Trolling for walleye is a productive tactic that more resembles what southerners view as the northern style of walleye fishing. As the waters in Fontana warm through the spring and summer, walleye will move offshore to deeper drop-offs and may be in 60 to 100 feet of water. Guide Ronnie Parris said summer trolling is a great way to catch walleye, provided you can locate fish.
“You can catch them trolling as soon as they come off the banks,” Parris said. “The water starts heating up pretty quick the first part of June all the way through the summer months. By the end of summer, your fish are going to be over 100 foot deep.”
The typical setup is trolling hardware attached to heavy downrigger balls to keep the baits at precise depths. Parris said boat speed is probably the most critical element when trolling.
“Speed is very, very important,” he said. “You need to troll between 1.5 and 1.8 mph. If you get over 2 mph, you won’t get many hits, if you drop below 1.5, you won’t get many hits.”
Parris’ bait choices for trolling run from the standard flutter spoons to Alabama rigs.
“I like spoons. I use a lot of Michigan Stingers and Lure Jenson spoons,” he said. “I also catch a lot of them using the Alabama rigs, rigging them with the soft-plastic baits. Regardless of the bait used, you want to fish a little above the walleye. They’re not going to go down to get a lure, they’ll come up — I’ve had them come up as much as 25 feet to attack something above them. But they will not drop down for it.”
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