Strolling

"a combination of structure fishing and slow trolling"

I can’t remember how I came up with the term “strolling”. I either heard it somewhere or I just said it and it stuck. Regardless, it’s the term I use for a hybrid technique, a combination of structure fishing and slow trolling.

While fishing the lakes in and around Dallas Texas back in the late 90’s, I realized that I needed a method for moving along endless structure filled creek channels at various depths to find crappies. If you have ever fished Texas lakes you know that they are filled with standing timber. Most of the lakes are less than 30 years old and all but one is manmade, if I’m not mistaken.

I needed to be able to adjust the depth of may baits easily and I wanted to fish with six or eight rods at the same time. This would allow me to cover a wide range of depths and present baits at precise depths. Plus I wanted to be able to move and cover a lot of water.

With these things in mind I decided to combine some of my slow trolling tricks and some of my structure tricks into one technique, strolling. Here is how I do it. I have two of my Killer Rod Holders mounted on the front of my Triton Bass Boat. They are mounted within easy reach of my pedestal seat. I have the trolling motor foot control situated in between the two rod holders with plenty of room to swing my knees past the butts of the eight rods I am fishing with. My depth finder is mounted in the front of the bow where I can see it very well. The transducer is mounted on the bottom of the trolling motor as is customary these days. With this set up I can move around, navigate the boat, and see what is directly below me at all times.

 I use 10’ rods with spinning reels spooled with 8 – 10 lb Magnathin line. Normally I fish with 6 lb line, but in this case you need the heavier line to pull snags loose. On each rod I will attach at least a one ounce bell sinker and two baits. Most of the time I’ll use a two ounce weight to keep the line straight down at all times. You move around a lot with this method and you do not want the lines swinging under the boat while you are moving. Remember you are not trolling, you are trying to move your bait around at a specific depth range and pause at likely looking fish holding structure. The idea is to keep moving, fish a lot of water and only hit the high potential places you see on the depth finder.

My all time favorite rig for this technique is a modified Kentucky Rig. Twelve inches up from the two ounce bell sinker I tie a dropper line about ten inches long. Eighteen inches up from that I tie another dropper line. One of the special things I do is use 20 lb mono for my dropper lines. The 20 lb is stiff and will hold the bait out away from the main line. This will help avoid twisted up rigs. On each dropper I slide a Mizmo tube jig, with no jig head just the body, on to the line. Then I tie on a #2 gold Aberdeen Eagle Claw hook. Get your super glue out, you’ll need it for the next step. Slide the Mizmo tube jig body back down the dropper and onto the hook. Stop the tube jig as it hits the knot and the hook eye. Put a little dab of super glue right where the jig, knot and hook eye come together. Let it dry for a minute or two while you rig the rest of your rods the same way. Use the basic color strategy of dark colors on a dark day and bright colors on a bright day. If you are fishing with eight rods, you should have sixteen variations on before you start fishing. I always put a minnow on every hook. There is no jig head on the rig, so it is light and allows the minnow to move. The jig body adds color and a little flash. As you catch fish, narrow down your colors to those that are producing. 

I use this technique a lot in the summer months and very early spring. These are times when crappies tend to school up and move in packs. They will be in water that is high in dissolved oxygen content. Bait must be present along with desirable water temperatures. Some state fisheries agencies will post information about water quality. If you can get this information, use it to determine where on the lake to start fishing and what depth to start looking for crappies. If you don’t have this information available, talk to local fishermen and bait and tackle shops. Gather as much information as you can before going out on the lake. Do your homework so to speak. It will pay off.

In the summer I will always look for major rivers or creeks feeding into a lake to identify places to start strolling. The influx of fresh water will bring higher dissolved oxygen levels and cooler water temperatures and it will draw schools of baitfish. I’ll find the creek channel and the flats near the area where the river or creek comes into the lake. If you don’t have creeks feeding your lake, look for drops or humps. I’ll cruise these areas with my depth finder on and locate areas that are holding bait and any temperature change. Generally in the summer months I’m looking in water 15 – 30 feet deep with the magic holding depth for crappies being about 16 – 20 feet. In the morning or late evening they may suspend a little shallower. I’m also looking for fish holding structure along the creek channels and adjacent flats. I will throw out markers as I’m riding along, marking my strolling path. Sometimes I do this for a half mile or more. I’ll also have my GPS on and ready to mark likely looking spots.

Once I have scouted an area and I have my markers out I’ll start at the shallowest marker and work my way towards deeper water. I’ll set several rods right off the bottom. The rest will get progressively shallower in increments of one foot or so. Now I turn on the bow mounted depth finder, put the trolling motor on “1” and start strolling along my path of markers. As I get in deeper water I adjust each rod depth to keep the baits in the strike zone. If I catch a fish I make note of the jig color, rod position (inside, outside or middle) and the depth that bait was at. I’ll also note if the fish took the top bait or bottom bait. When I get near a nice looking piece of structure I’ll stop the boat and let the baits “soak” near the structure. I may back up and circle the structure a few times, then run straight over it from several directions. If a rod gets snagged or hung on a piece of structure, just back up, shake the rod tip, and the big weight should pull the hook loose.

With any technique there is one thing I stress, learn how to use your depth finder. The units sold today are extremely sensitive and powerful. Read the owners manual and learn how to adjust your depth finder properly. You may be amazed at the level of detail and amount of information you may be missing.  

This technique worked very well in the heavy structure laden lakes of central Texas. I caught many big crappies by strolling along the creek channels in these lakes. As the years have passed I’ve used the technique all over the country. It works everywhere crappies swim. 

This technique is simple and very effective. Use it to locate and catch schooling crappies in early spring as well. Just reverse the approach and start deep working your way shallower. Baitfish presence is not as important in the spring. Look for warmer water and suspended fish. The crappies may not be relating to structure at all in January and February. But this technique will allow you to position your baits at a specific depth range and cover a lot of water. Both are keys to finding and catching early season slabs.