# Hoover Trolling



## FatRap007 (Jul 23, 2009)

Went out last night and managed two whitebass three crappie two nice saugeye a yellow perch and one largemouth bass also two three pound catfish........trolled from pontoonclub to the bridge 2.1 was the ticket, shadraps did not prevail it was dt4 firetiger one oz. bottom bouncer also the bandit 300-400 series in bluegill patern i hope this helps anyone who is trolling out there..The saugeye were 17 inches and fat. The crappie were 10-13 inches and the pearch was a dink .......


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## bassin mickey (Apr 22, 2004)

Thanks for the nice report !


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## JTKessOH (Sep 19, 2009)

Nice report. Thanks


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## CrappieNymph (Apr 21, 2010)

Went to Hoover last Sunday for Crappie. Fairly slow but did manage a little more than 20. All were returned. With it being so hot, I thought I'd give trolling a shot for walleye, if anything just to feel a little breeze to cool down. Tried for a bit and didn't get anything. Any tips on how to control speed to keep lures at maximum depth? I found a few times where all of a sudden my line went slack and my lure ended up on top of the water flapping around instead of the lip of the crankbait digging down and putting me in the strike zone. Like I said, first time even trying it. Would say I failed at it but I did learn one thing - learned I need to do some reading on how to troll.

Any help on lure choice, how to control speed, etc. would be greatly appreciated.

Keep it safe and have fun out there.


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## saugmon (Jun 14, 2006)

CrappieNymph,I'm not sure of the depths your are trying to troll or what the hot baits are for hoover. There's trolling books out there that'll give you estimates for what type of bait,line released,and speed. here's a few tips from an avid saugeye troller:

1:Make sure the crankbaits runs true. Let out enough line so you can see how the bait tracks below the surface,and keep it away from the propwash.You want the bait to run straight and down and lots of wiggles.If it wants to swim to a certain side,you'll have to tune that bait to make it runs straight. Example: A little line is released and you notice the baiting wanting to run to the right. Take some needlenose pliars and grab a hold of the eye screw/ring and twist it to the left a little and re-test. If bait wanting to run to the left,turn that eye screw to the right.Be gentle,most of the time it doesn't take much of a twist.Some cranks need tuned right out of the package.

2)Look at the lips/bills of the crankbaits. I have a harder time with square billed baits as apposed to a rounded,slightly pointed lip.The squarer,the slower or they will pop up.

3)Then you figure out the correct speed of your bait. Small handheld GPS units are handy to get to the nearest 1/10 of a mph.Switching baits,and you may have to adjust speed.I even compensate for windage.

4)Sensitivity-Type of line: Mono stretches 10% and up. Example,100 yards released.After it stretches,it may be 110+ yards behind the boat.It also takes off some of the action of the bait.Too much line released,it'll add weight may cause the crankbait to not dive as deep as it should. This is why I love superbraids like spiderwire.Zero stretch and super sensitive and you'll feel the slightest bite of a saugeye/walleye. Those species love to clamp onto a bait and swim with it,making it more difficult to feel them with mono.Mono is more forgiving to set the hook and fight the fish,just less sensitive.I like to keep all my reels with identical line to help on the tangles with sharp turns.

5) Rods:Some of the trolling rods out there are whippy with fat blanks near the handle.When dragging plastic,notice the rod tip. That tip will tell you how that bait is running.Again,sensitive low stretch line will magnefy the action of the bait.Sensitive heavier action salmon/steelhead rods will show every little vibration of that bait. I can tell if it hits weed,mud,gravel,and even a 1/2 snagged minnow running 3 mph in 2' waves.That rod tip tells me all that stuff.

6)Change colors and brands. What works good 1 day may not the next.Firetiger,gold,shad,and crawdad usually perform well.

7) Match the depth rating of the bait to near the bottom for saugeye.Keep that bait barely above the bottom,and even bumping it occasionally. I've never seen them suspend.Saugeye love to sit on the botton in any little nook and cranny.You just have to find the correct depth of the bottom that they are at.

8) Sharp turns/Straightaways: Sometimes they prefer a certain presentation,and even certain turn in a certain direction.

9) Once you catch a couple in a spot,remember that spot.I'm used to short,verocious bites at certain spots. Handheld gps comes in handy again to mark these spots as waypoints. Once you locate one of those hot spots,remember it throughout the day. They will bite again in another hour or so in that exact spot.

10) Something to think about for serious trollers:Line Counter reels: Very handy in knowing how much line is released.Nothing fancy.Even the low budget $40 cabelas depthmasters are excellent to give you more accuracy on how much line is released behind the boat.

11) Check the hoover threads daily for even the slightest tips on the bite at hoover, LOL!


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## goose commander (May 11, 2010)

wow sougmon that was a heap of info(keep it coming) for some of us trying to learn to troll with consistency. whats funny is i was getting on here today to look for some hoover tips and this was here. headed to hoover tonight hoping for a little c&r. oh yeah great job and good report fatrap007.


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## saugmon (Jun 14, 2006)

You'll have more structure and varrying depths/dropoffs over at hoover. Keep the crankbait running true,and at the depth where you locate fish and then figure out the speed.


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## Dandaman (Apr 29, 2006)

wow saugmon sounds like you know your stuff!! I'm a rookie at eye fishing so thanks for the tips bro.


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## SwollenGoat (Apr 13, 2005)

Saugmon threw a ton of good info out there to help anyone get started on the trolling game. It will still take a lot of time to learn the ropes, learn the terrain, speed, know what the fish want, etc. Trolling correctly is just as much an art as learning to fly fish. I've got several years of trolling under my belt and continue to learn and improve my techniques year after year.


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## puterdude (Jan 27, 2006)

Amen to that advice Swollen Goat.I have been a troller for years and yet I learn something nearly every time I am out doing it.Excellant schooling material in this tread for sure.


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## saugmon (Jun 14, 2006)

There's a lot of things I would have done different from when I started saugeye trolling 6+ years ago. I wished I had purchased 4 identical cabelas depthmaster D10's,4 of the 8'6" BPS med/heavy Extreme salmon rods-which I can no longer locate.

My all time best saugeye trolling bait the Bomber B02 Firebass was discontinued. I had 3 of them from a bass masters show with hundreds of eyes caught and bi-weekly hook changes.They couldn't catch nothing when I started with mono.But switching to spiderwire,they tore em up. But,my other productive mono baits like mini rattletraps,thunderstick jrs,rapalas,haven't caught anything when using spiderwire. 

That BPS salmon rod had 1000's of eyes on it(including dinks) till my cousin helped me break the tip many years ago.I haven't found a rod that comes close to it yet for sensitivity.I still use it for a planerboard rod because the rubberband kills the sensitivity.Whippy trolling/downrigger/planerboards work well,but not as side rods.


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## goose commander (May 11, 2010)

Thanks goat,puter and saugmon for all the help. 

Saug you said you've been unsuccessful with the spiderwire and the list of lures you mentioned, are you recomending we might want to stick to mono instead? Not that i have a huge rasenal of lures but my main choise is the sr5...for now! 

Dicks had those matzuo crankbaits on sell this week and i bought a few. They are the 6-10' divers anyone have any luck with them or did i throw my money away?

All of you keep talking, a few of us are listening........ and taking notes.lol


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## SwollenGoat (Apr 13, 2005)

Keep in mind that while Gary's (Saugmon) tips offer lots of good info to get started, trolling Indian where the water only averages about 5 ft. and is fairly flat and featureless is very different than trolling Hoover or Alum where there is a lot more depth, structure and depth changes to deal with. My comments aren't to dismiss his advice or expert knowledge of Indian, only to make a point that just like you would change tactics to fish a pond vs. fishing a river, the same applies to trolling methods on different lakes.

For my own reasons I prefer to run mono (10 lb.) on my rods. I use a pair of Daiwa line counters as well as a pair of Cabela's depth master line counters when I have a 2nd person on board. One of the reasons I prefer mono is that the depth curves in the Precision Trolling book are all based on using 10 lb. Trilene mono. Also, because of Hoover's snaggy bottom I have learned mono is more forgiving on my gear than braid. 

Depending on time of year I switch between primarily using bottom bouncers with crawler harnesses in the spring and then as the water warms I switch to cranks. Most times it's a guessing game as to what type of baits and colors the fish want. However, I've had fairly good success at Hoover trolling with wally divers, bandits, reef runner ripshads and a few others.

In the end, experience will be your best teacher. Get out there and troll, make mental notes of your mistakes and successes. Also, make mental notes of the bottom features of the areas you troll. After a while you'll go on autopilot and finding the fish will come quicker and easier.


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## andesangler (Feb 21, 2009)

Super good info here from the trolling guys! Couple other things I've been learning about trolling for saugeyes:

1. Believe it when you are told that saugeyes like the bottom. They don't suspend much like walleyes do. If you don't feel your lure ticking the bottom now and then, and even occasionally snagging, you aren't fishing where they are.

2. Buy and keep on hand a couple of each lure that gives you results, in case you lose one. If you've never lost one, read #1 again. Over time, you will learn your home water better and lose fewer lures, but these are demanding fish that often require specific presentations that nearly always involve bottom structure.

3. During the summer, don't discount the more traditional walleye baits like Erie Dearies and similar weighted inline spinners, and worm harnesses, sweetened with a juicy worm. May have to use some kind of weight/device to get the right depth (inline weights, bottom bouncers, or even dipsy divers or jets given the right conditions and lures).

4. Be flexible in your methods/lures/presentations. I started trolling with my dad on Erie many years ago for walleyes, and I'm learning that the smaller scale of inland lakes requires a lot more attention to the process. Throw in the difference in fish, and I've kinda been starting over from scratch. 

Trolling for crappies can be successful in the summer also, once the bigger fish have left the shallower shoreline areas after spawning. That's all my dad does to catch them down in Florida, and he only uses jigs. Usually 1/8 oz. with some kind of tube, twister tail or flashy skirt and a couple split shot on the line 2-3 ft. up from the lure. Running around 2 mph, give or take, to get them down as much as 8-9 ft. It works here also, particularly if you have a depth finder and can roughly follow underwater stream channels or run parallel along dropoffs, adjusting the amount of weight as needed to get your lure down where the crappies are hanging out. You can also troll for them with blade baits like vibes and cicadas, and small cranks, and jigs with spinners like beetle spins, road runners and whistler jigs. If you locate a mess of them, you can anchor and cast to them and get more.

The fish are out there somewhere--just gotta find them and give them what they want. Remember your defensive driving skills whenever trolling, because all too often, the other guy won't be fisherman-friendly.

andesangler


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## andesangler (Feb 21, 2009)

Forgot to add:

Get, and learn how to use, some kind of lure retriever. Mine has paid for itself many times over.

For the newbie, all this looks like pretty hard-core stuff. Well, frankly, it is. Partly because of the amount of fishing pressure that our lakes get these days, but also because of the nature of the fish, especially saugeyes. But don't throw up your hands and quit. Read and research here and other places, ask questions and spend time on the water. If you are at least somewhat thoughtful and deliberate about it, you'll have success in time.

andesangler


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## goose commander (May 11, 2010)

nice guys and again thank you. your right when you say newbie but learning. i plan on putting a few of these tips in to action asap. my boat has been inoperable sense i returned from Wisconsin (i was hit with the Mississippi curse) but hope to be back on the water in a couple of weeks...this is killing me. keep your ears open, i will be confused soon....goose(john)


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## mwebb (Jul 11, 2010)

Very good advice and insight,for deeper waters.Trolling for crappies?...sounds like a hoot.


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## mwebb (Jul 11, 2010)

I've always had success trolling Hot-N-Tot's in Canada and Erie for walleye,pike and muskie.Does anyone try them around here?


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## moke11 (Apr 15, 2004)

used some of the advise here, picked up a solid 18" eye on perch colored 5/8oz erie dearie yesterday.


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## andesangler (Feb 21, 2009)

Boy's got a nice fish there, moke11. Keep him smiling like that!

Guys use all kinds of crankbaits to get saugeyes, especially when the fish are actively feeding. Years ago, when the white perch population in Erie was cranking up, we mostly switched from baits that used worms (like Erie dearies/lookalikes and worm harnesses) to cranks, just to minimize "trash fish" hookups. The go-to baits were Hot-N-Tots, Wiggle and Wee Warts and Bomber Long A lures. Saugeyes will take them too, if the presentation is right. Same lures will catch both kinds of fish, but you need to remember that while walleyes often suspend, saugeyes like the bottom. Same lure, but different presentation.

Dad and I were on Hoover yesterday, and got a mixed bag with only 1 saugeye (of the size we call "hammer handle" and released to grow). Hauled in a ton of 7" channel cats. Had to leave around supper time, or would have probably done better.

andesangler


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