If you have been around fishing for any length of time, I am sure you know what trolling fishing is, but if you aren't a seasoned angler, this method of fishing has long been known for catching a lot of fish. It takes away the part of the equation where you have to actually find the fish.. they find you. By using trolling techniques on your boat, you are able to cover a lot of water, usually fairly quickly, picking fish off as you go. Find out why this method has been banned in tournaments across the US!

Trolling fishing is the art of dragging an artitificial lure, or even a live bait drifting along behind the boat. By keeping the motor actively moving, you are able to keep the baits moving behind the boat, covering water incredibly fast. When fish below see these baits and lures passing by, it instantly causes a reaction strike, loading your stringer full of bass, panfish, and the big trolling target, crappie.

You usually allow the line to drift around 25-50 yards behind the boat, depending on how spooky the target species is that you are going after. If you are targeting crappie and bass, 25 yards is sufficient. However, drifting for trout and other spooky species requires a lot longer lead, otherwise you won't catch anything.

When I am trolling live bait, I really like to let the line drift.  This is because I don't want to place too much stress on the bait at the other end.  If you are constantly tugging, and pulling on it, you are going to stress the prey out, and it will die very quickly.  Dead bait is far less effective for trolling than live bait.  It works, just not as well.  I will open the bail on my spinning rod, and just watch the line. 

When you have trolled long enough, you will know how to tell the difference between just a baitfish on the line, and a bigger predator in the area.  What I mean, is that, when you have live bait on a hook, and a predator fish enters the area, the smaller prey will instantly start stressing.  Doing this, they will swim all around, trying to escape.  When you see this happening on the end of your line, you know that there is a big fish present, and to be prepared.

I usually choose to use artificial lures to tie on my line when I am trolling, because of the cost.  Live bait can get pretty expensive, but that usually means you have gotten on the fish.  I hope it doesn't mean you didn't take care of them properly, that would be a waste of money. 

The artificials that I love to use are swimbaits, Rat-L-Traps, and crankbaits.  When you are trolling an artificial lure, you are trying to get it to look like a smaller prey fish swimming overhead, and get the predator fish to react and strike it.  Usually without thinking twice.

Live bait is a different story.  You really have to slow down with live bait, and control how fast you are drifting, or trolling.  Keeping the bait alive is also key, because dead bait doesn't catch near as many fish as a live prey item will.  Hook the baitfish through the nose with a circle hook, so that as the boat moves, if there is a fish on the line, the circle hook will automatically grab the corner of it's mouth. 

Your drag will begin to sing, alerting you that you have something.  When you get to this, make sure you are reeling, to keep the fish from getting the hook out of its mouth.  You will usually lose each baitfish, with every predator that you end up catching.  So plan on rebaiting a lot, especially for stolen bait!

The same techniques that apply to other types of fishing still apply to trolling. By this, I mean, presenting the lure to the fish properly is the key to having a successful fishing trip. You still have to get the predator to believe what you are serving up, assuming it is fake, that it is a real live baitfish. This isn't always as easy as it sounds, especially when you are on the back of a moving boat. The chop going, you really have to focus to make sure.

This isn't just about dragging a bait behind the boat, and waiting for a fish to bite. You will also have to watch out for underwater snags, debris, logs, rock piles, etc, that aren't visible from above. Getting hung on these will make you believe that you have a fish, and cause you to jerk, only burying the hook into whatever you just grabbed onto. Lost lures, or lost bait, either way it costs you money. So be careful with your baits while you are trolling fishing!