Thread: Pushing cranks

Need some advice about pushing cranks. I’ve pulled them but never pushed. My cousin and son both want to go to crankfest so I thought they could pull off the back and I’ll push out the front. First question I have 16 foot B&M pro troller and 16 foot southern crappie rods which will hold up to the weight of pushing better. I don’t want to break one if I can avoid it. I was thinking 3 oz weight and I have every kind of crank from bandit 100 to c55. Next when you measure your line out in the do you measure to the weight or the bait. I tied the weight on both rods and they have a heck of a bend is that ok. Thanks any advice would be appreciated.


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Most of the crank Pushers I know use 2oz weights most of the time, but 3oz & 4oz weights are not out of the question (as long as the rod can handle the weight).

The charts are set on line angle at 45deg & add a foot of depth for the crank ... but I don't know if they state a set length of leader line between the weight & crank. Some use 5' leaders & some only 3' leaders.

I measure how much line I have out (line counter reels) by getting up to speed & putting the rod in the holder with the weight at the surface ... zero out the reel & then let out the line. Rod tips are set about 1' from surface, but that's nullified by the diving depth of the crank below the depth of the weight (or close, anyway). A 45deg angle is hard to get @ 1.8mph, but it's still how I calculate how deep my cranks are running. I calculate that every 5ft of line I let out will equal 3ft of depth. (so 20' of line out is 12ft of depth)

If I have to fine tune the depth, then I multiply the length of line out by 0.6 ... so 20' of line out x 0.6 = 12ft of depth or 25' of line out x 0.6 = 15ft of depth. But if I need the crank to be at 14ft of depth, I'd reel back to around 22-23' of line out. It's basically a ball park guesstimate in any event, but you can always experiment on the fly.

One little tip I learned from M R Dux, back at one of our Spring Flings, is when you run across a school of fish when you're going in one direction & maybe not have any hits ... hit the school from the opposite direction. Worked for me & I was Pushing jigs at the time.

Mike.....i use14 ft BnM PST'S
And I use three oz. Weights.....here is the pushing depth chart that I use.

I use to use 16 ft pro staff. 2oz. Is about all i would use with them. 3oz made to much bend for me. I now use 16ft bnm power trollers. I use 3oz and 4oz on them. They probably could hold 6 oz. FYI the bigger around the sinker and your line are the more drag it will have in the water causing more bend in the pole.

I have the 3 oz trolling sinkers look kinda like a torpedo I was thinking a beaver rod but hate to buy them when I have an extra set already and not sure I’ll like pushing. Might try it with the pst and see what happens. Thanks I appreciate the help


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What, you break a rod? Hey Rees, got any input on this?

Originally Posted by crp4570

What, you break a rod? Hey Rees, got any input on this?

Lol I’m trying not to. I’ve been known to snap one in to. I’ll never forget that day as long as I live. I’m in shock embarrassed and John yelling just get the fish.


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The southern crappie rod will handle it but has quite a bit of bow with the 3oz . I’ve used 1-4 oz pushing but for some reason it’s not as productive as pulling for me .pushed with one last week for couple hours no feeshes removed the sinker and started pulling with the same bait at the same depth and had fish on within 15 mins!

Originally Posted by Slabprowler

The southern crappie rod will handle it but has quite a bit of bow with the 3oz . I’ve used 1-4 oz pushing but for some reason it’s not as productive as pulling for me .pushed with one last week for couple hours no feeshes removed the sinker and started pulling with the same bait at the same depth and had fish on within 15 mins!

Idk I’ve never pushed I’ve had good luck pulling cranks. I’m going to give it a try and see what happens. Lol hope it turns out better than the first time I tried spider rigging lord what a mess. Lol


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One thing to do if pushing put your big motor in gear. If not the bait hits the prop it will wound a lot line and even might break it off anyway it will be a mess.
LittleJohn