I do some trolling from time to time and I find that i have more bites when my speed is around 1.8 mph. I have trolled between 1.8 and 3 mph. When you do troll, what speed do most of you guys troll at and why?

I troll mostly in the summer. I run my boat as slow as possible most of the time. I will idle it up and down occasionally. This will sometimes trigger a bite. I will also run a little faster if I'm using a diving bait (D-22) to get it down a little deeper. It really all just depends.


Jay

About 1000 RPM on a 19ft center console -- about 2mph-- BUT!

I usually do not run straight but in an "S" pattern so the lures speed up and slow down-- also if I am marking fish but no bites, I might speed up suddenly to 10 mph for a short distance and idle back immediately-- this sometimes provokes a strike.

I like these kinda posts, You usually get a lot of feed back.

When i troll for Hybrids/sandies i stay between 2.5 to 3mph also in the "S" pattern.

Trolling for red fish we stay 3.5 to 4MPH

I like to keep mine under 3mph when and if I troll but the S pattern is better then a straight line. Now if I am trolling on CC for whites in the summer, just go over a straight line over the fish. But trolling deep water it is like above mentioned.

2.5 to 2.7 mph by my GPS seems to work best for me. Just putting my boat in gear gets me to that speed. Sometimes I have to play with the throttle a bit to compensate for the wind.

Thank you for your input fellas! So far, it seems like I may be going too slow!

1000 rpm works for me

GPS 3 to 3.4 mph for me on Belton spring and summer whether I'm straightlinin' or downriggin'. Straight and zigzag sometimes.

I try my best to keep it at 2.75 by the GPS. I've just found I get more bites at that speed. Following contour lines if the fish are on the edges or in the above mentions "S" pattern on a flat.

Just fast enough to create a small wake and get the oil injection to open up enough to make smoke, then just weave in and around the folks that found the fish in the first place.
I don't troll but a lot of folks at Cedar Creek use this method with very little success.

I spoiled fastguy on trolling the first time I took him to Tradinghouse for redfish and he hasn't looked back since. I remember him saying something like "I think I'm gonna rot."

Then we went to Lake X a couple of times hybrid fishing and he learnt me casting and bump-retrieving again. I started looking down again instead of back. Saved my life. If it wasn't for fastguy, I'd still be looking back to make sure the farrows I was cutting in the lake bottom were straight....

This picture was taken wayyyyyy back in my "ditch-diggin" days when I had the old Redfin. Trolling can be effective sometimes, especially in the heat of summer.



These hybrids were caught downrigging at 3.0 mph in the heat of summer when the "sit-stillers" weren't producing. Boats would see us catching, move in and let their electric motors down to fish but not catch. Trolling has its days like any other style of fishing does. BUT, summer is the only time of the year I'll resort to trolling. Higher trolling speeds generate "reaction" strikes and not so much hunger needs.

the fishing pole should just have a small bend. to fast and the line will come back all twisted.

I troll mostly in the summer and it varies. The fish usually tell me. 1.5 to 2 used to be it...... the last couple of years 2.5 to 3. I think the reason for the change is the change in tackle. Nowadays I use the hellpet until I spot them at a depth that I cannot reach with it. Then I switch to the downriggers. With a downrigger the faster you go the more rise or shallow the lure will run. The opposite has been my experience with the hellpet.