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What Do You Troll?

Mooselook Wobbler spoons are popular in New England. Fluorocarbon or mono leader and lead core line if you need to get real deep.

I like trolling with flies, but am usually solo so I can’t put any action or movement in the rod while paddling. I will use a dodger and or flasher ahead of the leader. Wigglefin Action Discs work well and are not bulky. When I’m tripping I keep the tackle pretty sparse.

I paddle in a S-shaped line rather than straight as it speeds up and slows down the lure.

Bob
 
I usually have a jerk bait following me, either a shallow or deep diver depending on the lake.
 
Way back in the day when I fished with my uncles and cousins in Minnesota and Wisconsin lakes we often trolled a Daredevil with good results. If memory serves we used some lead to get it down deeper sometimes and a good ball bearing swivel to keep the line from getting twisted. That was over half a century ago, but I bet the fish still like them.

We were catching mostly smallmouth bass, northern pike, and walleyes as well as the inevitable yellow perch that would take baits as big as they were.
 
Like this?
16576153-daredevil-fish-lure.jpg
 
How much weight you guys using? 3/4 oz?

Mono leader?

I might have a daredevil. I rarely use spoons to troll but I'll give them a shot.

It has been long enough that I don't remember how much weight, but probably less than that. We used a bit of fairly heavy mono leader for pike and I think my uncle even used wire sometimes. I am almost 70 and am remembering back from when I was a kid so memory is hazy....
 
another vote for the Wobbler! I've got various sizes and styles (even a couple for ice fishing), but to get down really deep I'll switch to a Little Cleo they're quite hefty and will dive deep.
I used to have a paddle specifically for fishing with a screw eye epoxied to the trailing side- perfect for cranking or poppers...
 
Fishing here is so easy its ridiculous. You slap the heaviest chunk of cable on that you can find for a leader...nothing up here cares. Snap on a yellow jig head and some kind of twister tail then heave that whole mess in the water and drag it back in. The only other thing you need is a filleting knife and a sharpener.

When you get to areas that more heavily fished like southern Ontario or Alberta then you need more finesse. Not so much here. I grew up on Lake Erie fishing for perch with minnows and bobbers. That is fun too.
 
My dad used to caribou hunt in Northern Quebec before there were outfitters - early 80's. Make a cast, reel in a lake trout, ad nauseum. He said it got boring very quickly, although he did land a 36 pounder that was anything but. They used pink Wablers, but I'm pretty sure you could have trolled an empty beer can and had success.
 
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