Lake Trolling Techniques

Lake Trout

Trolling is a popular technique for catching fish in lakes, reservoirs, and other large impoundments.

Lake trolling allows anglers to cover a large amount of territory while fishing at multiple depths.

Lake trolling techniques vary regionally. In some areas, anglers employ downriggers, planers, umbrella rigs, or other complex equipment.

In other situations, anglers use only simple tackle such as spoons, crankbaits, or jigs.

Lake trolling techniques have been proven to produce trophy-class fish. While trolling, anglers catch lake trout, musky, pike, salmon, striped bass, white perch, largemouth bass, panfish, and other fish.

The following are a few state record catches that were caught by trolling:

In September 2010, James Brooks was trolling in Bluestone Lake when he set a new West Virginia state record for striped bass. Brooks caught the 47.16-inch, 45.70-pound striper while trolling a crankbait.

In June 2014, Jeffery Todd Smith set a new North Carolina state record with a kokanee salmon that weighed 4 pounds, 1 ounce. Smith caught the fish while trolling in Nantahala Lake.

In 2016, James Stiars of Maryland broke his own non-tidal record for white perch in Loch Raven Reservoir near Baltimore.

Stiars landed his second Maryland state record non-tidal white perch with a 1.74-pound, 14.25 inch fish. His previous record was a 1.70-pound fish caught in 2014.

“We were trolling Shad Rap crank baits and catching them pretty well when this one came over the rail, and I thought it looked bigger than the one from a couple of years ago,” explained Stiars.

Related Information

Kayak Trolling

Toledo Bend Reservoir - Best Bass Lake 2016

Bassmaster Magazine recently named Toledo Bend Reservoir the "Best Bass Lake" in the nation for the second year in a row.

This is the first time a fishery has held Bassmaster's number one spot for more than one year.

Since 2012, the magazine has published the annual 100 best bass lakes in the country; Toledo Bend Reservoir has placed within the top 15 every year.

The Toledo Bend Lake Association provides replicas to sportsmen who land bass 10 pounds or larger and release the fish back into the lake alive. Replicas are awarded every June.

In 2015, the fishery produced 81 verified fish over 10 pounds. During the 2016 lunker year, running from June 2015 through May 2016, the number of replicas awarded nearly doubled to 139 double-digit bass.

Toledo Bend Lake straddles the Louisiana and Texas border, and lake management is the responsibility of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

These agencies, in addition to various local organizations, have released more than 28 million Florida-strain largemouth fingerlings into the reservoir.

source: Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries