John Kranick: The Essential Trout Fishing Guide

techniques to find more fish — especially in the to run — no faster than two miles an hour though.

summer. Fish that previously were concentrated near This is your cue to let your lure out. You’ll put it out the surface or in the shallows are now digging down there at least 30 feet and not more than 50 feet deeper into the cooler parts of the water. Sometimes behind the boat in most instances.

they’re spread out in a wider pattern in open waters.

The Secrets Professionals Refuse To Share19

THE ESSENTIAL TROUT FISHING GUIDE

Your next step is to fasten the line to the release gear. Flat-lining really is as simple as putting a clip of the downrigger. Place the rod in the rod holder. minnow-imitating lure on your line, watching it go Ensure that the reel drag is set light. This way the out 100 yards or so, and then waiting for the line pays out as you lower the trolling ball.

spectacular results.

When the ball is at the depth you want, you tighten

Your trolling speed varies from less than 2 miles

the reel drag back to its normal setting. Reel in enough an hour to upwards of 4 miles per hour. And when of the line so the flexible rod tip is bowed down ever you go to select those lures, you’ll discover that you so slightly. Now, it’s all set. When the trout strikes have a wide range of depths from which you can (notice I didn’t say “ if a trout strikes”), the tip pops chose.

up and takes up the slack.

Lures effective in water as shallow as two inches

W

to those that work up to 8 inches are all well suited

HAT’S THE THERMOCLINE?

for this trolling. One of my friends even used a 12-

In the summer, you’ll see by the sonar in the boat inch lure.

that the larger fish as well as the schools of baitfish

Having said all of that, you’ll probably be the most

are congregated near the thermocline. This is the successful with 3 to 5-inch lures and trolling speeds narrow band of water where the temperatures change that hover around 2 to 3 miles per hour.

radically. Above the thermocline the waters are

warmer. But once you reach that point, somewhere

And while you can place the rod in the holder,

between 30 and 70 feet deep, depending on where you may find that you’re “luckier” when you work you fish, the water cools drastically. And that, my the rod instead. Simply “rip” the rod and then let it fellow fisherman, is exactly where you want to run slack slightly between your ripping actions. Remember your downrigger weights and lures. All day long if that with 100 yards of line between your rod and you can

the lure, it will take a long, aggressive stroke on the

rip to make any impact on the lure itself.

TROLLING METHOD #2:

You will probably want to choose a fast action

FLAT-LINING

rod. One that is fairly stiff and perhaps seven feet or

so in length. Don’t buy a large reel that’s heavy, but

This is the easiest trolling method you’ll ever find. you do want it to hold enough line for those times Your line is attached to a lure. You need not use any when the trout takes 100 yards on the hookup.

secondary weight or any other device.

And the line? Well, probably the best to start with

For the most part, though, flat-lining is considered is a 15 pound one. To this I tie a 50-foot leader of a near-surface approach. Despite this, it still allows fluorocarbon. Again, I use a line that is between 10

you to reach the moderate depths through jigs and to 15 pounds. And to the leader itself you may want diving crankbaits.

to tie a small, heavy-duty cross lock snap without

the swivel!

Sometimes called top-lining, flat-lining has been

known to help more than one angler snag that trophy

trout. One aspect of this approach that’s appreciated

by many is that there’s no real need for specialized

20 The Secrets Professionals Refuse To Share

THE ESSENTIAL TROUT FISHING GUIDE

PLANER TROLLING

the cord out to the board itself. You’ll want to reel

this up slightly so there’s some tension between your

Even though these may be the most complicated rod and the board. Now just place the rod in the of all the trolling devices, they are well worth the holder.

effort you expend in learning them. They can be,

without a doubt, the most effective trolling devices LEAD-CORE LINE TROLLING

around.

Without a doubt this is not only the easiest, but

For those of you who may not have heard of them, also the least expensive method to get your lures a planer is a floating board — usually seven to 12 deep. A lead-core is just what the name implies. It’s inches — that holds your line 50 to 100 feet off to a single-strand lead wire that is neatly tucked inside one side of the boat.

a braided nylon covering. Pretty clever, huh?

Using a pair, you set one on either side of the

Pound-tests for this trolling method range from

boat. This means that you’re effectively covering a 12 to 45. The line itself has a color change every 10

wide range of water — perhaps even upwards of 200 yards, so it’s easy to tell how much line you’ve feet. This fact alone means you’re more likely to find extended. (I told you this was easy!) Each color, by fish.

the way, generally adds about five to eight feet of

But consider the fact the your lures are now farther trolling depth. But, of course, this depends on the away from the sound of your boat’s motor as well. speed of your boat.

This situation is less likely than most to scare the fish

This particular type of trolling has been performed

off.

for nearly 10 years in the Great Lakes. It’s only within

So, just how do you set this up? Well, most anglers the last 5 years or so that the technique has spread use a six-foot mast mounted to the boat’s bow, which to other geographical locations.

holds two large take-up reels. These reels, in turn,

It’s also a fantastic way to add lines to your spread,

hold cord that attaches to the both sides of the to cover different depths, and to fish a long distance tapered planers.

behind the boat so as not to frighten the fish.

As your boat moves forward, you’ll pay out a board

Now that you’ve got a general education on

on the cord until it’s just where you want. Release spinner fishing for trout, I’m eager to move on to tell the line from your reel until your lure is about 60 you a little about fly fishing for trout. That’s exactly feet behind the boat.

what the next chapter covers.

Now attach a release clip to your line as well as a

Come on! Let’s go fishing together!

“quick clip” you can slip on the planer-board cord.

Due to the tension of the line, the clip slides along

The Secrets Professionals Refuse To Share21

CHAPTER 3

Fly Fishing

Shh! Don’t ask that question in front of a veteran fly angler. It’s not so much that he’ll scold you for asking the question, no, anglers are eager to teach new trout fisherman, it’s just that you may have to listen to more than a few of “the-fish-that-got-away”