Trolling speed - kings

[Always Gone]

Just curious what people are trolling at, what spoon manufactures they are using, and if they feel it is a factor in their success?...Many boats are running 6 or more lures, and I am wondering if they are sticking to the same manufacturer of spoon in their spread?

Every time I sink a new lure manufacture below the boat, I watch it for a while and see what it does at different speeds. It is amazing the different action each spoon has. Weight seems to be the deciding factor.

So, is the action of the spoon (determined by trolling speed) the deciding factor, or does color play a more important role?

Any comments?

I would rather have an off color lure with good action than the best color with no action.

[RudyG]

I change my speed to what the fish seem to want. With no Subtroll, I use SOG.. "Speed Over Ground" .. on my GPS for my reading but that isnt always accurate with currents changing.. so watching the bend on the dipsy rods and the angle on the rigger lines is a good way to judge. 2.0-3.0 SOG is the range I usually run.

I run some Moonshines but mostly FiNN Spoons because I like the action they give at high and low speeds. The fact that I was using them super slow for lakers on Superior back in the 80's when they were only silver or gold colored brought me back to them when I started with salmon in Lake Michigan.

Last week, setting lines, I had Blueberry muffin down 40 feet on a stacker in 65 FOW and it took a hit before I could get the 3rd line set... reset it.. took another hit before getting to the third line.. 23" walleye going 2.0 MPH ... reset it and less than 1 minute later released again.. screamer.. a 15.5 lb Salmon.

Some days a particular lure size or color is key.. others.. they have a feed bag on and I think they would bite the rigger ball if it had a hook.

[DooFighter]

I run mostly silver streaks and moonshine on my boat, with an occasional fishlander or michigan stinger thrown in. Moonshines require more speed, I think, the others are better at slower speeds. Usually I run a down speed of 2-2.25 which will be 2.4-3 sog depending on direction and current. The half moons are more tolerant of slower speeds, I believe, so I tend to run them more when the sun is higher and if I'm slowing down.

[finaddict]

Location is the most important factor in salmon fishing. If you're not where there are some aggressive fish then you won't bring home a full cooler. The depth and temperature that you are running your baits at are just as critical as your location on a map.

Lure presentation is probably the second most important factor. Downriggers, swrs, dipsies, leadcore, copper, pumper balls, spoons, flasher/flies, plugs, and the speed you drag them all influence your success. Tweaking and fine tuning your spread to entice the fish to bite is really, really important. The speed that you present your offerings is a huge factor in itself. I tend to troll pretty fast and show my lures to as many fish in a day as I can. My speed on the surface (GPS) tends to run between 2.5 and 3....sometimes faster if I am going with a current. I like to keep my downspeed between 2.7-3.0 on my FishHawk which corresponds to about 2.1-2.2 on a Depth Raider or Sub-Troll (DooFighter is running a ST I think).

Lure selection is the 3rd most important factor but is also related to presentation/trolling spread discussed above. As far as spoons go I only run Moonshines. I've been big water fishing for 28 years and only twice have I come across a lure manufacturer that measureably increased my catch rate compared to similar products offered by its competitors. Moonshines are one of them and the other is Reef Runners for walleye.

As to your original question as to what is more important...speed or color selection? Well, when the bite is on it is on and speed is more important than color because the fish will bite about anything. When things get tough speed still remains critical but the color selection also becomes more important too!

Hope all this information somehow helps!

Capt. Jim McDonald