Interactive Video Trolling

To know that muskies follow trolled lures is one thing. But to see them, to know for sure, is something else altogether. The drama provided by an underwater camera is exactly that—the “something else altogether” that turns trolling into an interactive video event.

“It stops you cold,” says Don Schwartz, referring to his video-trolling footage. A lure inventor and exceptional muskie angler who often shares a boat with the likes of Doug Johnson and **** Pearson, Schwartz has been transformed by the things he’s seen with his underwater camera. “I mean, can you imagine if trolling for muskies were just as visually exciting as casting?” he asks. “That’s video trolling.

“Until last year, underwater cameras always seemed like more of a novelty than a legitimate fishing tool,” he says. “I thought I understood muskie behavior, too. I was wrong on all counts.”

His quest began early last spring. While trolling for lake trout, he attached his Aqua-Vu camera to his downrigger weight. The spoon, running just feet behind, soon became the object of frequent attention by lakers.

“It was mesmerizing to spy into the underwater world and watch lakers follow and attack lures,” he says. “After a few sessions, I knew it would work for muskies. I couldn’t wait to see a muskie strike at eye level. How many people have ever seen that?”

During 2007, Schwartz recorded dozens of video clips of follows, strikes, and other muskie behavior. He saw fish charge downrigger balls and boat propellers. He tracked fish that followed lures for over a half mile, off structure and out into deep open water. They struck at lures with wicked snout swings and at times appeared to be examining lures as if to smell them. No surprise, the fish also often seemed to intensify their chase anytime the downrigger ball and lure hit rocks. Video trolling for muskies was everything Schwartz imagined and more, adding a jolt of electricity into an otherwise mundane routine.

He admits that getting comfortable with operating a downrigger in conjunction with a video camera takes practice. Running around rocks and dredging bottom takes a toll on equipment, but once the physical mechanics mesh, it becomes a sturdy trolling system. “Today,” he says, “it would be hard for me to go back to my old trolling routine. There’s just too much to be learned from a fishing perspective—and so many visual thrills.”

The visual thing with muskies—that you sometimes see them while casting and they follow, and those follows can at times be converted into boatside strikes—remains at the core of the fish’s appeal. Adding this visual reaction factor to trolling is a compelling addition to this aspect of the sport.

“Initially, I didn’t think one of the main benefits of video trolling would be my ability to react to the actions of following fish. Once I knew fish were following I could do something about it— speed up, make a sharp turn, grind the ball into bottom, track tight to contours by raising and lowering the downrigger ball. I could interact in all sorts of ways that might make a following fish eat. Furthermore, by recording the footage and studying it, I began to understand which moves worked best in different situations.”