In essence, trolling is a very simple style of fishing. Select a favorite lake, float a boat, tie on a proven lure or fly, extend a line behind the boat, and motor around until a fish bites.

No small flies to handle and tie on a thin leader, no precision pin point casts to small holding pools, and no slipping, sliding, balancing act to try to remain upright and dry while wading along uneven, moss-covered river rocks. In truth, trolling doesn’t require the finesse and concentration of several other styles of trout and salmon fishing, and even youngsters and novice anglers can catch fish, but it’s still fishing and subject to the variables of the sport.

Generally, spring is the most consistent time to troll, and the largest fish are caught during the weeks just after ice leaves a lake. During this period the smelt are running and the lake is going through a process called “turning over,” and each is an incentive to excellent sub-surface trolling action. In central Maine, a few lakes and ponds are fishable by mid- April, while in northern Maine it’s often mid-May or later before some lakes offer prime trolling conditions. With a bit of planning, an angler willing to do some traveling can experience the best trolling on several different waterways as each clear of ice on consecutive weeks during the spring thaw.

Now would be an excellent time to rig your boat and get your trolling gear together for a visit to a regional lake. It needn’t be a waterway that you’re familiar with, but, more importantly, one that is in the process of changing over from ice-out conditions, and therefore prime for top-water trolling action.

Lakes that aren’t open to winter ice fishing and ones that have healthy annual spring smelt runs are prime prospects for spring trolling. Constant trolling success comes from utilizing specific tricks with the boat, rods, and tackle to best take advantage of the salmon and trout cruising just below the surface. The best spring lake anglers are the sportsmen who make regular changes in their tackle and techniques.

Boat tactics

Putting the motor in gear, stringing out the trolling lines and baits, and steering from point A to point B on a lake may pass for trolling, but it’s certainly not the best fishing style, or the most efficient use of a boat. Smart anglers take depth, wind direction, wave action, shoreline structure, and any stream inlets or thoroughfares into consideration.

If a stretch of lake looks “fishy,” using an electronic depth and fish finder, if one’s available, to confirm the presence, location, and depth of fish helps narrow the trolling area. Lures and baits can be set to bracket the best depths, and the hot spots can be fished from various angles. Anglers without fish finders must troll larger runs and experiment with depths until the fish are located by hookups, and this takes more time and a bit more fisherman’s intuition and luck.

I’ve heard a lot of veteran trollers tell me they would rather fish blind and be surprised at strikes than view hundreds of fish on the locator and be frustrated as the trout and salmon ignore all of their offerings. Perhaps fish and depth locations are helpful when visiting and learning new waterways, but after several outings on the same lake, I prefer to fish without electronic help. The rewarding part of being a successful angler is instinctively knowing where, when, and with what to fish. Technology can’t teach that, only time and experience can.

If a couple of trolling passes over a likely spot yield no action, change the boat speed. Speed up for one trip and slow to a crawl for the next run. Salmon are more likely to strike faster-moving bait, while trout prefer slow to medium speed. Boat speed will also alter the motion of a lure, plug, or fly being dragged behind, and variation is always good. Trolling speed will also alter the depth a lure or plug runs by 3-6 feet, and this can often make a difference.

Enough wind to create small waves, called a salmon chop, is preferable to calm water, and allows the boat speed and direction to be even more useful. Trolling into the wind and against the wave or current action allows the flies or plugs to be trolled excruciatingly slowly, and induces more bait action which often drives fish wild. Fish in frigid spring lakes are a bit lethargic and won’t race after baits, but undulating, slow-moving baits that pass close are readily grabbed. Trolling with the wind and waves, or at a 45-degree angle, will each give a different speed and bait action as well, and should always be experimented with when normal tactics fail.

Avoid trolling in a straight line whenever possible. Maneuver the boat in wide sweeping “S” turns, which will cause the flies and lures to change depth, speed, and motion throughout each swing. At the end of each trolling pass, make a wide turn to reverse directions as this will allow the baits to make a low, slow swing as well. It’s amazing how many strikes occur on wide turns as the baits slowly sink and then rise during the maneuver.

Plugs and lures

Lures are considered baits made of metal and shaped to make an undulating or twisting motion through the water. Silver, gold, and bronze were the original colors, but now many flashy and brightly colored painted lures are manufactured. Al’s Goldfish, silver Super Dupers, Mooselook Wobblers, and the red and white Dardevles have been popular and productive for decades. Now a new breed of wildly colored lures with fluorescent and prismatic flashy coatings are in use. Although they don’t resemble baitfish, game fish still grab them (perhaps out of irritation), so it’s good to have a selection in the tackle box.

Plugs are baits formed from wood or plastic to resemble small baitfish. They float, sink, or have neutral buoyancy, to stay suspended when not in motion. From plain silver and gold to futuristic, holographic color combinations, each plug is formed to offer a realistic wounded minnow motion when it’s pulled through the water. The size and shape of a plastic nosepiece determines how deep each model runs, and some plugs even have BBs inside to produce an attractive rattling sound as they move through the water. Rapalas, Rebels, and Yo-Zuri minnows are some of the most popular brands of plugs.

Unless the manufacturer suggests otherwise, tie the line directly to the plug’s O-ring rather than using a swivel. This hookup assures the plugs’ best crippled baitfish motion while being trolled. Most plugs troll in the 2- to 6-foot depth range, while lures tend to run 4-12 feet deep when pulled at the same speed. Boat speed will alter the depth, as will trolling with or against the current or wave action.

Smart trollers put out up to four lines with a combination of plugs and lures in various colors to see which is the bait-du-jour. If one in particular gets several strikes, it’s time to change the others to match that color and depth. I recommend trolling a couple of brightly colored baits and a couple of realistic silver-hued smelt imitations to begin with, and make changes as necessary.

Many Aroostook trollers have taken to trolling plugs on a medium-weight fly rod. A floating, or sinking tip, fly line with a medium diving plug works well when fish are feeding in the 3- to 6-foot depth. A full sinking line will get the plug down to 10 feet. A fly line seems to impart a different motion to the plug than monofilament, and fish go crazy over the slow wobble and wiggle. Playing a hefty, acrobatic landlocked salmon on a six-weight fly rod is enough to make any sport put the spinning rod away and switch to fly rod trolling with plugs.

Fishing flies

Maine’s heritage of spring fishing is based on trolling long-shank streamer flies, and despite the preponderance of lures and plugs and all their apparent success, the tradition of Carrie Stevens and her gray ghost lives on in many of us. A couple of weeks after ice-out when lakes begin to warm a bit, long-shank and tandem streamers come into their own. Well-tied streamer flies are an elegant sight and attract fishermen as well as fish. The gray ghost, nine-three, Herb Johnson Special, and black-nosed dace are the epitome of trolling flies. Created decades ago to imitate smelt and baitfish, these old patterns continue to bring fish to the net.

A newer style of streamer fly, the attractor pattern, uses brightly colored hair and feathers to draw strikes. Although these patterns resemble no living creature, they show up well in debris-filled, tea-colored spring lakes, and the fish go after them. Many are tied with bucktail, which has a particular motion, almost a breathing effect as it undulates through the water. Proven patterns include the red and white, Mickey Finn, little brook trout, and Magog Smelt.

The age-old debate of feather wing vs. hair-wing patterns and baitfish imitations vs. attractor patterns rages on without resolution. My answer to the dilemma is to fish both at the same time, occasionally on different rods, often on the same line with one as a dropper. It’s the best of both worlds.

Frequently, the colorful fly will get the attention of a fish and bring it in for a closer look, and if that pattern is refused, the trout or salmon may still take the trailer streamer that resembles a smelt. On a rare occasion it is possible to hook two fish at once on a dual fly dropper rig, and that, my friends, is a fight to brag about!

Other than pattern selection, the most important aspect of streamer trolling is making sure the flies run at the proper depth to pass among the feeding fish. Floating fly lines may work, but a long leader with a split-shot sinker attached at the midpoint will help greatly. When the fish are holding at 3-6 feet, a sinking tip line will be needed. To troll at depths deeper than that, it’s time to turn to a full sinking line and adjust trolling speed to assure the streamers constantly run at the best depth.

Spring trolling is prime right now on dozens of regional lakes and ponds, and will continue to be hot all month long as some waterways fade and others improve and peak. It’s not unreasonable to expect to catch and release a dozen fish an outing on a good day, and during the smelt runs, two- and three-pound trout and salmon are fairly common catches. If you’ve never tried spring trolling, you’re missing out on an exciting part of Maine’s fishing heritage. Once a good-sized landlocked salmon grabs your tandem streamer and dances and somersaults across the lake surface and shakes and twists through a 10-minute tug of war, the fish won’t be the only one hooked on this traditional spring sport.

Outdoor feature writer Bill Graves can be reached at graves@polarisumpi.maine.edu