I’ve used the trolling technique for catching other types of fish – should I alter my technique when I’m fishing for Walleye?

Trolling for any type of fish is obviously a process of elimination.  Your goal is to find out where the fish are but quite often you’ll first find out where the fish aren’t.  If you pay attention, however,  the time you spend trolling without catching any fish can often  provide you with more information about them than you’ll ever need to know.  When trolling for Walleye, there are actually two things that you are going to try and find out.  Obviously their location and feeding patterns are important, what most anglers don’t realize is that trolling can also give you an opportunity to narrow down the crankbait preferences of the Walleye as well.  Walleyes can be finicky and even when you find them, the speed at which you present the bait, it’s color and even it’s shape can influence whether or not they’ll strike.  When you finally put all of the pieces of the puzzle together, however, your arms will get tired of hauling the fish into the boat.  Walleyes can be finicky, to be honest, it’s really a trial and error game with these fish.  In some cases, for example, I’ve had Walleyes that preferred the bait presented at less than 2 mph, on other occasions it took 4 -5 mph to get their attention.  My advice is that you continue experimenting as you work your way across the lake, sooner or later -you’ll find something that works.