Thread: Cranks better than jigs in the summer?

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More flash or contrast
More vibration (pressure waves)
More hooks (even a swipe and miss on the body can hook a fish)

Pushing or pulling is a matter of boat setup, and of course both can be done at the same time.

The occasional Black Crappie is caught on cranks, but for all intent and purposes it's the White Crappie that's the main target. They tend to suspend in open water more than Black Crappie, and the Crappie follow Shad schools as they roam over channels & flats. Maximum depth is determined by a thermocline (if present).

Also tend to produce larger fish but at the same time reduce the number of fish. Cranks, at least from my experience, tends to reduce the number of dinks and smaller keepers. Cranks also can be run faster and cover more water in days time. Cranks with linecounter reels provides a more accurate and controllable bait depth presentation.

I push jigs and pull cranks at the same time...see which one works better...or not at all......of course I credit crappie.com for teaching me this concept....

Another take on the "title" of this thread :

Before I had 14' rods, most of my Summer Crappie fishing was done from daylight until I couldn't find a bank that had shade out over the submerged timber. Jigs were used on those shady banks, over blowdowns or alongside standing timber.

If we still wanted to continue fishing during the heat of the day (midday to early afternoon) then we'd tie on a crank and put a jig on a leader line & tie that to the front hook ring ... then troll with that setup. Our purpose was to catch Hybrid Striped Bass or White Bass or Crappie ... mainly on the jig, but occasionally on the crank. The jig was tied on the front hook, rather than the rear hook, because it helped keep the crank diving at the speed we were trolling. I would guess that speed to be around 2mph, since we were in a 17' Tracker w/50hp motor, running at idle speed. Trolling motor wasn't strong enough, and there was only one battery in the boat ... so using the big motor meant we'd likely get back to the ramp, at the end of the day.

I can just see myself hitting a tree and losing 6 or so cranks. I guess you really need to know the structure and layout before you dive in.

Originally Posted by Hammmerhead

I can just see myself hitting a tree and losing 6 or so cranks. I guess you really need to know the structure and layout before you dive in.

I've lost 5 at one time and over a dozen in a days time. Pulling/pushing is a great way to catch big crappie when everybody else has put their crappie gear up till fall but not for the faint of heart or faint of wallet. I mark waypoints to avoid losing tackle as much as keying on fish.

I use the cheaper China crankbaits so I won't have to cry so bad when I lose them.

Baitzilla, a site sponsor, is offering these for $2 each. Anyone give these 7/8" cranks a try and is the lip big enough to go deep or will a 2-3 oz weight take care of the depth no matter what?

Emerald - CrankBait Tiny

Thanks