each direction before I venture off away from the pack.  You’ll notice a pattern with your DR cables and dipsey rod bends after a while to get a rough idea of down speed. Those currents can be crazy down there.

[ncej03]

It's been tough out there.  Stocking numbers are way down.  Not seeing allot of fish around.   I'm constantly looking at my SOG compared to downsized.   2.6-3.2 SOG will keep you in the range 90% of the time.   In my experience.   Allot of good advice above watching downriver blowback and especially the dipsy pull.   That was my indicator for many years. 

[Jack ozyp]

Last charter tomorrow out of Wilson, fishing is tough, heading to Florida in 2 weeks 

[sherman brown]

it shouldn't be much longer until the fish start staging off the river mouths. but until then troll your spoons at 3.0 to 3.5 gps speeds for summer kings. I troll spoons in Erie for walleye at speeds of 2.8 to 3.2 and catch lots of fish. kings will want they're lures as fast as walleye or faster.

 

as for your dr cables going under the boat that's not a sign of under currents but rather the direction the wind is blowing, or the top of the lake is moving. we have the same problem on Erie when trolling cross current to the waves. the waves pushes the boat and on the downward side the cables tend to be going toward the boat while the other side will be going away from the boat. even our divers will run to the upside of the boat and will cause tangles when reeling in fish but is much worse when letting them back out. but now, if at all possible, I troll with the wind for better control. the speed will jump around but I'm not sure that's such a bad thing.