Trolling 

When lake trout are in a very aggressive mood, as they are in early spring, but are spooked by the sight of an oncoming boat, they will almost always move laterally away from the boat. On these occasions the bait will usually be taken sideways rather than from the rear, which is often the case on days when the fishing is slow. When a strike occurs laterally the fish simply may be holding the lure between their powerful toothy jaws, and will not have so much as a nick from attached hooks. Unless the lure can be moved through the jaws quickly, the trout will let it go. Keeping hooks razor sharp and using a hard low-stretch monofilament and an eight- to nine-foot medium-heavy-action graphite rod will handle most of these situations adequately.

As is usually the case in shallow water trolling for most species, fish and to shy away from the boat and, consequently, are forced well away from the terminal tackle. Lengthening the amount of line from boat to lure and trolling in a zigzag fashion can remedy this situation when lake trout display this bashful behavior. Keep in mind that this additional line, because of the stretch factor of monofilaments, will make setting the hook difficult.

When fishing two rods from smaller boats, line tangling often occurs. The use of longer rods when set or held properly allows for greater separation at their tips and, therefore, greater separation at the lures where tangling can take place. Also, longer, stiffer rods allow you to take up more line more quickly when fish strike, and their extra backbone enables you to slip the lure and set the hook.

Planer boards offer obvious benefits: your lures will remain away from the boat's path and in the area where the fish are likely to be since they're spooked away from the boat; you can cover a much wider surface area; you can run more lines without risk of too many tangles; you can fish in the shallowest of waters without fear of scaring the fish by the passage of your boat; and because the board is less obtrusive to the fish, less line lead will be required resulting in few fish lost because of stretch problems. If you use a board planer, you'll need rod holders, a minor inconvenience for some anglers. The biggest disadvantage, however, is that you might get your planer ripped off by other boats in congested areas.

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