Tips for a Speed Retrieve

• In mid-August when the fish are capable of feeding easily on a wealth of forage just putting a bait in front of them won’t always elicit a strike. Sometimes the best way to get a fish to react is to use a lure and a speed retrieve. You’re after a reaction bite.

• One of my favorite speed retrieves for shallow northern pike is to cast out an inline spinner - commonly referred to as a bucktail - and reel it back fast. You want the lure to run just below the surface of the water, right above the tops of the weeds or rocks.

• A good speed retrieve for bass incorporates a deep-diving crankbait. You set the boat about five feet inside the weedline and cast into deeper water. Your goal is to reel the lure quickly down to the bottom and as it gets to the weedline the crankbait turns up as it’s coming back to you. Bass lying on that weedline grab the bait as it begins to move upward.

• For walleyes I like a heavy sinker with a spinner rig. The key here is to use a number three or four spinner blade and move the boat a couple of miles and hour. You need the heavy weight to keep the bait just a few feet off the bottom. You don’t want to drag the sinker across the bottom when fast-trolling structure with a spinner rig.

• For bass, walleyes and pike you can’t beat a crankbait trolled fast. The best lakes for this have a well-defined deep weedline where you can find all of these species. Fish will suspend on a weedline so try lures that vary in depth to discover where the fish are in the water column.