Slow Vertical Trolling
Presentations I've described elsewhere are pretty old hat
to most anglers. However, slow vertical trolling (SVT) is so
effective for deep crappies and walleyes that it needs a detailed
account:
Long or regular rods, both work well. 10-14 pound Fireline or
Super Braid main line for sensitivity and toughness.
12-24" leader of 10 pound pure fluorocarbon. I use a
light wire Duo-Lok snap to connect main line to leader. Other
ways work , too. Fluorocarbon is amazing stuff, tough and
invisible. Wet the knot before cinching it down!
Use just enough weight above the leader to keep
the main line near vertical as the boat slowly moves along.
Maintaining the near-vertical main line angle gives the angler
control-the ability to "bump" and "back
off" in wood structure. With the weight above the lure,
wood snags can usually be released by "bouncing"
the weight. I usually use a half ounce worm weight down to
20 feet-more for deeper holding fish. With this setup,
even the smallest Basher can be effectively presented as deep
as you please. |
Son Rusty at Truman Lake, Missouri
Crappie taken with 1/32 #4 Basher /plastic
18' down in 28' of water just outside timber. |
If using #2 hook Bashers the leader needs to be heavier to straighten
off a wood snag. #4's or smaller generally pull off snags with
10 pound. Of course, use lighter line if you've found fish
away from wood. Slow vertical trolling means just that -S-L-O-W !! I usually do better with little or no vertical jigging
motion.
Don't forget the Crappie Nibbles when using plastic!! SVT
is extremely effective anytime fish are deep. They often spook from
the boat if you try SVT shallower than 8 feet.
Every May SVT knocks 'em dead for us on Truman Reservoir in
Missouri. Post-spawn Truman crappies can be scattered and tough,
especially when a cold front comes through. Cold front crappies
often prefer small lures fished deep and slow. Several times I've
gone to 1/64oz #8 Bashers with 1" tubes at 35 feet with SVT
to limit out on Truman when most folks were coming home empty.
SVT shines clear through fall until ice and again in the spring
the moment the ice is gone. I've found crappies detest the
noise of skin ice breaking on a boat hull no matter how deep they
are. In water temperature below 45 degrees, the plastic bite drops
way off. Use live minnows on the Bashers. When it's this cold
or colder, crappies can be aggravatingly short biters. I laboriously
tie #16 treble stingers about 2" long to the hook of the basher
and keep right on pulling them up. Sink one barb of the treble in
the side or near the tail of the minnow. Walleyes hammer Bashers
with minnows no matter how cold it gets.
|
151/2 " crappie using slow verical
troll.
May 2004
Lake Sugema
1/32 #4Basher w/pastic curl tail
17 feet down in 22 feet of water |
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