Thread: Trolling Question About Baits.

Hey guys & gals.
When ya'll troll crankbaits, are you pushing or pulling?
Also, why crankbaits over jigs? Still learning.

Jay ... around here we do both -- push & pull.

Crankbaits have a larger profile, create more vibration/pressure waves/flash than a jig, and have more hooks ... so even a side swiping fish has a good chance of getting hooked.

10/4 CP. I was thinking, action, vibration and size.
Would you recommend a brand or two and a couple of colors for me?

Most folk like bandits and they are good but I like the ARKIES I have some of both but ARKIES are half the price and do a great job pm Reeseguide on Mississippi board .he can hook you up with a good price on them or you can also order from Arkie . Top colors seams to be pink ,pink- purple ,purple ,purple black ,orange black ,chartresue , etc ect .i like em all

I will also add your lake need to have a lot of white crappie as they are the target fish when using cranks. Blacks will hit a crank every now and again but whites will hit them the most.

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Just what I needed to know guys.
Thanks CP, Slab & Lowe.
Lowe, what you said is very interesting, I would say 90% of my fish are black crappie. I only catch whites in tops in deeper water along creek banks and river banks most of the time. I'm talking about April & May mostly.
Thanks again. Blessings!

Well if you can catch whites pretty regular you will do fine pulling cranks

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There is a lot of info on the Miss. board. Rees Guide and some of those guys are crank bait gurus. I have never pulled cranks but from talking to some of those Mississippi boys I have learned you need lakes with a lot of white crappie. You need a lake with a thermocline. Hard to find in Ala. Guntersville in some areas would probably be ok. I think callshy pulls cranks some on the lower end. You also need a bunch of money cause they don't give those cranks away.

Cranks are a lot of fun, but it's a different ball game than jigs. Go to 10 lbs test line like coach said they don't give those things away. On the Big G I troll the lower lake because that's where I have found most of the large white crappie. I use line counting reals and troll not push my cranks. It allows me to control the depth by the amount of line I put out, and it's more fun to reel them in a ways to get to the boat. Speed is much different, you need to be between 1.8 and 2.2 for cranks, a lot faster than jigs and it wears down the batteries faster. I also have found that the fish are related to creek channels and humps in deep water. For me I have only had success in 20-26 FOW. Colors change thru the season. On the Big G I find a lot of the shad patterns work well. Favorite is mad cow in 300 bandit. I do use arkies as well.

Originally Posted by Bob D

Cranks are a lot of fun, but it's a different ball game than jigs. Go to 10 lbs test line like coach said they don't give those things away. On the Big G I troll the lower lake because that's where I have found most of the large white crappie. I use line counting reals and troll not push my cranks. It allows me to control the depth by the amount of line I put out, and it's more fun to reel them in a ways to get to the boat. Speed is much different, you need to be between 1.8 and 2.2 for cranks, a lot faster than jigs and it wears down the batteries faster. I also have found that the fish are related to creek channels and humps in deep water. For me I have only had success in 20-26 FOW. Colors change thru the season. On the Big G I find a lot of the shad patterns work well. Favorite is mad cow in 300 bandit. I do use arkies as well.

Can you define the difference between pull and push? I understand the meaning of pulling, which I understand your use of the word "troll". But what the heck is pushing?