trolling depth for lures

[salmotrutta]

Hey all you wiper fisherman. How do you know how deep your lures are? Are there any resources on the internet that show the dive curves for prism shads, shad raps, etc. at various speeds. This has always been a mystery to me.
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[Theekillerbee]

The best info can be found in the Precision Trollers Guide. The big problem now is that the book has a new revision, so no one has the new one yet, and everyone is sold out of the old one [] Cabelas might be the only place I can think of to get a copy right now.

Most rattlers, and shad-raps troll around 8-12 feet, depending on line out and speed, but that is a pretty fair guess on depth.
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[Kent]

I own the Precision Trollers Guide that I am going to put on the "For Sale" board when I get around to doing it.
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[RipNLips]

Most lure dive curves I've seen are based on a particular speed and line type. The only variables are distance behind boat and depth. Boat speed and line type do make a difference. Dive curves have never worked very well for me.

Instead of using a dive curve, do a reality check. Find some water that's the depth you want your lure to go, get your boat up to the speed you want to go, and start letting your lure out slowly (or faster and pause periodically to let it dive) until it starts bumping the bottom. Check it by reeling a bit of line in. It should stop bumping the bottom. You probably don't have a line counter (I don't), so use a permanent marker (or another line marking method) and put a mark on your line so you can match the distance behind the boat again-and-again.

The amount of line you've let out may not be desirable. You may thinks it's too little or too much. If that's the case, pick a different lure that you think will run shallower or deeper accordingly.

After you get the lure figured out, head for where the fish are and start fishin'.
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[DennisW]

Sounds like you're repeating the effort put into the book. I try to determine the depth of the active fish and then put the lure right in front of their noses. I also like to search for fish by staggering baits at different depths. With two rods per person and a few guys in the boat, you can cut a wide and deep swath through the water to find the active fish. And once you know the depth the fish are striking at, then you can break out a variety of baits that track at the same depth to see if any of them trigger more bites.

It may not be as big an issue in dishpan waters like Willard, but it still holds true in Willard since fish suspend there in open water than relating to structure. I think Precision Trolling is vital to any troller's arsenal. The walleye pro's all call it the troller's bible.

[url "http://www.precisionangling.com/"]http://www.precisionangling.com/[/url]

[salmotrutta]

Thanks, everyone! I think I will definelty get the book when the new one comes out. Looks like until then I will just have to play around a bit and see how they behave. I do have a line counter, so that should make the job a bit easier. I am more familiar with trolling using downriggers and standard trout stuff. So this crankbait trolling stuff is kind of new to me. But the reward of a fighting wiper is well worth it. To quote someone else I read here the other day "trout suck."
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[Kent]

My experience has been that the vast majority of fishermen/women think that they are trolling deeper than they actually are. I have had people study the books and I will ask them how deep they think that they are trolling. They give their answer and then I go through water that is shallower than they believed that they were trolling and their lure didn't hit bottom, so I know that they are shallower than they think that they are.
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[hedgesd]

That's all to much brain work to figure a depth. I usually throw something out and let more line out as I go until the fish start biting after that you should be able to match the depth for more fish.

Drift fishing I'll give a quick jurk of the line and the fish finder will pick up the jig. It
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[RipNLips]

Precision Trolling is another potentially useful tool in the arsenal. I still believe you don't "know" for sure until you start bumpin' bottom.
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[DennisW]

It's no silver bullet. And it still requires a little skill, knowledge, and experience on the angler's part. But if you match the tackle these guys use, I trust it completely.

My lures are clean enough, thank you. I use a fishfinder so I'm not fishing blind, and I use Precision Trolling so I'm not trolling blind.