Trolling hints for lake bass?

Hey everyone,  I recently picked up a Hobie Pro Angler with the mirage pedal drive.  I'm a long time bass fisherman, but I've never trolled before.  Any suggestions to get me started?  I'm thinking of using a rattletrap, does that sound like a good bait for trolling?  I'll probably try Folsom if it's not all dried up.

Three key things... One, 45-75 feet back... Get it out there.... Two, Match the forage on the lake... three, If your not catching anything, Go BIGGER! or Go smaller... You will catch fish... I have been using a 1.5" baby bass imitation deep diving hard bait all summer and Killin it!!!! Good luck and get in on some hook ups and see what others are doing...

Three key things... One, 45-75 feet back... Get it out there.... Two, Match the forage on the lake... three, If your not catching anything, Go BIGGER! or Go smaller... You will catch fish... I have been using a 1.5" baby bass imitation deep diving hard bait all summer and Killin it!!!! Good luck and get in on some hook ups and see what others are doing...

Glad you like that lure

Three key things... One, 45-75 feet back... Get it out there.... Two, Match the forage on the lake... three, If your not catching anything, Go BIGGER! or Go smaller... You will catch fish... I have been using a 1.5" baby bass imitation deep diving hard bait all summer and Killin it!!!! Good luck and get in on some hook ups and see what others are doing...

A deep diver that's only 1.5"?  Who makes that, if you don't mind me asking?

Three key things... One, 45-75 feet back... Get it out there.... Two, Match the forage on the lake... three, If your not catching anything, Go BIGGER! or Go smaller... You will catch fish... I have been using a 1.5" baby bass imitation deep diving hard bait all summer and Killin it!!!! Good luck and get in on some hook ups and see what others are doing...

A deep diver that's only 1.5"?  Who makes that, if you don't mind me asking?

He gets his at W-mart at the end of theyear sale, but BPS and Cabelas make some.  I think some of the other folks do to.  Always sold as crappie crankbaits.  and by deep, usually 4-7 feet, but Ron might know otherwise.

Sometimes I'll troll crankbaits for bass because you can typically get the crankbait deeper this way than from casting.  Earlier this summer I was trolling crayfish-imitating crankbaits along rocky shorelines and reefs for smallmouth bass, and it worked very well.  One of the keys was letting out enough line to where your crankbait was digging into the bottom/bouncing off rocks every few seconds.  If you didn't have enough line out, you weren't hitting bottom.  Too much line, and you were snagging the bottom.  I've found this also works well with ripbaits in the spring.

That's the ticket.... get it back there! James, thanks for the lure intro BassinProf. Clayman is someone you should fish with!!!! Someone I want to fish with too!!@ your lake bro!!!!

Rip #11, #27,  or #25 as fast as you can in 10-15 fow.  You will catch fish.

11, 13, 25 for me

11, 13, 25 for me

You catch fish? 

11, 13, 25 for me

You catch fish? 

always one less than you

I'm not having a lot of luck trolling Folsom lately. Dropshotting in 15-25 feet seems to be the better way to go right now.

Since spotted bass don't always hold to cover, a fun tactic in the fall is trolling a big white/silver spinnerbait through balls of shad. The depth matters not, when the surface water cools and the shad are on the top, spots slam spinnerbaits.

You'll get averages of larger fish too. Just make sure your gear will handle the lure drag and that you can get a hookset. Your looking for those fat bellied toads that start shitting what looks like melted silver crayon as soon as you hoist them out of the water!

I'll give it a try. The crank bait bite is definitely dead. How fast do you troll it?

Adam
Where are you buying the cultiva's from?
Not the cheapest lure...
Thanks