How to Troll With Minnows
Trolling with minnows is a widely practiced method of catching a variety of fish including crappies, walleye and perch. It is a simple technique that relies more on your ability to find good fishing spots than actual skill. Once you hook your bait and drop it in the water, all you have to do is sit back and relax as you troll around the water.
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Instructions
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Locate a high-probability fishing spot. Good places typically include shoreline flats near suspected spawning areas, sand or gravel flats next to rocky or gravely shorelines, and especially those places with newly developed weeds or channels between lakes or a feeder stream.
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2
Bait your hook once you get close to the targeted fishing spot. The most common way is to push the hook up through the minnow's lower lip and through the upper lip so the barb of the hook is pointing at you when you are finished. This method allows the minnow to move as naturally as possible in the water when trolling.
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Shut off your boat's main engine and turn on the trolling motor. Start trolling across the channel or shoreline flat.
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Drop your baited hook over the side of the boat and let twenty to forty feet of line spool out behind the boat.
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Sit back and relax until you get a bite. You will occasionally need to check to make sure your minnow is still attached but otherwise your job is to simply steer the boat until you get a hit.
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Tips & Warnings
If you are trolling through heavy cover you can use no-snag sinkers or bottom bouncers to keep your bait from getting caught on any debris.
