How fast do you troll?

[RO]

Only time I've ever trolled live was in saltwater for kingfish. I usually use deep diving crank baits for largemouth. Rattletraps, #13 pet spoons or bucktail jigs for hybrid and striper. Ranger_R77 turned me on to Cotton Cordell Redfins a while back they worked great at Travis near the dam.

I like pet spoons, crocodile spoons, sutton spoons, usually in three way swivel combos with deep tail dancers, DD22s, or x-raps (on the rigger). Never trolled live or dead bait.

[RO]

these fellers are trolling faster than 3 mph

Not only are they trolling several knots, they are also trolling several grand worth of reels. Billfish and mahi will hit at that speed, so I've heard. Need to verify firsthand!

[RAM]

Yes, in that case with those big reels, in my experience, they would be trolling feather jigs.
The run quite a bit faster so they can skim the surface.
We've had bonita, king fish, mahi-mahi, sharks, and others hit these lures. When king strike at these lures, they are moving at very fast speeds from the deep and climb at almost a vertical angle to the bait. Sometimes as you look out at your lures skimming the water, you will occasionaly see a king fly up out of the water and into the air as the strikes these baits. It's definitely a sight to see. But, that's the salt...where just about anything will hit your bait....

Back to a fresh water discussion.
I generally troll at the lowest speed my big motor will allow....3mph. If I want to troll slower, I use the 72lb electric TM.
I have caught stripers on many lures at diffent depths depending on the time of year and conditions.
We have used the hell-pet method with different end lures, lead line on the lake....what a chore, and now we have manual downriggers.

Crappie rig trolling is yet another world and it does work. But I like to feel the thump on my jig, so I just stop and jig for them - it's more fun.

And when it gets real cold, I find sometimes jigging or deadsticking will work best.

Enjoy,
R