When you’re fishing with small children, you’re usually going for bluegills or other panfish species as you want to keep the action constant and their interest piqued. At some point, however, they’re going to want to try and catch a bigger fish. When this happens, I recommend tying on some spinnerbaits and trolling for pickerel in shallow water.
Spinnerbaits are great lures for catching the species, but they can be hard for young kids to use because they work best with a long casts and fast retrieves, repeated as much as you can stand. This can be pretty tough for young anglers to achieve, so dragging these lures behind the boat can be a much better option.
I’ve been using this technique with a lot of success so far this year, but I’ve quickly learned a few things that make the presentation much easier. Read on for some tips and please leave a comment with your own!
Please note that if fishing for pickerel with your kids interests you (and it darn well should!) I recently published a book, Fishing with Kids: A Parent’s Guide that discusses how to target this species, among other topics. Consider giving it a read.
Your Quarry: Chain Pickerel
Chain Pickerel belong to the Esox family that includes northern pike and muskellunge, and are the smallest of the three. They fight ferociously and can grow large enough to test young anglers. Their voracious appetite makes them a reliable target, and I can usually count on putting my son on a few of them, to his delight.
My son calls chain pickerel “boo boo fish” because I’ve taught him to be wary of their sharp teeth. I’ve found that pickerel have a nasty habit of thrashing worse than most fish after you take them into a net or lift them into a boat. Sometimes I think they fight harder after they’re caught!
You’ll find chain pickerel throughout the spring, summer, and fall in shallow grass flats. Whereas with pike you’d look for water 8-12’ deep, pickerel are perfectly at home in the 2-6’ range. I’ve also caught many pickerel over the years on lay downs and other wood cover, but I haven’t found too many of them on rocky points like pike.
I tend to find pickerel closer to shore early in the year, but if you’re trolling these shallow areas, you’re likely further out. Don’t despair: some of the largest fish hang out a bit deeper. Larger pickerel can put up a great fight, especially if you keep the boat moving.
Pickerel do tend to stack up and you can often catch many in the same small area, so make sure that you make multiple passes through productive water.
Proper Gear for Shallow Water Trolling
The nice thing about trolling for pickerel in shallow bays is that it doesn’t require a ton of special gear like downriggers. If you’re willing to hold onto the rod, you can get away with just any fishing rod you have and some sort of trolling motor. With that said, some gear certainly works better than others.
Rod Holders
It’s perfectly viable to hold onto your rod while trolling, and in fact some would recommend it as you’ll detect more bites. I won’t dispute that, but I will point out that this can be incredibly challenging to do while keeping your preschooler engaged. You’re going to need free hands while fishing with a toddle, so you’re going to want to invest in some rod holders that you can mount on the port and starboard sides of your boat.
Rod holders make life so much easier. Just cast your lure out behind the boat, engage the spool, put the butt into the holder, and focus on your child until the fish strikes.
Planer Boards: Yes or No?
If you’re just using rod holders, your lures are going to track directly behind your boat. This isn’t a problem (I’ve caught tons of fish this way), but sometimes you want to get your lures running off to the side. Perhaps you’re in very clear water and are concerned the boat is spooking fish, or maybe you’re in an area that allows more than two rods per angler, and you want to troll three or four rigs at a time. Planer boards would allow you to have two setups dragging directly behind the boat, and the other two running off to the side.
I don’t want to knock planer boards at all. I own them and use them when I’m fishing with older friends. They’re great tools and they have their place, but in my experience that place isn’t shallow water trolling with kids in the boat. I don’t favor them for this technique for two reasons:
- While they aren’t overly difficult to deploy normally, fishing with children makes everything 10x more difficult, and there is much more to fishing with a planer board than just casting a lure out and having a ball.
- If you’re fishing in shallow water, despite your best intentions you will foul on weeds from time to time. Planer boards make it difficult to clear your lure of weeds without reeling the entire set up in.
Again, nothing against them, but they just aren’t the best option when you’re out fishing with your kids. Now, if you’re fishing by yourself or with older children, they can be great as they put the lure out towards the side and can allow you to double up your presentations. You can troll one spinnerbait with a planer board and one without it on each side effectively. If you do want to pick some up, I’m a fan of Yellow Bird products.
Good Rods for Shallow Water Trolling
I know a lot of guys prefer a larger rod for trolling, but they aren’t necessary if you’re targeting pickerel. Further, I specialize in fishing with kids, and larger rods are difficult for them to handle. I wouldn’t go higher than a 7’ rod for this reason. You can do just fine with the same medium-heavy power, fast action set up that you have for normal spinnerbait presentations.
This is not a good technique for the Ugly Stiks you’re chasing panfish with. You want a stout rod that is going to hold up to high speed impacts with weeds and large fish. A rod with a better backbone is also going to be superior at snapping lures clear from weeds when they foul, reducing the amount of time you need to spend reeling the lure all the way in to clean it.
I suppose you don’t really “need” an expensive fishing rod for this technique. It doesn’t really matter how much the rod weighs in your hands if your boat is going to do all the work for the day, after all. Even so, a sensitive rod can be helpful in detecting when your lure is fouled. The worst problem with trolling is that sometimes it can be a little hard to tell if your lure is presenting properly, or if it is gunked up by weeds. The more sensitive your rod is, the easier it is to tell if something is amiss.
I personally use two St. Croix Avid Series rods for trolling. One happens to be a baitcaster and the other has a spinning reel. They’re both the same size, power, and action and I like using them for this because I want a more sensitive rod that is going to help me keep tabs on the vibrations from my spinnerbait.
All the same, don’t feel like you need a $200 rod to be successful, because you certainly don’t. Just make sure it is strong enough to handle the task, and reasonably sensitive so you don’t waste too much time dragging around weed clumps.
What Type of Reel Should You Use for Trolling?
While I normally don’t recommend using baitcasters with kids, you can get away with it while trolling, and probably want to. Your kids aren’t casting, so you don’t have to worry about birds nests. Also, baitcasters make it easier to let out more line if you find your initial cast didn’t reach quite far enough. All you have to do is engage the spool and then thumb out line bit by bit.
It’s possible to do this with a spinning reel as well but not as easy as thumbing the reel slowly. Instead, you need to basically flip and close the bail repeatedly, letting a little line out at a time.
It’s very important that you do this slowly. Every time you let more line out, your lure no longer has resistance and dips a little lower in the water column until you reengage the spool. Thus, if you let it drop too much, it might become snagged with weeds or other hazards.
Ideal Fishing Line
While I don’t normally recommend fishing with braided line with children, I would argue it is a must when you’re trolling shallow water for pickerel. Braid will allow you to feel every pulse of the spinnerbaits blade, thus making it easy to tell if your lure is fouled by weeds. If the lure does snag a few, a quick pump of the rod will often free it and the braid’s sharpness and cutting ability contributes to this.
Monofilament or fluorocarbon would pull the bait well enough, but when it gets fouled, you’ll find its harder get the weeds off without reeling everything in. Remember, you can’t catch a fish if your lure isn’t in the water.
As always when fishing with braided line around children, remember that it can leave some deep cuts if you try to hold the line while a thrashing pickerel is on the other end of it. Warn your kids about this before you have to head in for Band-Aids or stitches.
Spinnerbaits: The Best Lure for Shallow Water Trolling
You can troll just about anything that is going to maintain its balance and presentation out there, but if you’re trolling for a speedy predator pickerel, you’re going to be fishing in weedy flats so you’ll want something that stays high in the water and is unlikely to snag weeds. A spinnerbait is a prime choice. I like a ½ oz with tandem willow blades. I rig it with a stinger hook and stock extras of these as the fish tend to throw them with this presentation.
If you wanted to fish deeper, a heavier ¾ oz to 1 oz spinnerbait might be the ticket. You also might be able to get away with shallower-running crankbaits or spoons so long as the weed growth remains below them. The trick is keeping your lure clean of weeds so it presents well and draws a strike.
Trolling spinnerbaits doesn’t just work well for pickerel, you’re also likely to catch your share of northern pike and walleye. Check out this great article on trolling for walleye with bass-style spinnerbaits from In-Fishermen if you want some more tips to target the latter.
Types of Spinnerbait Blades
Spinnerbaits come with several different blade styles, and these days it seems that every slight modification qualifies for a new term, but the two most popular are Colorado and willow leaf.
- Colorado blades look like a circle and displace a lot of water through their vibrations. They are best used in dark or murky water where you need to help a fish hone in on your lure to strike.
- Willow Leaf Blades look like, well, a willow leaf. They cut through the water better and don’t vibrate as much, but they tend to emit more flash, and look like little bait fish running away.
These blades come in a variety of colors, but gold or silver are likely your best bet as you’re trying to look like a few fleeing bait fish.
Best Spinnerbait Colors
You’re going to need to experiment a bit to decide what color the fish want, but I will say it’s very, very hard to go wrong with a white spinnerbait matched to silver willow leaf blades. This works very well in all conditions, but especially so when the sun is out and the blades can really glimmer. Fish like pickerel and northern pike will pick up on the vibrant flashes of the spinnerbait while you’re trolling at high speeds and come darting out of the weeds to slam them.
With overcast skies, a darker color like red or even black can work better as it is easier for the fish to see. It is a little counter-intuitive, but if you don’t want to take my word for it, just look at what color most of the night lures are: black. It can be a little bit challenging to find these spinnerbaits with willow leaf blades, because they tend to be made for night fishing when most are going to want a Colorado blade. With that said, it is an easy thing to swap.
In murkier water, something bright like chartreuse or fire tiger can work great. Chartreuse was the main color I would throw throughout my youth in southern Lake Champlain with its brown water, and it still works very well.
Other Viable Lures
Spinnerbaits might be your best option, but they aren’t the only ones. Depending on the weed growth, you could also try several others types:
- In-line spinners: A timeless classic for pike and pickerel, these are similar to a spinnerbait but don’t have a bent wire arm to protect them from weeds or teeth. They tend to have treble hooks, so are more likely to foul.
- Swimbaits: Some allow you to bury the hook into them, which would make them completely weedless.
- Shallow-running crankbaits: You’ll want to ensure that the weeds are deeper than the crankbaits run, or you’re going to constantly have to reel them in and remove the weeds. If you’re trolling for pike or pickerel, use a leader as they tend to break these off if you don’t.
- Spoons: These are the quintessential lure for all members of the Esox species, and will work very well for pickerel. They have a wide wobble and are generally trolled in deeper water, but a smaller spoon could work up shallow.
Bear in mind that while the wire arm of a spinnerbait is going to protect the line in most cases, if you use these other lures that lack this protection, you’re going to want to consider using a wire leader.
Best Speed to Troll for Pickerel in Shallow Water
When determining how fast you want to troll, it’s worth bearing in mind that you’re trying to achieve a few things with your speed selection. First, you want to make sure that your lure stays presentable meaning that it doesn’t dive too deep and get buried in the weeds, or lose control and balance, flopping every which way. Secondly, you want to make sure the lure spark’s the fish’s interest, and entices them to feed.
A lot of guys use a tiller for their trolling, but I don’t have one so I rely on my bow mount trolling motor. At max speed, my Minn Kota Terrova propels my 2012 Lund Impact to about 2.5 – 2.7 mph. I found this perfectly sufficient for this application and easy enough to implement, as all I need to do is hit the little rabbit button on the remote and hang on.
At that speed, the spinnerbait tends to stay high in the water column, avoids most of the weeds, draws strikes, and the fish hook themselves (although I like to give the rod a pump for good measure when I get to it). I’ve had no problem getting chain pickerel, northern pike, or bass to strike it repeatedly.
If you don’t have a trolling motor or tiller, the best speed is going to be whatever you can accomplish with your paddles or oars! Most people can paddle pretty fast, especially in lighter craft. If you can manage to go quickly enough to keep your lure from fouling, there is no reason you can’t troll under paddle power.
Depth Control
Speed is one element that will help you achieve proper depth control. Many lures, including spinnerbaits, sink. If you pull them at a high speed, they tend to stay higher in the water column as they will be pulled horizontally and won’t have the chance to sink.
In my opinion, you want to keep the bait higher in the water column when you’re trolling for species like pike and pickerel. They tend to lie in wait over cabbage beds and then rocket up to snatch the lure. It’s also very difficult to troll a spinnerbait slowly at depth. They tend to rise naturally.
The amount of line behind the boat is also going to affect the depth. Generally speaking, the less line between your rod and the lure, the higher it will ride in the water column. This is worth remembering, but on the other hand, when you’re trolling shallow flats, you really need a long cast to give fish a chance to re-position in your boat’s path as there is a chance you will push them out while you move over them.
The speed necessary to keep your lure from fouling is going to depend on how deep the weeds or other cover are, and what type of lure you’re pulling. You can get away with a much slower troll in situations where the weed growth is 5’ from the surface than 2’, and you’re also better able
Drawing Strikes
I tend to catch most of my pickerel and pike by “power fishing” or burning spinnerbaits in, so when I am trolling I try to go as fast as possible. I have found that members of the Esox family seem to prefer a fast-moving target as it seems to trigger a “now or never” response in them that leads them to rocket from the depths to strike.
Many people suggest a trolling speed of between 2-4 mph when trolling spinnerbaits, and I won’t disagree with them. I have trolled as slow as 1.5 mph with them but I do this earlier in the year when the weeds weren’t as thick and the water was cooler.
Another great tactic is to vary the speed a bit as you go. If you were casting spinnerbaits, I’d recommend that you give your rod a little “twitch” or stop reeling every now and then to try and draw a strike, and you want to do the same thing when trolling. Just stop the motor now and then, or speed it up or slow down for a second or two. This might be just what a pursuing predator needs to convince them to attack.
In any event, always remember to let the fish tell you what they want, rather than trying to force what you want to do on the fish. Don’t keep trolling fast or slow if the fish aren’t having it.
Good Places to Troll for Pickerel in Shallow Water
If you’re trying to troll for pickerel, you’re looking to find grass flats that are shallow enough to hold these fish in large numbers, but deep enough to not completely clog with weeds. If you were just casting spinnerbaits you could do a fair job of picking out pockets or casting through likely alleyways in the weeds for a precise presentation. That isn’t happening by dragging some baits behind your boat while trolling. They’re going to ram into every weed that gets in their way, and the more time you spend reeling them in because they’ve fouled, the less time they’re out there catching fish.
With all that said, you do need cover of some kind to attract fish. You will get very few strikes in areas without any weeds or other cover. Sure, you’ll get the occasional fish that is transitioning through the area on their way to somewhere better, but you’ll completely bore your kids in the process and make trolling haters out of them.
Given all this, what you really want is the right “goldilocks” situation where there are weeds growing tall and thick enough to give fish necessary cover, but not so tall or thick that you can’t run a spinnerbait over or through them successfully. This means you’ll generally be fishing further from the bank than most other guys, which can be concerning until you realize just how many fish hang out in deeper water. Remember that banks are easy visual cues that attract many fishermen. Substantially fewer work the slightly deeper water or weed beds, but there are plenty of fish to be found. Most of the guys working the bank are after bass, anyway, not pickerel.
Reading your Rod
It’s important to understand what is going on under the water. Specifically, you want to know if your lure is working appropriately and clean of weeds or other obstructions. Having a sensitive rod and a reel spooled with braid will help you accomplish this.
What you want to do is bring your boat up to speed and then cast your lure behind it. As soon as it hits the water, flip the bail or engage your reel so that it stops stripping line. You should feel your spinnerbait’s blades pulsating in the water due to the sensitive rod and braided line. Put your rod into a rod holder and take note of the amount of bend or angle of the bend that the rod tip has under normal conditions. If your lure is running clean, it will look like this. If it hits weeds, it will bend further and needs correction.
It wouldn’t hurt to find an area of clear water without obstructions to test this and to get the hang of what your rod tip should look like when it is free from weeds.
Hooking and Fighting Fish
Fish tend to hook themselves while trolling. If you’re moving fast enough the rod holder will give them a pretty good hook set on its own, though I would recommend doubling down on this and giving your rod a good pump after you pick it up.
One thing you will immediately notice is that the fish seems huge. This is because you are not only fighting the fish but also all the force of the water from your moving so fast. It is certainly possible to fight the fish while keeping your troll going (and even advisable to do so if you’re in a prime spot), but if it is too much for you or your little one, you can always stop your troll, play and land your fish, and then start things up again. It’s not that big of the deal to reset one or two rods for shallow water trolling (it’s not like you have downriggers to worry about or very far for your lures to drop).
Keeping It Fun For Kids
Many fishermen groan at the prospect of trolling, even in shallow water. Children in particular need constant action while fishing, and any time that you’re going for anything other than panfish, this isn’t exactly guaranteed. You’re going to want to have some stuff for them to do while you’re trolling. I prefer trolling for pickerel when they tell you they want a break from casting and reeling and want to look in the live well, or when they’re eating lunch.
I always recommend that you start any fishing trip with kids by targeting some panfish and throwing them in the livewell (where legal). This is a critical step to make fishing fun for kids. They tend to be hardy and will be fine in there so long as you keep adding in fresh water and they do wonders for holding children’s attention. Any time they get tired of fishing, they have their very own aquarium to stare at. You’ll find that they like to name the fish and even try to “feed” them with worms. It keeps them occupied.
If you have followed this advice, you should be good to go. Your kids won’t think that you’re about to start doing something “boring” (i.e., not catching a fish on every catch) and will instead think that they’re off to look at the live well and have fun with that. Then, you get to surprise them now and then with a large fish to reel in and add to the live well fun (again, where legal).
If you can stack up a pretty good selection of fish for them to stare at in a fairly short time trolling, you’ll find they don’t have any complaints!
Some Legal Considerations
It’s tempting to say, “well, if two rod holders are good, four would be better!” but be mindful of the fact that several states limit how many rods any angler can use at one time. They may or may not consider your child an angler, especially if they are so young that they don’t yet require a license. Make sure that you research your local fishing laws so you can stay on the up and up and not have to explain to your kids why the lake police stopped you and issued a ticket.
Step by Step Guide to Trolling for Pickerel in Shallow Water
Ok, so you have your rod, reel, braided line, ½ oz spinnerbait, and location picked out. How do you put it all together? It’s pretty simple:
- Bring your boat to the desired speed via your trolling motor or kicker;
- Once at speed, cast your lure as far as desired behind the boat.
- Pinch the line to make sure you can feel the vibration of the spinnerbait and haven’t immediately snagged;
- If more distance is required, strip off line slowly, making sure that you keep pinching the line. Each time that you strip some line away, your lure will sink slightly. You want to make sure that you do this in short bursts so that you don’t let it sink enough to become fouled.
- Put your rod in the rod holder and pay attention to the way the tip looks while the lure is running clean. It should bend at a consistent angle while moving at that speed. If it bends more than that at any time, it means it hit a weed and has become fouled. Many times, if you pinch the line you will no longer feel the same vibration sensation because of this.
- If fouled, pick up the rod and give it a good series of jolts until you can once again feel the vibrations of the lure, and the rod again bends at the consistent “clean” angle.
- If your rod bends badly and keeps tugging, you have a fish! Take the rod out of the rod holder, set the hook with a good pump, and start fighting the fish!
- Make sure that your children are well-occupied during this process. Trolling shallow weedbeds for pickerel is a great way to spend lunch time out on the boat as the two of you can have a nice snack that is interrupted at times by some fun action.
- Always ensure that you’re legally compliant in terms of the numbers of rods allowed and what fish you stash in the live well.
- Stay safe and have fun!
As always, if you found this article helpful, please consider sharing it so it can help others.
Thanks,
John Paxton
