Category: Trolling

Hi Italo, I watched an episode with you and Aldo Nova,I am pretty sure you were fishing lake Ontario near St.Catherines and you s were using dipsy divers instead of downriggers and you did quite well. Aldo had a spoon that he had made It was black white with a little slash of orange on the edge He did really well on that spoon. I would like to know if you are send me a link to get to that episode I have looked through your episode’s and can’t find it.

Posted on March 30th, 2021

Glad you enjoyed the Lake Ontario Salmon/Trout trolling show  I did with Capt. Aldo Nava www.niagarafishingadventures.com . That spoon is part of the Blue Fox Matrix spoon line. Capt. Nava came up with that color and we call it the “Wado”. It works great on both Salmon & Trout all season long. I think this is the TV show you were referring to, it’s on our Italo Labignan YouTube channel, https://youtu.be/KvpUoKSp1WQ?t=1 …God bless you.

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I was wondering about those newer plastic single inline boards opposed to the traditional larger double boards used on masts. What is your preference and why? I just made up a pair of the double ones and ready to try them.

Posted on August 6th, 2018

Hi Peter, single and double large planer boards designed to be fished off a tow-rope and a mast work fine generally, but can loose tracking in wavy conditions especially when varying speeds while making turns. My personal top choice for a planer off the mast is the Otter Boat paner board. It has a weighted keel and works extremely well and keeps tracking at any speed and surface water condition.

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hey Italo where can i get the waldo spoon that you were using with Aldo Nava & Rowan Jesik. i been looking all over the sport shows but cant find it.

Posted on February 26th, 2017

Hi Paul, we call it the “Waldo” spoon because Aldo Nava came up with the color combination. Blue Fox offers it in their Matrixx line.

aldo_bigsalmon

I checked on-line and SAIL stores have them, as well as Pete’s Bait & Tackle in St. Catharines, ON, Code BFMX3-BPO, SKU 10388272. You can check it out at, https://www.sail.ca/en/blue-fox-matrixx-trolling-cuiller-3-186580-grp .

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Hello Italo! I am trying to get set up for primarily trolling for walleye on Lake Erie with inline planer boards and an occasional Northern Pike trip where most fish caught are less than 30″. I would like to know what you would recommend for the an all around line and which weight I could use for both? Thank you so much.

Posted on January 19th, 2017

For trolling warm-water fish I prefer to use a braided line like Sufix 832. For intermediate size fish the 30 lb. test (8 lb. monofilament diameter) will work well. Braid has a much thinner diameter than mono and allows a lure to get down to the right diving depth fast.

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Also, because it has no stretch, even if you have a long-line out, you still get a good hook-set. Only down-side is that if you use it with in-line boards it’s so slippery that you may have to do one wrap around the release in addition to just clipping the line on the release….God bless you.

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Thanks for the quick response Italo. Just wondering what colour of braid (Sufix 832) you would recommend for trolling dipseys for steelhead on lake erie and what colours of dipseys are most popular (size 0 and 1). Thanks again for your help. The plan is to run 40# Sufix 382, a dipsey and clear snubber then 17# Sufix flouro leaders to spoons.Dave Hill

Posted on December 17th, 2016

Hi Dave, you are welcome. Line color is not that important since you will probably be running at least 50′ of line or more and your lure will off the fluorocarbon. I would go with just the standard green color. Your setup sounds good. I would go with at least a 8′ fluorocarbon leader.

italo_jeremy_fish

Dipsey color depends on activity level of fish. If they are really active, they will be suspended higher up in the water column and bright colors like yellow & green will attract them to the lure. If fishing is slow, fish are deeper and not as active, you may want to run less visible colors like clear, black and more natural colors.

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Hi Italo, I’ve often seen you swap out treble hooks for 3/0 single hooks on trolling spoons. I was wondering why is it done and what the advantage is (if any) in doing that? Thanks in advance!

Posted on June 11th, 2016

Hi Ermanno, Good question. Some anglers prefer to use a treble hook on a trolling spoon, other anglers prefer to use a single, large “Siwash” hook on a trolling spoon.

canoespoon

Sometimes when you hook a strong fighting fish like a Chinook salmon as they thrash, head-shake, make long runs and roll in the line, they can work one of the hooks on the treble against the other to free themselves of the treble and get off. It is much more difficult for a large fish to get off a single, larger hook, no matter how hard they fight.

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Watched recent program about salmon fishing.You were using a ‘gang trolls’ I cannot locate.Where can I find.Thanks Italo

Posted on April 28th, 2016

Hi Peter,  “Gang-trolls” , or “Christmas-trees” as they are referred to work well both in the Great Lakes for salmon, trout, & especially lake trout fished off downriggers, or fished in-land with lead-core and steel lines for lake trout.

fat_lake_trout

Lucky Strike Bait Works , a Canadian company sells a good assortment and you should be able to order right off their website…God bless you.

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I’d like to go salmon fishing on Lake Ontario so I bought a salmon rod. What I didn’t realize is that it didn’t have a line counter. I understand that a line counter is key in knowing how deep your lure is when trolling and using a dipsy diver. Would you have any recommendations for a line counter that I could add on to the rod?Thanks

Posted on April 25th, 2016

Hi Steven, sure do, Rapala  makes a portable line counter that you can add or remove from your rod. you can see
it at, http://www.rapala.com/rapala/fishing-tools/all-other-fishing-tools/lighted-line-counter/RLLC.html .

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If you would like to know where you can purchase it close to you, just email Rapala at, info@rapala.ca .

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Getting ready for the season and Im wondering what line choice you would recommend for walleye trolling rods. Braid or mono and what pound test Thank you your tips are helpful.

Posted on March 10th, 2015

Hi Jay….Thank you for your kind words. For walleye trolling I would definitely suggest a braided line like the Sufix 832; no stretch & very low diameter which means your lures will find the proper swimming depth quickly, and even if you have a lot of line out, because it’s no stretch you will feel even the smallest hit and you will get a very good hook-set…God bless you, Italo

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whats the formula on sink rates when trolling standard mono and rudder weights example: 1 mph 34oz with 250ft. of line out how do you figure the depths

Posted on July 10th, 2014

Hi Stan…Not so straight forward to figure out. The amount of resistance the lure/bait produces is a critical element of the formula & the line diameter. Monofilament has the largest line diameter when it comes to fishing lines. Bigger diameter, more water resistance, slower sink-rate, & it takes more line to get to a desired depth. Also, the more line you let out, the more water resistance comes into play, so the angle of line-to-bottom becomes much smaller.

The modern braided lines like the Sufix 832 braid has very low diameter (20 lb. test Sufix has 6 lb. test monofilament diameter), and a fast sink rate requiring much less line to get to the desired depth. I can tell you that I “bottom-bounce” for walleye using a 4 oz. bottom-walking sinker (“L”-shaped wire with weight on longer arm of wire to maintain the weight as the closest thing to the bottom), large blade worm harness/worm, with Sufix 832, 20 lb. test line in 65′ of water at 1-2 mph (hard to keep consistent speed with winds/waves), and I only have about 100′ of line out. That means I have minimal “lag” in my line and a “steep”, line-angle to my rig (rather than having a slight angle and having twice as much, or more line out). I find I contact the bottom about every 5-10 sec., and because I don’t have a lot of line out, I get very good hook-sets. This is the rig I use trolling in the middle of Lake Erie this time of the year for walleye.

For your set-up with, let’s say 12 lb. mono, as you know, the more line you have out, you really increase the “stretch-factor”/3-4 oz. “keel-bead-chain sinker”, and a fluttering spoon 3-4″ long (like the Great Lakes trolling spoons used off of downriggers), which have minimal water resistance, I would think you would need about 20-30% more line out to reach the same consistent depth. Based on the above, 60′ depth/130 feet of line, 30′ depth/50′ of line, 15’/25′ of line. Remember that the shallower you troll, the less hydrographic resistance on your rig/line, so you will decrease the ration of line distance to depth to reach desired depth. Deeper water, more water resistance, more line out to reach desired depth….God bless you, Italo

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