Prof T

I'm running into a 2 knot current most of the time. My experience is that slower is always better. The thundersticks have a pretty good action down to around 2 in flat water. When I was pulling rapalas, it seems the action went dead at speeds below 2.4. Guys also pull worm harnesses, but I have to contend with gobies. As far as leader length behind the bouncer, depends on the working length of your net, as you can only reel the bouncer to the rod tip. Water is very clear here and I'm running the back about 7 ft on 20 lb florocarbon, swivel on the bouncer end, just a cross lock snap at the lure.

If you can find a target depth on structure that you think is holding fish, trolling using a custom bottom bouncer has been discussed in detail on this thread. I'm fishing a river, started pulling thundersticks behind them and have had very good success. I keep a log and have been out 12 times since June 5. We have a three fish limit and I've kept 27. Finding a place that holds the fish is the key.

Muskie --- sweet profile picture --- next on my bucket list!

Most of my trolling these days is for walleye on the St Lawrence and I've come up with a technique that I wonder if anyone else has used. Boat is a Sea Nymph 19.5 ft with a 9.9 kicker and a bow mount Minn Kota Powerdrive V2 w/ I Pilot. The runs I'm fishing and tackle I'm using require me to follow a very specific contour. I've done this over a course of up to a mile so far. The I Pilot has the ability to remember a track, so I decided to see if I could use it as an autopilot. On a calm, quiet day I left a series of waypoints on the course I wanted to mark. In that I wasn't fishing, I could move around, go back, in and out, and really create my own contour line of breadcrumbs with the GPS. I then went to the beginning, started the record function on the I Pilot and "followed" my trail, beginning to the end, with my main engine. Once recorded, good to go. Where I'm fishing the current is heavy enough so that the electric doesn't have enough poop to do the job alone so I rely on the kicker to provide the propulsion. First I get going at close to my preferred speed and leave it set in a straight forward position. Then I add the bow mount, telling it to follow the programmed course. That provides the steering. Kind of neat as I'm able to be away from the helm, controlling the bow mount from the fob on my belt. I realize this isn't a big lake technique, but for what I'm doing it seems to work out pretty well. When I do get a fish on, I simply hit the anchor button and kill the kicker. Boat stays right where it was, current keeping it pointed straight upstream. Just wondering, has anyone else done this or anything like it? Any other tricks I might add?