# Shallow water trolling for saugeye.



## Enthusiast (Jun 20, 2011)

What is your favorite crankbait for longline trolling on shallow lakes like Buckeye? Many guys use the shallow running Shad Rap. But what size and color? What alternative cranks do you like? 

Bueller? Anyone?


----------



## 93stratosfishnski (Aug 25, 2011)

Don't long line at buckeye I catch them trolling 10/25 feet back right in the prop wash at times. you'll just lose baits and troll up sludge other wise. Flicker 5s, crappie cranks, 100 series bandits.


----------



## linebacker43 (Aug 3, 2009)

As far as color it just depends on water clarity and what kind of mood their in. 1 color that catches a majority of your fish 1 day might be ice cold the next trip. Assortment of natural colors and the vibrant colors ie. pinks, oranges, chartreuse are always on hand. Let them soak for a few passes and then start changing them out a rod at a time until you find what is working that day. I've had certain colors that didn't get touched in the morning and cycled back through to put them on in the afternoon and then started catching fish. Obviously start with confidence baits and go from there. Like Ski said, I don't long line either, just enough out to get within a foot of the bottom with a tick every once in awhile while adjusting speeds and angles of the boat. Hope this helps.


----------



## Enthusiast (Jun 20, 2011)

linebacker43 said:


> As far as color it just depends on water clarity and what kind of mood their in. 1 color that catches a majority of your fish 1 day might be ice cold the next trip. Assortment of natural colors and the vibrant colors ie. pinks, oranges, chartreuse are always on hand. Let them soak for a few passes and then start changing them out a rod at a time until you find what is working that day. I've had certain colors that didn't get touched in the morning and cycled back through to put them on in the afternoon and then started catching fish. Obviously start with confidence baits and go from there. Like Ski said, I don't long line either, just enough out to get within a foot of the bottom with a tick every once in awhile while adjusting speeds and angles of the boat. Hope this helps.


Thanks. I did not know this.


----------



## Enthusiast (Jun 20, 2011)

93stratosfishnski said:


> Don't long line at buckeye I catch them trolling 10/25 feet back right in the prop wash at times. you'll just lose baits and troll up sludge other wise. Flicker 5s, crappie cranks, 100 series bandits.


I had no idea. Thanks for the information.


----------



## Hammerhead54 (Jun 16, 2012)

Is there a specific depth range that seems to be the most productive when trolling for saugeye? And does this depth range vary from season to season? Has anyone experimented with trolling deeper water for saugeye? I've never trolled for saugeye, and having just acquired a small boat,I'm very interested in any feed back from those of you with experience.


----------



## ristorap (Mar 6, 2013)

Colors - black/silver, blue/silver, shad, perch, firetiger. 
Crankbaits - Big O , Bomber A , Norman Tiny N, and the different shad rap lures.


----------



## linebacker43 (Aug 3, 2009)

HammerHead, I by no means am any kind of expert when it comes to the ways of the saugeye but to try and help ya. There are more productive depths and yes the season does matter. Along with water temp, again clarity, most would say moon phase, weather fronts, etc.... You have to do some searching no matter the time of year. You can get a pretty good idea of where they should be by the time of year, time of day, type of day...etc. Early morning, early evening, shallower waters, as skinny as 2 ft. Mid day, high skies deeper water, close to deeper water with drops and ledges. Deeper lakes obviously a little harder to find them, shallower lakes narrows the search down sometimes. No matter the depth, staying close to the bottom is usually a major factor. Types of lures like ristorap said, shad type lures, colors all play a factor. Saugeye arsenal can get a little out of hand if your not careful...lol. If you use the search feature on this website you can get years and years of education if you take a few hours and do some reading. There are guys on here that have made a second career chasing these fish. Take what you get from here and try it out with what conditions, lake, technique you are attempting. Take notes, or make sure you remember the how, whys, whens of how you catch your fish. I dont think there is a fisherperson on this forum that has mastered Saugeye in a season. It took me a few years to start to put the puzzle together. Hope some of this helps and good luck this season.

Linebacker43


----------



## Hammerhead54 (Jun 16, 2012)

Thanks for the reply and good information linebacker43.


----------



## ristorap (Mar 6, 2013)

Hammerhead The saugeyes at times will want the crankbait going one way and will not bite it going the other way. There are times they will want 5 different colors in an area.


----------



## snuff1 (May 26, 2015)

ristorap said:


> Hammerhead The saugeyes at times will want the crankbait going one way and will not bite it going the other way. There are times they will want 5 different colors in an area.


I use flicker shads in the 5 size as well. True about the colors and good and bad on certain days. Certain habitat seems to be key for saugeye at least for me. Humps, points, rocky bottoms or hard bottoms, bars and high banks seem to be best. Just try to keep in contact with the bottom. Used to fish Buckeye but not since the day problems. I now fish Seneca which is a long drive, but it has been good to me.


----------



## ReadHeaded Hunter (Apr 17, 2007)

Agree with everyone else. Each body of water, time of year, and water condition can call for color changes as well as lures with different action. If you're trolling shallow, don't discount the value of small planer boards. Sometimes when they're not very aggressive it can be very hard to get a saugeye to go on a lure trolled right behind the boat. Boards will also let you cleanly run more lines, so try various colors and lure profiles/actions. Even if you get them going on a certain color, try to have something different in the mix because their preferences will change across the day and you want to be able to catch on as quickly as possible. Good luck!


----------



## HappySnag (Dec 20, 2007)

Enthusiast said:


> What is your favorite crankbait for longline trolling on shallow lakes like Buckeye? Many guys use the shallow running Shad Rap. But what size and color? What alternative cranks do you like?
> 
> Bueller? Anyone?


if you are series about fishing,you should reed the lake map,that will give you wiew where you were fishing,they have maps for computer,lakemaster,contour elite,
when you fish and catch fish,write down gps and you can check that on computer map,it will show you the structer you fished.
you can print out free lake map ,put scale on that.
if I read map I mesure with yard's,i step = yard.
I mark points on the map, example 50 yards from road 20 yards from shore.
then I can walk 50 steps and I have to cast 20 yards to cover my point.
when you fish ,end of day write in calendar where you fished and how you did.
next year you look back in calendar and you know where to go.
it look complicated but when you do that few times it is very easy.


----------



## Rs12474 (Jan 11, 2018)

linebacker43 said:


> As far as color it just depends on water clarity and what kind of mood their in. 1 color that catches a majority of your fish 1 day might be ice cold the next trip. Assortment of natural colors and the vibrant colors ie. pinks, oranges, chartreuse are always on hand. Let them soak for a few passes and then start changing them out a rod at a time until you find what is working that day. I've had certain colors that didn't get touched in the morning and cycled back through to put them on in the afternoon and then started catching fish. Obviously start with confidence baits and go from there. Like Ski said, I don't long line either, just enough out to get within a foot of the bottom with a tick every once in awhile while adjusting speeds and angles of the boat. Hope this helps.


How do you know how deep your bait is running? Is there a rule of thumb for the amount off line out or is it more dependent on the bait? 

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk


----------



## kfi (Nov 11, 2013)

Rs12474 said:


> How do you know how deep your bait is running? Is there a rule of thumb for the amount off line out or is it more dependent on the bait?


If you want to know with high accuracy download precision trolling app 

Precision Trolling by PRECISION ANGLING, LLChttps://itunes.apple.com/us/app/precision-trolling/id873119178?mt=8

App available for iPhone or Android. You put in depth and it will give you line out or vice-versa. 

Cost some dollars but gives tested info so can be more confident your bait is where you want it. Probably not as critical in the shallow lakes as most of the time you want to just let out enough line so bait is occasionally tapping bottom. On deeper lakes very valuable tool.


----------



## ReadHeaded Hunter (Apr 17, 2007)

You can also find dive curves for lures online usually from the manufacturer. A lot more general info than the precision trolling app, but also free. Heck most lures have it right on the back of the package


----------

