How to Troll for Walleye Like a Pro: Your Comprehensive Guide to Summer Success
Trolling for walleye stands out as a highly effective technique, particularly during the prime summer months when these toothy critters often inhabit deeper waters. Whether you're just starting out and looking to fill the freezer or a seasoned angler aiming to fine-tune your approach, mastering the art of walleye trolling can unlock impressive catches, including those prized trophy-sized walleye. This comprehensive guide will dissect the essential elements of walleye trolling, covering everything from crucial equipment and proven techniques to expert boat control and fish-finding strategies, all designed to maximize your success on the water.
Why Choose Trolling for Summer Walleye?
Summer often sees walleye retreating to deeper, more expansive open water basins, often far removed from traditional structural elements. This is where trolling truly shines. Unlike more stationary methods like jigging or targeting rock humps, trolling allows you to efficiently cover vast stretches of water, effectively presenting your baits to fish that might otherwise be overlooked. Interestingly, those bright, high-sky days accompanied by a gentle breeze can be ideal for trolling, as walleye tend to become more active in these open areas, while structure fishing might yield fewer results. Perhaps the most rewarding aspect of trolling is its tendency to produce the lake's largest specimens – mature walleye that spend a significant portion of their lives in these deeper, less-fished zones.
Your Essential Trolling Arsenal
To troll effectively, your gear needs to be specifically suited for the task. Here’s a breakdown of the key equipment you’ll need:
Planer Boards: Expanding Your Reach
Consider the Livingston Lures Blade Planer Board as a significant advantage in your walleye trolling setup. Typically sold in pairs, these intelligently designed 11"x6" boards excel at handling sharp turns and substantial drag, making them perfect for pulling spinner rigs or crankbaits across a range of speeds. Backed by a lifetime warranty, the Blade Planer Board is built to endure demanding conditions. Their primary benefit lies in their ability to spread your lines effectively in open water, ensuring your baits cover a wider swath of the water column and significantly reducing the chances of frustrating tangles.
Rods: Maintaining a Clean Spread
Selecting the correct rod length is crucial for achieving a tangle-free and efficient trolling spread:
- 5-Foot Range (Short Rod): These are your go-to for inside lines or down rods positioned close to the boat. Employ them with bottom bouncers or crankbaits when planer boards aren't in use to maintain a tight, manageable spread.
- 8-Foot Range Rod: This is arguably the most versatile option, ideally suited for both planer board lines and down rods. Their often-collapsible design simplifies storage, making them a practical choice for the majority of trolling scenarios.
- 11-Foot Range Rod: Reserve these longer rods for your outermost planer board lines. Their extended length keeps your lines elevated above surface chop, effectively preventing tangles and ensuring a clean presentation even in rougher waters.
When choosing rods, prioritize those with a sensitive tip for better fish-fighting, a more forgiving midsection to absorb the shock of powerful strikes, and sufficient backbone to handle the pull of planer boards. Composite or glass rods with a moderate to slow action are generally considered ideal for walleye trolling.
Reels and Line: Precision and Reliability
- Line Counter Reels: Investing in reels equipped with line counters is essential for consistently replicating successful depths and trolling patterns. These allow you to precisely measure the amount of line you've let out, ensuring your baits are consistently in the strike zone.
- Line: Monofilament line remains a popular choice for trolling due to its inherent stretch, which acts as a shock absorber during the often-extended fights with larger walleye. Opt for a test strength in the 10–14 lb range for most walleye applications, balancing strength with the necessary flexibility.
Mastering Boat Control: The Foundation of Trolling Success
Precise boat control forms the very foundation of effective walleye trolling. Walleye can be notoriously selective, and maintaining consistent speed and direction is paramount to keeping your baits within their strike zone. Here’s how to refine your boat handling skills:
Leveraging Your Trolling Motor
A bow-mounted trolling motor is your best ally for trolling at the slow, deliberate speeds that often trigger walleye. Engage the cruise control function to maintain a consistent speed, and utilize the autopilot feature to hold a straight course. This frees up your attention to manage your rods, monitor your lines, and effectively land fish. In calm water conditions, the trolling motor alone will likely suffice. However, when faced with windier conditions, don't hesitate to engage your kicker motor or even your main engine for added thrust and directional stability.
Efficiently Handling "Wolf Packs"
When you encounter a school, or "wolf pack," of walleye, maintaining precise boat control becomes even more critical. It prevents you from drifting off the productive area while you're busy landing a fish, significantly increasing your chances of hooking up with multiple fish from the same concentration. Make a conscious effort to avoid stopping your trolling motor abruptly, as this can disrupt your carefully orchestrated spread and reduce your overall efficiency.
Expert Tips for Landing Big Walleye
Trolling often puts you in contact with the largest walleye in the lake, but successfully landing these trophies requires a measured approach and a bit of patience:
Slow and Steady Wins the Race: Once a big walleye is hooked, maintain a steady, consistent pressure on the rod and allow the fish to gradually tire itself out. Resist the urge to rush the retrieve, especially when the fish are hooked on smaller lures or in extremely choppy conditions.
The Summer Trolling Advantage
Summer truly is a prime time for trolling because it directly targets walleye as they migrate to those deeper, open water basins. These fish often experience less fishing pressure compared to those holding near more obvious structures like rock bars or humps, where many anglers tend to concentrate their efforts. Trolling's inherent ability to cover vast expanses of water allows you to intercept active, feeding walleye as they roam in these "wolf packs," frequently resulting in consistent catches of truly impressive, trophy-class fish.
In the Net
Trolling for walleye is a rewarding blend of art and science, requiring a thoughtful combination of the right equipment, refined techniques, and precise boat control to unlock the full potential of those often-untapped open water basins. By investing in quality planer boards and rods, understanding the nuances of lure presentation, and diligently honing your boat handling skills, you can transform a seemingly slow summer day on the water into an exhilarating, trophy-filled adventure.
Pro Angler & Livingston Lures Chief Development Director