Trolling Successfully for Bass
Day 2: Trolling Points and Banks and Deep Trolling for Bass
Editor’s Note: If you’re a professional bass tournament angler, stop reading. The following killer bass-fishing method is not for you.
Trolling Points and Banks:
  Any expert will tell you that when starting out on a lake or river you’ve never fished before, the best spots to fish for bass are along points. Using trolling tactics, you can fish every segment of water on points and locate bass. Begin trolling at the deepest end and the deepest sides of the underwater point using deep-diving crankbaits, similar to the vintage Bagley’s DB-3, Mann’s 30+ and a Double Deep Rebel. If the points are rocky, tie 18 to 20 inches of 8-pound to 12-pound-test line to the back hook of the crankbait, then attach a small, in-line spinner like the Mepps Panther Martin or Rooster Tail to the other end of the line. Using this trailer rig, you double your odds of taking smallmouths, largemouths, and/or spotted bass by presenting the fish with two-different sizes and colors of lures. Next, move-up to the middle of the point, and troll medium-depth crankbaits. Finally, go into the shallow water close to the bank, tie on your shallow-running crankbaits, and troll. As you move into the shallow water, you can eliminate the trailer lure. Similarly, riverbank trolling is one of the best ways to locate big bass that may be holding on structure so small a depth finder won’t show it. But trolling banks is not only a tactic for taking bass in natural rivers; this technique also catches plenty of bass in large impoundments when you troll the edges of the underwater riverbanks as well as the shorelines.
Deep Trolling:
  Even in clear, highland reservoir lakes and the deep, clear lakes of the West, trolling a deep-diving crankbait with a trailer lure such as a silver spoon or any in-line spinner will produce largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass. One of the problems associated with catching bass in these deep, clear lakes is that bass often hold in the underwater caves and cracks in the sheer rock bluffs. If you cast to the bank, your bait falls away from the region where the bass are holding. However, when you troll in front of those bluffs, the bass in these underwater caves, cracks and caverns have time to see your bait, come away from their ambush points and attack the lure.
  These tactics are just a sample of what you’ll learn in the new Kindle eBooks, “How to Bass Fish Like a Pro” and “How to Catch the Biggest and Most Bass in Any Lake” by John E. Phillips. Go to http://www.amazon.com/kindle-ebooks, type in the names of the books, and download them to your Kindle, and/or download a Kindle app for your iPad, SmartPhone or computer.
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