SSR's - 5's and 7's, Floating Rapalas - up to 13's, Rogues, Rattle Traps, Tad Polly's, Bandit (seemed real hot this year.), Little Rippers


About two years ago we cleaned up on some cranks that we got from Wal-Mart for 1.97. They were blue/white and chart./red/white. The kinda looked like a little ripper, but not as long. I have ran these since, but without the success of two years ago.
I have also started to snap-jig (something I learned from the Canadiens several years ago.) at Indian. This has seemed to be a good fall tactic.

 

1/4 oz Vi Bee on a short leash.

 

Have had good luck with red or pink jigs tipped with minnows and have had decent luck with red worm harness trolled 2 -2.5 mph. As I have down riggers it easier for me to target a certain dept than some others.

 

I am new to trolling and have a question. I do not have a kicker motor and my regular motor will load up after awhile so I have been using my electric motor. It will move me at 2.6 to 2.8 mph on high speed. So far I have not had very good luck. Just a couple of dinks. My question is, does the sound of the trolling motor spook the fish or am I just not in the right place at the right time?
Thanks

 

the sound of your motor will not spook the eyes, in fact it might just do the opposite ringing the dinner bell for choped up shad. . .

as metioned below ssr7 rapala's get my vote for trollin IL however the trolling bite doesnt seem to be as hot in the fall as it is in the spring

 

We have been taking some fish and we are trolling with a 9.9 hp motor and not with much line out on the rods. For some reason last weekend I caught the heck out of 12 inch crappie trolling a Vibee like 18 in the last 1 to 1 1/2 hours of light.

 

old sylvan thats too fast you want to be at about 2.0 give or take a .1or2

I can give you some lures to through out...
Wiggle wart
Long A bomber-shad
Hot-n-tot
minnow rap

 

Thanks for the come backs guys. I was more concerned about the sound of the electric motor as opposed to that of a gas kicker motor. I can slow down and that will make things quieter. I won't be back out for a couple of more weeks when the water cools. I'm in the process of replacing the floor in my boat. That takes a while when a couple of hours a night after work is all the time I have to work on it. Thanks again.

 

During the early to mid summer troll, Bandit 100 series tore up the IL saugeyes. One day,mistake was the color. Next day, chrome/black. If both those colors didn't get any bites,then Mad Cow took them.

Other baits that fare well,not mentioned earlier:
Cordell Big O's,but the shallower 1/4 oz size.
Bomber Model A, B02 size.
Shollow running reef runners
Rebel Wee R Crank'R's
Thunderstick Jr's
Rogues.

Mainly in the 3' to 5' diving range.They will dive deeper than their specs using superbraids.

10-12' yds of line released behind the boat,just enough to bump the bottom occasionally. You don't need a lot of yardage out to catch saugeye. I run the baits 7 yds behind my planerboards.

Short/wide bodied baits seem to be more productive than the longer/skinnier stick baits for my setup.

Colors: Firetiger is usually hot.Chrome/black,Gold/Black,Blue/Black,Shad,and Red.

In the past,I haven't faired well in the fall. Usually lack of free time.I will have more time to try some fall trolling now with the Bandit 100 series..

Optimum trolling speed for my setup: 3 mph via gps.It'll varry according to the type of bait and type of line you are trolling: Superbraid,Mono,Etc.Some baits like the Reef runners won't run properly at a 3 mph troll.

Don't worry about motor noise or boat traffic.I've pulled a lot of eyes out after a boat cruises past me.

If trolling a bait directly behind the propwash,Bomber Flat A's work pretty good and sometimes the finicky saugeye like the larger baits.

 

Thee deep tiny n is a killer! The Saugeye and crappie, and whitebass.
I love this lure, and have bought all of them here in columbus.
Heres a site for them. Good luck and try and buy 1.
I have 3 on order. Hard to find, but they do catch fish.
I troll about 2.0 to 3.0
http://www.tackleexperts.com/deep-tiny-p-11475.html?a=117257

 

Hi Guys
New to this site. I just got my new to me boat ready and will be coming to IL Friday. I have only fished there in the spring jigging with vibees. I saw where someone was trolling with them. Has anyone else tried this? (Please give details) I normally fish Lake Erie trolling and wandered what kind of depth IL has. I have a Sportsman's fishing maps book and it says IL has a few spots of 18'-19' depth. Is this true? I have skied there and always thought it was shallow. Any ideas as to where I should start to troll would be greatly appreciated as gas is still a issue.

Thanks in advance
Jim

 

They have been dregging on the north side like between Aldriches and the middle of the top of the lake find the deep water (dredged) and troll near the lilly pad groves. Look for dirt piles on shore if you knew where they dredged last year that would be best. This is only from what I have found to work for me, as I only fish it 5 or 6 times a year, mainly looking for Saugeye. I have been trolling 1/4 oz vibee's

 

I know you are going to want to troll with that new kicker but when the eyes start to pick up in the fall jiging blade baits such as a vib-e is where it is usually at. But if you are set on trollin then go out with an assortment of shallow cranks and try them all. Sky conditions realy seem to make a difference on prefered color. Must have baits rapala ssr 5 blue gill color and #4 shad rap Blue back crome sides and orange belly.

 

Weekender#1

Thanks for the reply. Not real sure where Aldriches is at but saw where they were dredging a few wooks ago. I will post my results.

Thanks again
Jim

 

One last question. Does anyone use the radio on IL? If so what channel does everyone in the area use. I will try to give info while fishing.

Thanks in advance
Jim

 

I usually carry a walkie-talkie-on scan mode- with me,but usually not much talking this year. I'm shooting for a week from saturday.

 

Went out today from noon to 5p. Had one nipple and thats it. Great day to be on the lake though. Trolled 2 worm harnesses, 1 vibee and 1 reef runner. Covered the area by Lakeview and Green Bridge area. Saw some good marks but no takers. I heard the bite is good during the morning so dad and I will be there around 530 tomarrow. I will be on chanel 68 and go by Eyecatcher on the radio if anyone wants to share info (Sure helps to save gas). The nibble was on the worm 50' behind boat on down rigger 5' down. Tried to cover the water collum (when you only have 2-8 feet not hard to do), sure not like fishing Erie. I will post tomarrow and if bite is good I will be outt Saturday.

 

EyeCatcher, did I read your post correctly? You used a down rigger to fish 5 feet deep?

 

Hooch

That is correct I use my downriggers. Helps me target a certain depth. I normally would fish Lake Erie but with gas so high I thought I would try IL. I use them for wormharness.

Went out this morring and caught 1 saugeye (4 lbs) on vibee (firetiger) just south of Oldfield beach, around 0600. Caught 2 crappie on same vibee by Lakeview ramp at 1000 and was off the water by 1045.

I spoke to one gantleman who had 6 good sized saugeye. He left the ramp when I did and trolled East from Lakeview and was back by 1045. He said he was using shadraps and that this was his 5th day with a limit.

I will be out tomarrow and will post results.

Jim
Eyecatcher Ch68

 

Went out today from noon to 5p. Had one nipple and thats it.

You'd better get a hold of a surgeon for that condition.Maybe even plastic surgery? LOL!!!


I couldn't imagine pulling downrigger weights with all the stumps in the main lake.It's bad enough trying to keep a bottom bouncer a 1' from the bottom without snagging and losing entire rig.

I'm planning on trolling IL next weekend.I wanna see how my new bandits fare this time.My saugeye trolling in the fall has been very poor.

 

Hey guys,

Thanks to everyone for all the trolling tips !! I knew I could count on all of you to open up with info. !! I totally understand the Vibe-E bite on Indian in the fall, stay in contact with the bottom and hang on ! My son and I have caught many limits with those cool little blade baits, lots of fun !! I will take all of this advice and apply it to my trolling bait purchases and I will even try trolling Vibe-E's !

Thanks again,
Keep fishin,

 

Went out today about the same time. Trolled East from Lakeview ramp. Caught one crappie 1 1/2 lbs and 2 1/2 lbs saugeye about 3/4 of the way to where Antonios used to be, all before 0630. Both bites were on Shad Rap SSR5 Perch 60 feet behind the inline boards. That was all we could get.

Have to work the next 3 days so I will not be able to make it back before Thursday and may go to Erie if weather is nice. I did hear that a few guys were consistently getting their limit from 0400--600. I may try that Thursday morning weather depending.

Good Luck
Jim
Eyecatcher Ch68