Wiper Questions

[Bowboy]

For those of you who use the producers and rapalas at willard, how fast do you troll them? I tried 2.5-3 mph and that looked like it was too fast. When I slowed down I was dragging bottom. Also how much line are you letting out? I'm casting as far as I can then letting out a little from there. Is that too much?

Thanks.
[signature]

[fishinfool]

Thats perfect,dont change a thing,your trying to get a reaction strike when trolling that fast,wipers are very fast predators and I have seen them swim by at alot faster than that.

Later,FNF
[signature]

[prov17]

Don't cast your lures out when you're trolling them, too much chance of the line getting wrapped up in the hooks, then your lure will just be rolling in circles behind you and twisting up your line. Allways make sure the lure is tracking true by running it along side the boat for a few seconds especially just after releasing a large fish. If the lure is running to one side or the other you can bend the eyelet (where your line attaches to it) slightly to one side or the other and get it tracking straight again. That works for rapala's at least, I have never fished with producers so I'm not sure about them.

As for speed, 2.5 - 3 mph is not to fast at all, in fact when water temps warm up and the fishes metabolism speed up, I troll even faster than that.

Unless the lake is real crowded and you're dodging boats, I would let out about twice as much line as you are now, you want to keep it quite aways from the boat. Steer the boat in an S pattern instead of a straight line, that will keep your lures from running directly behind your boats wake and will also make the lure on the outside of the turn run faster while slowing down the lure on the inside of the turn, you can then determine which lure is getting hit more often and adjust your speed accordingly.

Good luck with the Wipers.
[signature]

[polokid]

I am no expert by any means, but this time of year I like to troll for wipers right around 3 mph, in the warmer months, i kick it up to between 3.5 and 4 sometimes.
[signature]

[Gumbo]

Prov17 is right on the mark. The only thing I can add about speed when trolling crankbaits is that each crankbait has a speed at which it works best. 3 mph is too fast for many lures and they will blow out and rise to the surface. So when using a particular crankbait, pay close attention to how the lure is running and run at the speed that imparts the best action for that particular bait. If it happens to be 2.0 mph, then you're only washing your lures if you go faster and cause them to blow out.

If you want to troll faster, then find a crankbait that runs good at higher speeds. I often troll 5 mph or better for tiger muskies or stripers at Lake Powell, but you can't do that with any old lure.

So in short, pay attention to how your lure runs and troll at the optimum speed for that lure. Watch your rod tip and it will tell you.