By Cory Allen

I’m not talking set-it-and-forget-it trolling, or flying planer kites. I’m talking stick-in-hand, bottom-smashing, teeth-gnashing, rod-jarring tools of the trade for tickling topography and taking some of the biggest muskies (or bass) on any body of water. Yes, this is definitely an Esox-centric article. But use these little chisels to carve out the stone, and there’s absolutely no telling what will answer the phone. You heard me right….hold the rod when trolling.

Have the CLIENTS hold the rod when trolling like this. Why? You mean, besides the fact there’s not a bigger hard-on in musky fishing than having a 50″ leviathan try to pull your arm out of its socket faster than a Wookiee who just lost credits in a game of Dejaarik?…Google it.

Try control….control. You MUST learn control. (Two Star Wars references+one paragraph=new record) When trolling structure, true structure, the leylines of all fish movement and orientation. Precision is key. Speed, direction, and the ability to orient the lure directly along these underwater highways, be it a drop off, channel edge, or bottom transition are all paramount to success when trolling. Muskies especially WILL suspend, but almost always in direct correlation to the topographical routes. More often than not, they’ll actually be DIRECTLY related to it and the closer you get and the more you tick close to these features, the better off you’ll be.

Let’s get to the topic at hand…the baits. It’s all about the baits. When you troll with the rod in hand….a lot….you really get a “feel” for the idiosyncrasies of the baits. A few are old standbys, a few may surprise you, but even more so may be the ones that don’t make this list…despite their prowess in open water applications, they don’t make the cut for the “power bottoms”. Yeah, that’s what we’ll call them…

Power Bottom #1

The Super Shad Rap respects the classics. Few baits that have been, nor ever will be, offer the versatility as this old school balsa ballistic. Its only weakness being the integrity of the material, a little epoxy on the lip keeps it in place despite repeated door-knocking and it ticks like a dream. With its natural wander when tuned and medium slope dive curve, the angle of its descent accommodates moderate to fast trolling speeds, deflecting well through all types of cover and terrain without making a new creek channel.

I’ve personally caught fish trolling this bait off structure up to 11 mph, and speeding it up after the bump is a HUGE trigger on this bait, as for any other, but especially with the Super Shad due to its deviant flight path at higher speeds while still tracking to center, throwing off the dirt from its spade as it shakes off the last run. If it has a weakness, it’s maintaining a depth at the slowest speeds, but makes for a great pump-and-rise trolling bait. If you’re putting your trolling rods in holders constantly, you’re missing tons of opportunities to trigger a response. I’ve had 9 fish trolling days on these baits, up to 50″, and multiple occasions of muskies on back-to-back passes over the same feature. With a standard diving depth in that oh so crucial 9-14 foot depth range, it is a near perfect tool for trigger muskies wherever they swim in the active tiers of the water column in most environments.

Power Bottom #2.

The 10″ Jake Not the 6″…DEFINITELY not the 8″…the 10″ and ONLY the 10″. The same qualities that make it such a multi-season twitch bait make it a killer pump and rise trolling tool. Great to pull down to the desired depth, back off on the throttle and pump like a casting retrieve, it’s near perfect flight path often demands more personal attention to trigger strikes, even when bouncing bottom.

Don’t get me wrong, it does plenty well on its own shucking and jiving on the contours, but the sudden expected throb of a big Jake slamming into the bottom from a rod pump or past a submerged timber has led to the ruination of more than one tanker musky in my boat. Best effective at speeds between 2.5-6 mph, it easily handles bursts of speed beyond that, and nothing throws a lateral line signature in the abyss quites like this bait. Add the little personal nuances of twitch and rise and definitely keep a feel on the backstroke where it rises…that’s when it’s most likely to get clobbered.

Power Bottom #3.

The Chad Shad Never heard of it? I hadn’t either….and apparently no one outside of Ohio has either. I aim to fix that. Custom made by Chad Harmon, an avid Buckeye musky hound, these little flat sided shad profiles immediately caught my eye and then my attention when they hit the water. A very tight wobble, but not too hard, lets it scurry through the water column at speeds in excess of 8 mph, but the angle of the lip makes for a relatively steep dive curve, easily attaining flat line depths of 18 ft + in short order.

The bouncing virtues are amongst the best I’ve seen. Its high buoyancy causes it to recoil from contact a little more than most on the dig, resulting in short assisted back bursts that result in instantaneous speed triggers with little fear from snags or rocks. Built like mortar shells with beautifully durable epoxy coats, and signature green cat’s eyes, this little soldier doubles as a great twitch bait and has resulted in some nice fish during its short time on the front line, including a recent 52″ Tennessee tanker for a first tine musky client, Clayton Cornell. The bait has just come off of gleefully skipping along a channel breakline before the big bad water wolf came up and clobbered it just after bouncing a lot the small silt deposit entering a side feeder stream cut down 16 ft. It’s also worthy of note that this fish slammed the bait harder than any I’ve seen to dare, nearly ripping the Fenwick from Clayton’s clutches, and despite massive headshakes and deep power runs after the force of a strike against 70 horses of Yamaha, the hooks had nary a bend. Quality folks. Be sure to look up Chad Shad on Facebook. He just released a new crank bait built just as tough but in a slightly smaller package, but trust me, the .22’s will slam some slobs this upcoming season and I foresee a very productive Spring trolling the breaklines into spawning areas with these in my box.

Power Bottom #4.

The Ernie No surprise here. The legendary Lexan-lipped wonder from Drifter Tackle has been a long staple for probing the depths, but seems to have been often overlooked in the luster of newer baits.

I still have yet to see a bait that works the depths with precision at the crucial slower speeds so often needed in the abyss to trigger more neutral muskies than this bait. A slow throbbing pulse in the rod tip belies it’s near vertical dive curve against a formidable force of buoyancy constantly at war with its lip resistance, allowing it to be worked super slowly at depths in excess of 30 ft+ on a flat line. Another great pump and rise trolling bait, putting this bait in a rod holder cuts off its legs; at the depths you’ll fish this baby, sometimes even the slightest rod pump and subsequent kickback to the surface can cause a neutral musky to go absolutely Rambo on it.

Power Bottom #5.

The Bagley’s Monster Shad Weighing in at a little over an ounce and a mere 5″ long, there doesn’t seem to be anything “monster” about this bait, until you see it crossways in a 50″ musky’s maw. A thin profile coupled with an outsized Lexan lip means this bait dives relatively deep for its size against the natural flotation of its balsa design, but the tendencies of this wood, much like the Super Shad rap, lead to a very natural wander in its flight path, while still tracking to center. They are difficult to get a hold of since they were discontinued, but hopefully enough outcries will resurrect them.

In many ways, they are all the virtues of the Super Shad rap in a deeper package. Easily touching down to 16′ on a flatline, once on the floor they dance along the bottom at moderate speeds unlike any other, deflecting off rocks and kicking up a storm of silt undeniably obnoxious to any musky (or bass ) in its wake. If there is a downside to this bait, it has to be the durability. Balsa is not known for its integrity, and while the Super Shad rap’s paint job wards off much of the wear of war, the light foil of the Bagley’s can’t quite say the same.

Fun Fact: Chad Harmon (330-206-4428) who makes the Chad Shad can add a touch of his epoxy moxy to these babies for an extra layer of musky Kevlar for a very nominal price. With this little extra TLC, they’ll be catch muskies like my client Mark Cook’s low 50″ Jormungand long after it’s ilk have been whittled down to a toothpick. The virtues of these baits have proven themselves on board my vessel, and not just because they’ve caught some big fish…they’ve landed their spots on my roster before their first touchdown. It’s their stats that earned them a spot on my team…I had never even heard of a Chad Shad before ordering them, but the more you troll, rod in hand, and learn how different baits perform as “power bottoms”, the more you’ll not only recognize the talents on ths team, but be able to recognize other trolling loves at first sight even before you feel that first bite crush down on it in the deep.