2nd cranking trip. Still learning

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Originally Posted by mrdux

Yes. The only depth you need to concentrate on is the one where the baitballs are located. Run your cranks in the top 1/3 to 1/2 of the depth the baitballs are at. If the sonar says the baitballs are 12-16 feet, you need to run your cranks 12-14 feet deep. Sometimes that means letting out less line or going from a 300 to a 200 or shallower running bait. The mistake most every beginning crank fishermen makes is thinking the deepest they can make a crank run the better. Fishing under the crappie will get you headed home empty handed. Lots of times the bait and the crappie will be MUCH shallower than you would ever imagine. They may be shallow over DEEP water. Trust your electronics. Get the Precision Trolling Data app for your phone. Best $60 you will spend on cranking gear.

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Thank you. My first trip definitely had us way under the fish in convinced. I do need to get a collection of 200s. I believe getting them a little father back from the boat should help too. We also stirred up several Asian carp too. Is this a sign we need to move spots as well?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

Good job

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Originally Posted by jordanjones

Thank you. My first trip definitely had us way under the fish in convinced. I do need to get a collection of 200s. I believe getting them a little father back from the boat should help too. We also stirred up several Asian carp too. Is this a sign we need to move spots as well?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

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An area full of carp will not be full of crappie. I know too well.

If you are running Arkies or Bandits 80-100 feet back, try 50-70 feet then even closer on cloudy days. My wife and I won a tournament a couple of years ago, in the rain, running c55s, a bait that will run 18 feet deep on 100 feet of line, 30 feet back. The sonar said the bait and crappie were less than 8 feet deep in 25 feet of water. The crappie wanted the big bait, big wobble, but shallow.

The other day when we caught ours, was marking bait balls 8-10 ft deep over 28-30 fow. Ran cranks 8 ft deep to catch em.