Veteran Insights To Big-Water Trolling Success

“Remember, much of this occurred back before the innovation of snapweights, when we used either fixed weights or segmented leadcore to weight our lines. Back before the development of 81⁄2-foot trolling rods to handle the rigors of endless days of trolling planers in big waves. Prior to the development of larger boats and motors to handle big-water conditions safely. And before the introduction of superlines like FireLine to troll lures deeper without having to add excessive weight.

“The upshot is, we’ve come a long way in a short time. In many cases, the equipment we needed to fish effectively didn’t exist and only came as a result of angler demand—chiefly by tournament competitors—which has benefitted fishermen everywhere. As a result, today you can go down to the tackle shop or open a catalog and find everything you need to fish open water effectively.”

Changing Perspectives

If the proper tackle was all you needed to catch loads of suspended walleyes, we’d all be instant experts. The missing portion of the equation is veteran experience and an understanding of open-water walleye behavior, coupled with a willingness to experiment and adjust to the ever-changing location and behavior of basin walleyes.

“While many anglers today possess the fundamental understanding of what it takes to catch open-water walleyes, the sport is fraught with innumerable subtleties that most fishermen miss.” Parsons continues. “You must be observant and react to subtle clues in order to catch suspended fish consistently, particularly in tournament competition or where fishing pressure affects fish behavior.

“Long, thin, minnow-imitating crankbaits were the original mainstay of open-water walleye trollers, but the later addition of spinner fishing in open water triggered perhaps my biggest personal change, which came about through a natural progression of the PWT circuit. I remember an early event on Saginaw Bay where we caught fish on spinners only a few feet down over deep water. What a shocker! It was like reinventing open-water fishing.

“Big-bladed silver-plated spinners with sharp treble hooks, dressed with nightcrawlers, have since become a mainstay and have progressed in versatility. But it’s how you fish them that really makes the difference.

“Positioning of the weight on the line is a big deal, yet most trollers don’t even suspect it. The universal 50-50 setup most anglers at least start trolling with—50 feet from lure to snapweight, then 50 feet to the planer board—I haven’t used since the introduction of snapweights. Instead, I vary the lead length, based on conditions.

“I use snapweights with super long leads—30, 40, 50 feet—on rough days. Placing the weight far ahead of the bait moderates the rise and fall of the spinner and makes it run stable in rough conditions. On calm days, however, you can simply use an in-line weight placed much closer to the spinner. Depending on how rough the day is, the spinner will mimic how big the waves are, raising and lowering. Sometimes, 2, 3, or 4 feet of vertical motion becomes too much, and fish won’t hit it. Other times, rises and falls are key to catching fish, and the waves will trigger fish within their zone.