# Trolling inland lakes for walleye



## WillowWally (Jan 27, 2015)

I am purchasing a boat soon and will be fishing West Branch, Berlin, Mosquito, Milton, etc. I am looking for some advice on techniques for trolling. I have trolled rod to lure and the large planer boards. I have no experience with inline weights, dipsey/jet divers, leadcore/copper line or inline planer boards. Any advice on when and where to use the different methods would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.


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## Petermkerling (Sep 22, 2014)

The best advice I can give you is to get a couple of magnum mini inline boards. You can use them with med light spinning gear. Or if you go with the standard inline boards/trolling rods & reels with a counter, get the tattle flags! 
The other big thing (at least for me) on these inland lakes is to get a strong enough electric trolling motor/ battery to actually troll with it. It's stealthy & you can really dial in your speed. 


Sent from my iPhone using Ohub Campfire


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## viper1 (Apr 13, 2004)

WillowWally said:


> I am purchasing a boat soon and will be fishing West Branch, Berlin, Mosquito, Milton, etc. I am looking for some advice on techniques for trolling. I have trolled rod to lure and the large planer boards. I have no experience with inline weights, dipsey/jet divers, leadcore/copper line or inline planer boards. Any advice on when and where to use the different methods would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.



"inline weights, dipsey/jet divers, lead core/copper line or inline planer boards?"

Mostly Erie weapons of choice. Using the wind to drift or a small out board or electric most are not required, The walleye will be in to shallow of water. 
Drifting with a crawler harness only requires mono. And most cast to weed beds, trees, reeds and shore line I know.
Fish the old road bed on the North side of 224, or the willows on the South side. Don't forget the cemetery too. When it gets hotter the old rd bed is a good spot. Or off the 224 cause way. Also drifting or trolling the breaks between the 224 bridge and the rail road bridge. All are good spots if you hit them on the right day. 
Just a few spots most every one fishes with luck you can catch some too! Save the money and use it for bait and gas. Good luck!


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## WillowWally (Jan 27, 2015)

Thanks for the replies! I can't wait to get out there and try some things out!


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## meats52 (Jul 23, 2014)

Like viper1 said most of the equipment you mentioned is for Erie. I fish Mosquito Lake mainly but I usually make a couple trips to Milton. I use 14# Stren with worm harnesses and bottom bouncers for weight. I have a 35hp Evinrude on my boat that throttles down slow enough to troll but a electric trolling motor is still nice to have.


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## set-the-drag (Jan 13, 2013)

I flat line with lures no need for weight unless using harnesses. all the lakes are shallow enough that the lures dive depth alone is sufficient just play with the leads. the mini boards are great to I just run #10 mono and never had a problem and only really run the boards for fall night bite I tend to hit a lot of crappie trolling for eyes and cant tell sometimes anything is on because the board is keeping it back kinda like hitting a ****** on erie on a down rigger or big board and not noticing right away. but anyway its much more fun catching eyes on lighter setups on the small lakes just thrilling


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## leadcorebean (Jul 17, 2006)

get ahold of me in the spring i can take ya out and cut the curve down. just start stocking up on lures now cause u will lose them inland


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## Skippy (Dec 2, 2009)

First get the best lake maps you can for those lakes then scale it down to just 1 lake. Fish that lake as often as you can. Get to know it well. What works and what doesn't work. Then and only then fish some of those others. Most times, except for location the same lures and presentation will work at those other lakes. Good luck.


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## WillowWally (Jan 27, 2015)

Definitely Erie stuff. I recently bought a huge lot of trolling/boating items. It came with dypseys, jets, boards, 30+ rods, 30+ reels, etc from a retiring Erie charter capt. So, really I'm trying to figure out what to keep for the smaller lakes. My boat is going to be too small to go out far on Erie.


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## louisvillefisherman (Jun 9, 2012)

I second what Skippy posted. 

There are 100's of different ways to fish be it trolling or casting. One sure thing is to experiment with those methods on one lake, whichever one that may be, and fish the heck out of it to a point where you begin to know the depth and features without having to look at the sonar.

After a while you will begin to make the connections of when/where/how. You will detect a pattern (catching more at this spot than that spot on this day versus that day etc) using what ever trolling/casting/jigging method you find works best for "you".


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## WillowWally (Jan 27, 2015)

Skippy said:


> First get the best lake maps you can for those lakes then scale it down to just 1 lake. Fish that lake as often as you can. Get to know it well. What works and what doesn't work. Then and only then fish some of those others. Most times, except for location the same lures and presentation will work at those other lakes. Good luck.


Thanks for the advice. I have heard of some great phone apps with lake maps that use the phone GPS so you could see exactly where you are and where you have travelled. Do you (or anyone) know of a good phone app?


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## WillowWally (Jan 27, 2015)

leadcorebean said:


> get ahold of me in the spring i can take ya out and cut the curve down. just start stocking up on lures now cause u will lose them inland


That would be greatly appreciated! I am definitely looking to take some people out who could teach me some things. Like I said, I bought a ton of items... now I just need someone to show me how to use all my stuff! haha


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## louisvillefisherman (Jun 9, 2012)

Willow,

The BEST app out there is Navionics for Android or Apple. I love this app so much that I dedicated my old Samsung Note to it exclusively, so now my old phone has a permanent home on the console of my boat.

Best of all, it is only $10 for a mapping system that is comparable to $600 systems.

Highly recommended!


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## WillowWally (Jan 27, 2015)

louisvillefisherman said:


> Willow,
> 
> The BEST app out there is Navionics for Android or Apple. I love this app so much that I dedicated my old Samsung Note to it exclusively, so now my old phone has a permanent home on the console of my boat.
> 
> ...


I think that is the one my friend had. (He couldn't remember.) It was awesome! Thank you! I will be downloading that one for sure!


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## buckeyebowman (Feb 24, 2012)

Glad to see so many here second my emotion! I've seen guys trying to employ Erie tactics on inland waters and doing nothing but messing themselves up. Or allowing others to mess them up. Inland guys aren't used to seeing planer boards out, and they'll troll through your rig. Or, if you're trolling and they are drifting all kinds of interesting tangles can happen! About the most "technique heavy" approach I've seen inland is some guys using leadcore line. Basically "shortline" trolling versus "longline" trolling. 

On inland water I prefer drifting for walleye provided there's enough of a breeze to raise a decent "walleye chop". That's all the speed you need. If not, then troll.


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## viper1 (Apr 13, 2004)

A simple way we used inland a lot for eyes when the bottom was full of snags. Was a simple large split shot on the end of the line. And a weedless hook up a foot with a night crawler. Split shots are cheap enough to loose.
But i suggest you go with others who fish there first. Easier to develop good habits and hard to break bad ones.


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## All Eyes (Jul 28, 2004)

Also worth mentioning, is that Berlin can be a prop or even hull eating lake if you don't know where you are going when the water level is low. There are spots where you can be in 40 ft of water and a couple seconds later you are beaching yourself on a sand bar. Study a map showing the main channel and travel on it during draw down periods.


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## viper1 (Apr 13, 2004)

Mostly just the fall. Then again most all are.


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## ezbite (May 25, 2006)

I'm suprised so many of you are discouraging using Erie gear on an inland lake. Unless I'm trolling leadcore, I always run my Erie rods and inline boards (tattle tail flags are a must). I don't use DIPSYS or jets inland, I will use 1 oz inline weights. I don't switch up my line poundage either.. 20# mono all the way, erie or mosquito doesnt matter. It helps pull out snags instead of breaking and if it won't pull it out, it will straighten the hooks of my snagged lure most of the time.


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## Crestliner167 (Apr 11, 2009)

Your best bet is to take leadcorebean up on his offer in the spring. Great fisherman. He know how,where,and what to do.


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## Bassbme (Mar 11, 2012)

As with anything that a person may have just started doing, they need to have confidence in that they're doing things right. The only way to gain confidence in a new fishing technique, is to catch fish while doing it. I'd pick the lake that has the best numbers of fish, and fish that one.


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## BigDaddy300 (Nov 1, 2004)

If you dont take leadcore's offer I will....lol


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## chatterbox (Jan 7, 2013)

If You hire a good guide in Canada, you will be asked if you want to fish for numbers or trophies. They are two different fish, with different needs in the same body of water. The same goes for the walleye in our lakes. So many complaints of 14.75" walleye every year. A 6lb. walleye will eat 4 to 5 four inch crappie a feeding, or will stress out and die from starvation in water too warm. This is why they school pretty much by the same size. Barometric presser has way more effect on a hog walleye than a hammer handle. A 1/8 oz. jig tipped with 1/2 a crawler or a magnum hot-&-tot? You must decide what your target will be. Gear up accordingly. All of our inland lakes are so muddy the only time I use a planer board is for shallow water at night. Also, you will not have the long open water trolling runs on inland lakes like they do on the big lakes. Inland lakes do have a thermocline set up however, but you will never have to fish 55' of water. Have Fun!


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## louisvillefisherman (Jun 9, 2012)

chatterbox said:


> If You hire a good guide in Canada, you will be asked if you want to fish for numbers or trophies. They are two different fish, with different needs in the same body of water.


This quote is worth its weight in fish.

I understand big eyes typically (emphasis on typically) do not waste their time on little baits.

It makes sense. There may be fewer big eyes, but your odds of catching them should improve with a larger bait. Quality over quantity for me.


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## viper1 (Apr 13, 2004)

Not sure why the talk of Canada. Like comparing apples to oranges. And a newbie deciding to become a trophy hunter before learning the basics will not catch many fish. Like walking on to a job wanting to be president of the company.
My best advice is take Leadcorebean up on his offer. Learn to catch walleye on that lake then move on to bigger and better fish. Every thing has a learning curve. But people to day want to work around that. And the only way to learn quickly by some one who knows how. And the offer of Leadcorebean would be what id do.
And he's right. Any man who fishes a small lake for crappie and walleye that don't loose lures isn't catching fish. As they love there cover. So my next question would be. Mr leadcorebean what lures and tackle should i buy. 
And if i know what i think i know about fishing Berlin and brush. I bet one of them is a Heddon Sonar or similar type. A secret weapon on Berlin Lake.


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## leadcorebean (Jul 17, 2006)

lure selection to start with would be flicker shads,flicker minnows, and shad raps to give a basic start. try to keep your colors of baits to match the lake so your perch and firetigers will always catch fish. learning the lake is a big part of the game also! knowing where those fish are at any point in the year will increase your catch rate. turn the lake into a grid in a way , say shore -12ft ,12-18ft, 18-25ish and once u learn the lake u can narrow it down to flats,break,or structure .. the more u break it down the better u will get but that takes time. Theres days u will struggle to get your 6 fish or theres days u will pull 50+ its just how our inland lake fish are .


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