# Trolling Hoover



## MFall (May 5, 2017)

Finally got off the bank this year! Been doing pretty well on Crappie in the back water, but ready to move out on the lake. Would like to do some trolling, but not sure where to start. What should I be trolling for on Hoover this time of year, and in what areas? Thanks for any input.


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## Buckeye_Sam (Jun 6, 2005)

I usually fish cats from my kayak in Hoover. I'll take an extra rod with a shad rap to throw out trolling when I move from spot to spot. You'll pick up white bass, crappie, saugeye, and even catfish trolling. I did get a few small saugeye yesterday off the islands around the second bridge. But I was after something much bigger and slimier.


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## deerfarmer (Apr 21, 2012)

Polebender and myself slow trolled Hoover today. We fished the middle and south sections. Today the fish were holding in 15 to 17 fow 12 foot down. We met at ramp at 6 and fished till noon. We were trolling minnows at .5 mph. Everything was catch and release today except for 15 that were given to a friend. We buy our minnows at fisherman’s warehouse because they sell them by the pound. And there is usually around 30 doz to the pound. We stopped fishing because we ran out of minnows. The fish counter was at 178 when we stopped. To my surprise about half the fish today were blacks. Also only 3 or 4 short fish today.


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## MFall (May 5, 2017)

uh huh...


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## Hoover 4 Me (Jul 30, 2013)

MFall said:


> uh huh...


No sure if this reply from you is your way of doubting Deerfarmer’s report or what???

He’s 100% accurate. If you can find the schools of crappie you can catch them all day long on Hoover. If you can’t find them you should probably start playing golf or find a new place to fish.


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## RiparianRanger (Nov 18, 2015)

deerfarmer said:


> *We were trolling minnows at .5 mph. *


How do you troll that slow? Far from an expert troller here, but I will occasionally pull a flicker shad behind the boat. Slowest I can go and get the lure down is ~2 mph. Add in the wind and it’s hard to dial in and constantly remain at such a low speed. What’s your secret?


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## linebacker43 (Aug 3, 2009)

Not trying to be a smart a$$, but I would assume they are using their trolling motor and not their main motor. They have the spider rig setup.


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## mashunter18 (Jun 23, 2005)

Hoover is loaded with crappie. IF you go out on the main lake, you will see a few guys like deer farmer doing the slow troll. Can catch alot fish that way. Good info he gave you.

I do it like riparian ranger, as slow as my 9.9 will go, usually 1.6-2.2. Thats about the minimum speed you need for crank baits anyway. Any of the long flats will give up fish, definitely crappie, probably some white bass, and cats.


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## 93stratosfishnski (Aug 25, 2011)

RiparianRanger said:


> How do you troll that slow? Far from an expert troller here, but I will occasionally pull a flicker shad behind the boat. Slowest I can go and get the lure down is ~2 mph. Add in the wind and it’s hard to dial in and constantly remain at such a low speed. What’s your secret?


Yup trolling motor on like speed 2/3 out of 10
"Strolling" slow trolling


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## lacdown (Apr 25, 2007)

Deerfarmer, did you spot any white bass or seagulls? I went out on Friday and saw neither, which seemed odd. We didn't go too far north in the middle section or farther south in the southern section though. 



deerfarmer said:


> Polebender and myself slow trolled Hoover today. We fished the middle and south sections. Today the fish were holding in 15 to 17 fow 12 foot down. We met at ramp at 6 and fished till noon. We were trolling minnows at .5 mph. Everything was catch and release today except for 15 that were given to a friend. We buy our minnows at fisherman’s warehouse because they sell them by the pound. And there is usually around 30 doz to the pound. We stopped fishing because we ran out of minnows. The fish counter was at 178 when we stopped. To my surprise about half the fish today were blacks. Also only 3 or 4 short fish today.


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## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

They were for sure using their trolling motor just like they always do. It is not all that difficult to catch large numbers of crappie when they get off of the banks in any lake if you know what you are doing and have the electronics needed to pinpoint the fish. I know first hand that Deerfarmer has plenty of knowledge and the electronics to get the job done with 3 units on the bow and 2 on the console. I realize his results are difficult to understand for most crappie fisherman that can only catch crappie (maybe) when they are on the banks in the spring.


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## deerfarmer (Apr 21, 2012)

Yes we were using trolling motor. I sometime troll as slow as .2. I am slowtrolling minnows on a three hook rig. I also troll cranks sometime for crappie and I troll them at .8 to 1.6. I use trolling weights to keep the lures at the depth I want. When trolling cranks I usually have a 3 oz trolling weight ahead of the crank and I can run the lure by just dropping it over the side and look at my electronic to see the depth of fish and the crank. I took my son out this morning and we fished from 6:30 to 9:30 and caught 114.


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## MFall (May 5, 2017)

Hoover 4 Me said:


> No sure if this reply from you is your way of doubting Deerfarmer’s report or what???
> 
> He’s 100% accurate. If you can find the schools of crappie you can catch them all day long on Hoover. If you can’t find them you should probably start playing golf or find a new place to fish.





Hoover 4 Me said:


> No sure if this reply from you is your way of doubting Deerfarmer’s report or what???
> 
> He’s 100% accurate. If you can find the schools of crappie you can catch them all day long on Hoover. If you can’t find them you should probably start playing golf or find a new place to fish.


Certainly meant no disrespect to Deerfarmer - as I said, trolling is a work in progress for me, and the numbers were a bit staggering. Thanks for all the input though.


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## polebender (Oct 29, 2011)

lacdown said:


> Deerfarmer, did you spot any white bass or seagulls? I went out on Friday and saw neither, which seemed odd. We didn't go too far north in the middle section or farther south in the southern section though.


We did not see any signs of white bass or swirling and diving sea gulls. If you really want to get into white bass I’d suggest you go to CJ Brown. That lake is loaded with white bass and big ones too! It’s not that big of a lake, so it doesn’t take long to idle around and find the big schools. Not very far from Columbus. Less than an hours drive!


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## lacdown (Apr 25, 2007)

Thanks! I'm temped after seeing your CJ Brown post last time but since I live right between Alum and Hoover with limited fishing time I'm going to keep at it locally for now



polebender said:


> We did not see any signs of white bass or swirling and diving sea gulls. If you really want to get into white bass I’d suggest you go to CJ Brown. That lake is loaded with white bass and big ones too! It’s not that big of a lake, so it doesn’t take long to idle around and find the big schools. Not very far from Columbus. Less than an hours drive!


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## timmyv (Apr 26, 2006)

deerfarmer said:


> Yes we were using trolling motor. I sometime troll as slow as .2. I am slowtrolling minnows on a three hook rig. I also troll cranks sometime for crappie and I troll them at .8 to 1.6. I use trolling weights to keep the lures at the depth I want. When trolling cranks I usually have a 3 oz trolling weight ahead of the crank and I can run the lure by just dropping it over the side and look at my electronic to see the depth of fish and the crank. I took my son out this morning and we fished from 6:30 to 9:30 and caught 114.


Again not possible. That's a fish every 1.5 minutes. You don't even have enough time to put a minnow on the hook before putting it back in. I fish Hoover and have gotten into them many times but just flat out making up numbers is crazy.


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## rutty (Feb 5, 2007)

timmyv said:


> Again not possible. That's a fish every 1.5 minutes. You don't even have enough time to put a minnow on the hook before putting it back in. I fish Hoover and have gotten into them many times but just flat out making up numbers is crazy.


It is very possible and very likely. It isn't uncommon to go to hoover and catch well over 100 crappie in less than 3 hours. Actually, I have been there twice in my life in the summer months and both times I had our 90 fish limit in under 2 hours. It isn't that hard to catch fish at that rate when you have 6 poles in the water and 3 hooks per pole. Or even just 4 poles in the water. Lots of doubles and even a few triples are caught.
Just because you can't catch them that fast, doesn't mean it isn't possible. Steve and Mark are great fisherman and surely catch that many fish in that short amount of time. Actually that numbers to me seems low, like they didn't count them all, they probably caught more than that in 3 hours of fishing.


Also, if it takes you longer than 5 seconds to put a minnow on your pole, you better get out and practice. I have a 4 and a 6 year old that can put a minnow on a hook in under 10 seconds.


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## Farmhand (Jul 11, 2011)

RiparianRanger said:


> How do you troll that slow? Far from an expert troller here, but I will occasionally pull a flicker shad behind the boat. Slowest I can go and get the lure down is ~2 mph. Add in the wind and it’s hard to dial in and constantly remain at such a low speed. What’s your secret?


I can troll .5 in my 30ft flybridge cruiser


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## 1basshunter (Mar 27, 2011)

timmyv said:


> Again not possible. That's a fish every 1.5 minutes. You don't even have enough time to put a minnow on the hook before putting it back in. I fish Hoover and have gotten into them many times but just flat out making up numbers is crazy.


 I have known Mark and Steve for a few years now and I have never known them to inflate the numbers of fish they catch more than likely they deflate their catch number..
I have also gotten reports from Ralf And Chuck who are consistently catching 100 fish and that is there a slow day and they don’t use the trolling motor.


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## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

timmyv said:


> Again not possible. That's a fish every 1.5 minutes. You don't even have enough time to put a minnow on the hook before putting it back in. I fish Hoover and have gotten into them many times but just flat out making up numbers is crazy.


You are probably right, Steve and Marks only motivation to report those numbers was to gain your admiration and respect. It looks like they missed that objective badly. I will encourage them to only report 50 fish on their next trip to Hoover, not matter how many they catch, so as to keep it at a level you can relate to. Nobody goes fishing and provides a report to apply undue stress to other fishermen. They are really nice guys, I'm sure they would be happy to under report next time just to keep everybody happy


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## deerfarmer (Apr 21, 2012)

To be perfectly honest the reported number was probably off. It's one of my jobs to click the fish counter and I'm old and don't multi task as well as I used to. The reported number was in all likely hood low because of me missing to click fish. I posted this report to help others that have issues finding hoover crappies in the hot summer months. Both Sat and Sunday there were enough other boats around that there should be someone out there that can verify that the two old fat guys in the black ranger were catching a lot of crappie. Once Hoover crappie get into this summer pattern they usually stay in it until late fall. My suggestion would be to go back up and follow the directions in my first post and catch some summer crappie.


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## RiparianRanger (Nov 18, 2015)

^black ranger boat you say? Did you put in at walnut street ramp? If so, I may have waved as I went around you shortly after six (white Monark v hull)


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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

timmyv said:


> Again not possible. That's a fish every 1.5 minutes. You don't even have enough time to put a minnow on the hook before putting it back in. I fish Hoover and have gotten into them many times but just flat out making up numbers is crazy.


Have you ever spider rigged hoover with 4 ploes 12 hooks total in mid summer? 
I have not,but i have dropped minnows on there heads this time of year with just a couple rods an the fishing is fast an furious. Add multiple more hooks,great electronics,good boat control and a good system going an you end up needing a counter to keep track you catch so many.... 
Good trip deerfarmer an polebender!


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## MFall (May 5, 2017)

deerfarmer said:


> To be perfectly honest the reported number was probably off. It's one of my jobs to click the fish counter and I'm old and don't multi task as well as I used to. The reported number was in all likely hood low because of me missing to click fish. I posted this report to help others that have issues finding hoover crappies in the hot summer months. Both Sat and Sunday there were enough other boats around that there should be someone out there that can verify that the two old fat guys in the black ranger were catching a lot of crappie. Once Hoover crappie get into this summer pattern they usually stay in it until late fall. My suggestion would be to go back up and follow the directions in my first post and catch some summer crappie.


Thanks again deerfarmer - I certainly didn't plan to cast doubt on your numbers, but was shocked at them based on my own results. I'll keep working on it with your suggestions. Think I need some more fancy electronics. My little Lowrance is not helping me much. Take care!


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## Brahmabull71 (Jul 30, 2014)

timmyv said:


> Again not possible. That's a fish every 1.5 minutes. You don't even have enough time to put a minnow on the hook before putting it back in. I fish Hoover and have gotten into them many times but just flat out making up numbers is crazy.


Have YOU ever spider rigged? Have YOU ever been in a crappie tournament or seen how most all Crappie tournaments are won? It’s spider rigging and it is exceptional when you get on an active school of fish. Quite honestly the numbers reported by Steve and Mark are a typical outing for these two because it’s what they do, and do it really well. They regularly place in top spots in tournaments and always share the sport and technique with all of the others who don’t do it or know how which is the way it’s supposed to be.

What have YOU contributed lately here? The likes button tells the sum of what everyone thinks about your posts...NOTHING...just like your post in this thread. Add value or keep the trolling to yourself and go away! No need to discredit contributing members and their posts!

Nice job Mark and Steve! Keep the posts coming. The other 99.9% of us love to hear and read them...while we’re at work LOL!


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## deerfarmer (Apr 21, 2012)

Brahmabull71 I have to correct you on one of your statements. While we do fish crappie tournaments we usually fall in the middle of the pack. Fishing tournaments it all about finding big crappie and we are still trying to learn how to do that consistency.


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## polebender (Oct 29, 2011)

I really want to thank all of those who would vouch for Steve and myself about our reports! I’m sure Steve feels the same way. But really, Steve and I don’t really care about what others say. We actually chuckle about it! 
I get on him all the time about giving out too much information! But he truly enjoys sharing with others just as much as he does catching fish!
To be honest, before we started slow trolling I wouldn’t have thought catching crappies in these numbers were possible! It can be total mayhem at times! 
Thanks again fellas!
Oh yeah, Steve, who was that other fat guy you took out fishing?! You didn’t tell me about that!


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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

deerfarmer said:


> Brahmabull71 I have to correct you on one of your statements. While we do fish crappie tournaments we usually fall in the middle of the pack. Fishing tournaments it all about finding big crappie and we are still trying to learn how to do that consistency.


What time of year is on average your best time of year to find bigger fish. 
Say you could pick one time of year where you feel most confident putting your 8 best fish in the live-well?


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## deerfarmer (Apr 21, 2012)

polebender said:


> Oh yeah, Steve, who was that other fat guy you took out fishing?! You didn’t tell me about that!


 Look in the mirror buddy.


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## Salamander (Apr 11, 2004)

polebender said:


> I really want to thank all of those who would vouch for Steve and myself about our reports! I’m sure Steve feels the same way. But really, Steve and I don’t really care about what others say. We actually chuckle about it!
> I get on him all the time about giving out too much information! But he truly enjoys sharing with others just as much as he does catching fish!
> To be honest, before we started slow trolling I wouldn’t have thought catching crappies in these numbers were possible! It can be total mayhem at times!
> Thanks again fellas!
> Oh yeah, Steve, who was that other fat guy you took out fishing?! You didn’t tell me about that!


Please do keep those reports coming. I really do enjoy reading them and I look forward to them each day. I have truly learned a lot from you guys. I added some new tactics to my arsenal from what I have learned from your posts. I admire the hard work and knowledge that you guys have for Crappie fishing.

Thanks again guys!!!


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## deerfarmer (Apr 21, 2012)

RiparianRanger said:


> ^black ranger boat you say? Did you put in at walnut street ramp? If so, I may have waved as I went around you shortly after six (white Monark v hull)


 That was us.


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## rutty (Feb 5, 2007)

deerfarmer said:


> Brahmabull71 I have to correct you on one of your statements. While we do fish crappie tournaments we usually fall in the middle of the pack. Fishing tournaments it all about finding big crappie and we are still trying to learn how to do that consistency.


Now that you brought up that subject, you can ALWAYS find big crappie in the practice rounds. Then the tournament day comes.......lmao! whole different ball game.


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## RiparianRanger (Nov 18, 2015)

deerfarmer said:


> That was us.


Cool. Looked like you were waiting on someone. I’ll stop and say hi next time.


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## Carpman (May 18, 2005)

timmyv said:


> Again not possible. That's a fish every 1.5 minutes. You don't even have enough time to put a minnow on the hook before putting it back in. I fish Hoover and have gotten into them many times but just flat out making up numbers is crazy.


Who said he only caught one fish at a time? He said he uses a three hook rig, and with two people fishing that is a lot of hooks in the water. He could very well pull in twelve crappie on one pass over the school. We were pulling doubles and triples in a lake a little North of Hoover last weekend, and definitely passed the 100 fish mark.


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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

Carpman said:


> Who said he only caught one fish at a time? He said he uses a three hook rig, and with two people fishing that is a lot of hooks in the water. He could very well pull in twelve crappie on one pass over the school. We were pulling doubles and triples in a lake a little North of Hoover last weekend, and definitely passed the 100 fish mark.


If its the same one im thinking of that place has been a pleasent suprise this year for crappie! GOOD JOB


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## Bluegillin' (Jan 28, 2009)

Polebender and Deerfarmer - This may be a dumb question after you posted about catching over 150 fish (obvious success), but do you guys ever try just jigs? Seems like if you can catch over 150 fish that maybe just jigs would work versus having to transport and continually add minnows to the hook. I know, if ain't broke, don't fix it, but I still had to ask out of curiosity. I know some crappie fisherman I watch on TV swear by plastics if the fish are in a biting mood.


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## rutty (Feb 5, 2007)

Bluegillin' said:


> Polebender and Deerfarmer - This may be a dumb question after you posted about catching over 150 fish (obvious success), but do you guys ever try just jigs? Seems like if you can catch over 150 fish that maybe just jigs would work versus having to transport and continually add minnows to the hook. I know, if ain't broke, don't fix it, but I still had to ask out of curiosity. I know some crappie fisherman I watch on TV swear by plastics if the fish are in a biting mood.


They like crank baits also!


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## deerfarmer (Apr 21, 2012)

We have tried plastic's in the past. Plastic's work but nothing is as productive as minnows. It's funny that you ask this question because polebender and myself just had a conversation about next trip to Hoover going without minnows. If we go we'll post our results.


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## basser53 (May 14, 2005)

deerfarmer,Thanks for all of your in depth reports.There is a lot of info in all of your posts. I have never tried your trolling method for crappie,however it is getting tempting to try.Thanks again for your posts.


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## 1basshunter (Mar 27, 2011)

Steve, please keep it at fish per minute That way you will not confuse our local math expert


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## Bluegillin' (Jan 28, 2009)

rutty said:


> They like crank baits also!


One of the most aggressive crappies I ever caught was on a rebel craw in a pond. I saw that fish coming from 8 feet away. I am not sure if he was hungry as it seemed more like the rebel craw was pissing him off and he smacked it with unbelievable force. At first I thought it had to be a bass.


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## Bluegrasser (Apr 11, 2009)

Chuck and myself use to throw spinners with minnows for crappie, and thought we were having some good dsys. But after fishing around Deerfarmer a few times, we started the slow troll method. Last year's best day was 302. We haven't come close to that yet this year, but 100+ fish isn't uncommon. Hoover is a good crappie lake. We haven't figured out where the big slabs live, but 10 - 11.5 inchers are there to be had , all day long. Seems like more black crappie this year than before. Keep up the good work, Steve and Mark. We're watching, and taking notes.


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## Fuzzygrub (Nov 1, 2008)

I was in my yak, in the same corner, on a certain side of a certain bridge, and I saw them land MANY, crappie on their long rods. I see them all the time killing the crappie, usually in the same area, but most times in a little deeper water. I fish for saugeye so I am usually trolling the ledge, near where they fish. IF I FISHED FOR CRAPPIE I WOULD FOLLOW THEIR BOAT!


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## mashunter18 (Jun 23, 2005)

Can you image these boys if Ohio didn't have the 2 pole limit. They would really be wearing them out with the 4 rod each spider rig set up. 300+ a day.


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## Bluegrasser (Apr 11, 2009)

We've only used a single rod each while slow trolling. We're there mostly for fun, with about 99% C & R. 2 rods each would be too much like work, once you hit a willing school. lol


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