We troll for trout using downriggers. On our boat, we use 2 Cannon Uni-troll downriggers and 2 Scotty electric downriggers. Downriggers give you the option for controlled depth fishing, basically taking your bait to a desired depth where you may think the fish are. With the setup we have, it is best to only use one downrigger per bait. What I mean is that we attach one rod with a lure, lets say a spoon and attach the line to a clip that is either on my downwrigger cable or downrigger ball like illustrated above. So you basically have three import features of trolling for trout using downriggers. Any type of downrigger ( Penn, Scotty , Cannon, etc.), downrigger weight, and release clip. Below are examples of all three to give you a visual.

Now that we have covered the main ingredients for trolling for trout using downriggers, we need to start looking at lure selection. I personally have tried a ton of lures. Everything from floating crankbaits to walleye rigs, spoons, Apex lures, salmon lures, and even tried to cut a beer can to make a lure, go figure. Here are some good examples of lures that I have had some success with. I often buy any type of lure that I think can troll at speed from 0.6 - 2.0 mph. Also my favorite colors for trolling for trout are green, blue, purple, black, and fire tiger.

Best of luck and let us know how you did. If you are ever in the area of Lake Jocassee, let me know and I will personally hook you up with one of our finest captains for hire that can demonstrate trolling for trout. Fish On!!!

Check out our video page for trolling for trout videos.

Bass Pro Shop has even gotten me out of a jam when I bought my pontoon boat from an individual in Georgia. Previous boat owner purchased and installed a new Mercury 115 hp motor on my boat from the Bass Pro Shop in Atlanta Ga, but he had never received title. (In SC, we have to title the boat and motor to DNR) Long story short, they had a copy of this motors title, made me a copy and got me the original manufactures title and I was on my way. I used up a few hours of someones time and of course it was no charge. It is nice to have a big outfit like Bass Pro Shop still have good customer service. I have shopped with them for a good 11+ years and do not have one complaint about either a store or shopping on line. Well I may have complained to myself about either how much money I just spent or how much I want to spend. But I guess my wife could complain about the same thing at her stores. Do Macy’s or JCPenny have huge aquariums built in the store with all those big bass, crappie, catfish, trout and whatever else. I do not thinks so. Her stores do not have anything on a Bass Pro Shop. Everyone has their store or vise.

One other thing I want to point out about Bass Pro is sometimes the on line stores will have bargain sales that the stores won’t and vise versa. That is why I stay loyal to one type of store and come accustomed to how they work. These big retailers like Bass Pro Shop are not going to change due to our style or habits, so you might as well work with them. The best of all is they have the products I need at Cricketlegs.com.

In the beginning years of my controlled depth fishing, I used Cannon Downriggers for all of my trolling needs. I started our using the Cannon downriggers because at the time, it was the best on the market. I bought the Cannon Uni-Troll 10 Manual Downrigger , a manual hand crank downrigger. To this day, I still have these 2 great downriggers and use them very regularly. As a matter of fact, I have used these 2 Uni-trolls in freshwater ,saltwater, 100 degrees temps to below zero and have never had them fail on me.
Now with everything else in life, the controlled depth fishing market got bigger and of course the downriggers got more sophisticated. Motorized, electronically controlled with digital display, and now you can hook them up to your sonar and control the up and down movement with the graph display. Well my Cannon Downriggers are still out fishing the most money can buy, that is how good of a product Cannon is. I have only had to replace 2 counters in mine, and that was due to my stupidness. Other than that, I have gotten my monies worth on my 2 cannon downrigger Uni-trolls and so far, I do not plan on replacing them for anything on the market. I am a little old fashioned and when something works, do not change it. You will probably get this idea from me here at Cricketlegs.com.
I have some close friends that fish with the best money can buy and they love them. It does makes life a little easier when you are fishing real deep (80-100ft deep). But most of all it is what you like. My Cannon Downriggers have worked for 10+ years, caught a many of fish, and have not nickel and dimed me to death. My thought process is buy one that you have researched and stick with it. Let me know what you have used and what works the best. Fish On.

Controller Depth Fishing

Making fishing lures can be very easy to do with kits available from stores like Basspro.com. Lets say you are going to modify trout fishing lures, my specialty. I like to use spinner type rigs either with live bait or worms like the following type of bait.

Now by changing either the hooks to a small treble or by adding additional hooks for short strikes is a good way to reduce the overall size of the bait, can sometimes create strikes. Also changing the blade to an Indiana type blade with a different color scheme. All of these types of techniques can be categorized by making fishing lures. Try it sometimes and see what happens. Very inexpensive way to dress up your lures or make your own, the bragging rights go up if you made it.

Currently I have fishing buddies that have numerous Lowrance products on their boat. A boat in particular has the new Lowrance LCX-113C HD 50/200kHz Sonar/GPS+WAAS Chartplotter Combo. I will have to admit, spending $2400 on a unit seems crazy, but a 10" display with all the functions of GPS, chart plotting, high definition sonar, and ability to setup with autopilot, what else could you ask for? I have personally seen this Lowrance product and it works awesome. You can setup tracks on the GPS and once connected to an auto pilot type control, just push a couple of buttons and the boat, controlled with auto pilot, will take you exactly where you went. Unbelievable! The resolution on the display may even show them fish playing cards. Definitely tell the difference between trees, brush, rocks and fish, no question.

We are trying to let everyone know about products like Lowrance or any other fishing related products we use at Cricketlegs.com. So when purchasing an investment like these, you can get real life experience and field testing of the items. Best of luck and let me know if you have the same type of experiences.

This type of video setup is great for viewing fish with or without downriggers. Check out this video and see how cool it is.