Thread: ETCC Pushing Cranks

Yeah, Pantastic ... I got the C/C rods just for that very reason, that they're a little more limber than the PST's. My primary intent was/is to Spider Rig & push jigs with my 14' rods. Pushing cranks is just at the "may try it, sometime" stage. With 1/2oz of weight, I cannot see any difference in the curve of the rod tips between the C/C & PST rods. With greater amounts of weight it may show up more

Then again, I'm so used to fishing with many different lengths, actions, and brands of rods/reels, all at the same time or switching from one to another ... that I'm not all that concerned about the subtle differences in rod reaction to a bite.

I was just curious about the Watts Bar tourneys, as I have usually made a trip down there in Oct & Apr when possible, over the last 20+ years (for Crappie). I've fished it, mostly in those two months, for over 30yrs ... for Smallmouth at first, then Crappie most of the latter portion of that time. It's where I learned to shoot docks, and where I primarily use that technique.
I usually fish from Whites Creek to Piney River .... but I have fished as far up river as Caney Creek.

I wish ya'll the best of luck with your tournaments & Club !!

... cp

Fished Tuesday Geno with similar results. We were pulling though. Ended with 18 keepers and 40 shorts, 3 largemouth,3 stripe 2 yellow bass and 1 Walleye. We fished in the morning dodging rain squalls. Good report.

Glad you did well Pan but I want to give you my setup for pushing and explanation if I may. 2 - 11' and 2 - 9' Wally Marshall medium heavy rods with braid to the 3 way and a 3' 10 lb leader. The 3rd leg of the 3 way has a split ring and duo lock snap to hold the weight which is a 2oz trolling sinker(less drag). This loads the rods pretty well and even light bites are evident. The braid and 10 lb make sure that I at least get a chance to see a snagged bait again, which doesn't always happen when I longline cranks with 6lb so I went to 8 and do much better. As CP stated I run a little quicker but as fast as some, running about 1.3 or 4. This also allows me to push 4 out the front while my guest pulls 4 or more from the back. Kinda feel like a vacuum sometimes. I have hung both the pushing and pulling rods and doubled them over hard and had them survive. Losing baits rubs against my frugal(cheap) nature and do well at recovering what I get hung.
Just some input, and I'm surely no expert or pro at this. AS with most things I do I listen to many and develop my own way, I hope this helps you develop yours. Keep after it, and tight lines.......Skeet.

Thanks for sharing your setup skeetbum. I have been thinking on the simultaneous pushing/pulling idea for a little while now but haven't tried it out. It was something I was thinking about while pulling planer boards this past spring. Like you, I like to listen to others who share information to develop my own style. Perhaps some others will share their setups also and let us know what working for them.

This is an interesting discussion on how everybody does this different. Those that have fished with me know that I push and pull at the same time. I also will run two rods on planer boards to make the spread wider. This seems to work good for us...but doesn't mean it's the right way or the only way to do it. I run two 10' trolling rods right out the back. At a 90 degree to the rear of the boat I run two 12' rods out the back. These 4 rods out the back I manage while I watch the graph and steer the boat with the trolling motor. Up front, my wife pushes two rods straight out the front of boat at 1 o'clock and 11 o'clock using 3 oz weight and a tag leader of about 30". Then she runs a rod at 2 o'clock and 10 o'clock with a planer board on them at about 30' -40' to the side of the boat. If she catches a fish on the boards, I have to move my 12' rods so she can get the fish in. Her pushing and planer board rods catch as many if not more fish than my pulling rods. The four rods in the front of the boat are 8' walleye trolling rods and they a stiff backbone with a limber tip. They handle the 3oz weight and the planer boards just fine. We have tried several different ways, but this seems to be the most comfortable for us and allows us to fish 8 rods at one time spread apart covering as much water as possible.

Running these planer boards do you not have other fisherman wanting to try to go between you and the board if the board is a good distance from boat? I've never done planer boards just seen on youtube where they can go a good ways from boat. Thanks

Geno... Great thread, learning a lot, keep the comments coming....I'm hoping to learn this way of fishing soon

Originally Posted by Eatmorecrappie

Running these planer boards do you not have other fisherman wanting to try to go between you and the board if the board is a good distance from boat? I've never done planer boards just seen on youtube where they can go a good ways from boat. Thanks

I don't know any crappie fishermen who run their boards much over 40 yards max from the boat. I typically run mine much closer. I've not had anybody try to run between my boat and the boards but have had lots of folks get much too close to my boards trying to figure out what I'm doing. So far I have managed to get them away from my set-up by nicely asking them to give me some room.