I will be headed up to Sand Point Namakan area this summer...mid-august.
Can anyone give me a few good runs for trolling? Also it has been a very long time since I trolled the waters of Crane and never that time of year. I am accustomed to using Leaches, Crawlers on Spinners, Deep Divers, and suspending stick baits.

My motor will do 1.7-2.0mph. Is that slow enough for walleye during that of year? Any favorite baits to run on those waters? Grandpa was old school so it was lindy rigs and leeches and crawlers for me all the way.

The speed should be just fine for cranks but a little fast for spinners.

We have always fished the shield in August. What we liked to do was drift live bait over mid lake reefs using bait runner reels.

Trolling was usually always with deep diving crank baits. In August, speed is your friend. Walleye can be fat and happy in August and trying to "tempt" a fish to hunt something and kill it when they are not particularly hungry is a poor idea. Rather, reaction bites are where it's at. We used to speed troll mid day targeting suspended walleye which were typically around 25ft suspended over 40ft flats. Bomber long A's trolled so fast they would wash out slightly to one side before regaining their straight track before washing out to the other side slightly produced a very erratic track. The Bomber can handle some real speed so this tack will throw a fairly large wake behind the boat. Rods need to be in rod holders with light drags set just so they won't slip. Rods will be bent double if your doing it right.

This is the "catch me if you can" method of trolling and challenges big walleye to commit before they can think twice. We had some impressive catches utilizing this method in August. The erratic movement of the bait is key I believe.

Out of a canoe I still troll fairly quickly in August but use precision methods using a line counter reel and deep diving crank baits fishing at 25ft.

mastertangler: "We have always fished the shield in August. What we liked to do was drift live bait over mid lake reefs using bait runner reels.


Trolling was usually always with deep diving crank baits. In August, speed is your friend. Walleye can be fat and happy in August and trying to "tempt" a fish to hunt something and kill it when they are not particularly hungry is a poor idea. Rather, reaction bites are where it's at. We used to speed troll mid day targeting suspended walleye which were typically around 25ft suspended over 40ft flats. Bomber long A's trolled so fast they would wash out slightly to one side before regaining their straight track before washing out to the other side slightly produced a very erratic track. The Bomber can handle some real speed so this tack will throw a fairly large wake behind the boat. Rods need to be in rod holders with light drags set just so they won't slip. Rods will be bent double if your doing it right.


This is the "catch me if you can" method of trolling and challenges big walleye to commit before they can think twice. We had some impressive catches utilizing this method in August. The erratic movement of the bait is key I believe.


Out of a canoe I still troll fairly quickly in August but use precision methods using a line counter reel and deep diving crank baits fishing at 25ft. "

How fast are you talking with the bombers, MT?

Slightly off-topic, but related -- a Tail Dancer in the "scatter rap" series will produce a similar erratic track without the speed. One of my all time favorite trolling lures.

How fast? It was probably beyond belief for most people who walleye troll. We fished out of a lodge at lake Minnitaki at Sioux Lookout. We had gained some attention from the people staying at the lodge and they started waiting for us at the dock in the evening.

Most of the regulars back trolled live bait. We blew them away with catches of walleye between 6 and 8lbs. I will never forget one of the back trollers at the dock asking me, stuttering as he asked, "were you guys trolling"? It was beyond his comprehension that we could catch walleye flying along pushing a huge wake with two rods bent double fishing mid lake.

I could only smile and shake my head that even after he had seen our results and seen the lures on our rods that he was back to back trolling and barely inching along the next day. Don't get me wrong, they caught fish but were rather average size.

We had started out speed trolling rapala magnums for pike........fairly successful for average sized pike. But then we decided after a long day of drifting reefs with suckers and chubs, that we would speed troll bombers on the way back to the dock........the rest is history. We didn't really expect to catch anything but I am a firm believer of having something in the water even if your moving fast. Looking back it all made sense.........pods of big walleye probably following mid lake schools of ciscos. The bombers probably were ripping right through the middle of them and looked like they were frantic and trying to escape and igniting a fury in the big walleye who probably weren't even hungry. Whap!

The mid lake off the reef pattern has scored for me in the Quetico in August as well. 25 ft down over 70 ft of water a couple hundred yards off the reef has been the best evening for me walleye fishing in canoe country. 2 hours of catching nice ones........I must admit to some shameful whoopin and hollering after a while ("oh yea baby")........Hopefully I didn't disturb anyone. Rather poor form I must admit but a few of those fish were very nice.

Great info. I completely agree with always having a line in the water.

And no shame in whoopin' when you're excited :)

When u start getting around 3mph you need to have your cranks "super tuned" otherwise it is hard to determine running depth accurately. I would consider spoons faster than that off of dipsys.