Being September, I thought this would be a good subject to write about for catching Walleyes. That is, if mother nature would bring normal fall weather. Here are the four different types of trolling that I know. Basic trolling, row trolling, back trolling and drift fishing. Yes, even though some anglers may disagree, I consider drift fishing a form of trolling too.

If you think about it, when trolling and back trolling you use electric or gas motor and obviously when row trolling you use oars, so you’re using the boats movement to fish. Well, when drift fishing you are using the boats movement too, but it’s the wind/current that’s pushing the boat across the surface, right? This type of trolling isn’t used all the time, but when conditions are right, there are days when you can catch a lot of Walleyes.

With the right wind, I prefer drift fishing over other trolling methods. Why, because your boat is stealth, your bait is moving naturally through the water and like any style of trolling, you can cover a lot of water in a short period. Also, drift fishing is great for locating fish and depending on the depth/structure or cover your fishing, you can catch other species too.

I’d say the hardest part of drift fishing is choosing a starting point, so here’s the best advice I can give you. If you don’t know the lake, look at a good lake map and locate an area with rocks, drop-offs, ledges, mid-lake humps (STRUCTURE) or deeper weed beds, weed flats (COVER) and start there.

Or use your electronics and pass over an area to choose a starting point. The easy part of drift fishing is, motor against the wind/current to the edge of the area you chose, kill the engine, cast out your line 30 feet passed that location, then sit back and let the wind/current move your boat over the area and wait for that tug on your rod.

If you’re not getting any bites after three or four passes, motor back to your starting point, but move over (depending on the size of the area your fishing) 10 to 15 yards, try a few more passes. If you don’t have a locator to see if fish are present, don’t give up, keep making passes until you start getting taps.

There are days and times when drift fishing catches more fish. Those days are when the wind/current will move your boat around 0.5 to 2.0 mph and if the water is stained any time of day will work. If the water is clear, I would suggest early evening. I have caught a good number of Walleye drift fishing but let me tell you this.  There have been days I have been drift fishing with friends in their boats and didn’t get one bite. On those days I thought the wind/current was too strong and our bait was moving too fast, but I learned years ago, when you’re in someone’s else’s boat, just go along with whatever the captain of that boat wants to do.

If the wind/current is too strong, there are drift bags that can be used to slow your drifting speed, but if you never used one before, it could become an issue. Drift fishing works because baitfish are pushed in the direction of the current and walleyes are waiting for them to arrive. If you find yourself moving too fast or the waves start getting a little bigger (walleye chop), this is when trolling or back trolling would be good idea. But if you start seeing white caps on the lake, this is when getting off the water and having a few beers would be great idea.

DEPENDING ON THE DEPTH, ONE TECHNIQUE THAT WORKS WELL IS USING BOTTOM BOUNCERS. SO, NEXT WEEK WE’LL COVER DRIFT FISHING WITH BOTTOM BOUNCER.

PLEASE RELEASE WALLEYE OVER 24 INCES, THESE BIG GIRL’S PRODUCE MORE EGGS AND LARGER WALLEYE FOR THE FUTURE.