Thread: Pulling Cranks 101

Hi yall, new on here. I just want to thank you all for the wealth of knowledge you have out here on this thread. I am just getting started on this pullin cranks business, and it is getting addicting. Yall done got me started now!

Fished Percy Priest here in TN for a few hours Saturday and caught these. Not a lot of numbers, but some good ones.

Originally Posted by Big John in TN

Hi yall, new on here. I just want to thank you all for the wealth of knowledge you have out here on this thread. I am just getting started on this pullin cranks business, and it is getting addicting. Yall done got me started now!

Fished Percy Priest here in TN for a few hours Saturday and caught these. Not a lot of numbers, but some good ones.

Very nice, you have only just begun!!! Welcome aboard as well!!

Originally Posted by Big John in TN

Hi yall, new on here. I just want to thank you all for the wealth of knowledge you have out here on this thread. I am just getting started on this pullin cranks business, and it is getting addicting. Yall done got me started now!

Fished Percy Priest here in TN for a few hours Saturday and caught these. Not a lot of numbers, but some good ones.

Congratulations on the good catch, and, welcome to the forum.

I learned this this past Saturday at Sardis. (Most of you probably already know this).

I established a track that I wanted to concentrate on fishing the ledges on an underwater river. After I determined the limits of my track I used the TM for the downwind run and went back to the start with the big motor. I had my big Brilla up and I went from 10 on the terror trying to pull going into the wind to 5 going with the wind. I know I saved at least an hour on my batteries. Hope this helps someone.

Hey all...I am totally new to trolling cranks, and after reading this entire thread - a couple of things stand out. One of which is consistency being key. It appears that it is crucial to know my depth, and to be able to replicate it on all poles. Therefore - obviously it is important to know how much line to have out. A lot of you cranking guys with experience on here use line counter reels to let you know how far out you are. I just spent a lot of money getting a Terrova IPilot, lures, GPS, etc...so Im not too much in the buying 4 new reels mood (or more to the point - I'm not in the mood to listen to my wife anymore when she gets the credit card bills). So I am looking for a cheaper alternative to the line counter reels but still being able to count out my line with some ease, and consistency. I don't want to pull line out by hand (5-10-15-20-25-30-etc...) - that sounds just awful!

First thought was that I could tie on a bobber stopper, and run it up my line and tie it off at whatever length of line I may start trolling (say 50'). Then I thought well what about the metered line that changed color every 10', so I would just count out my colors to know how far out I am? I don't really see anyone talking about doing that on here, so I was wondering - does nobody do this? I found a metered line marked every 10' at BPS made by Tufline. It is 30lb braid that is the mono equivalant of 8 lb mono (which is the same size as the 30/8 PowerPro HiVis Yellow that a lot of folks on here talk about).

Does anyone on here have any experience using metered line?
AND/OR
Does the bobber stopper idea hold water? Or would that be too tough to manage for some reason I'm not seeing?

AND - HUGE thanks to everyone on here giving their tips. You could put this thread in a book and sell it to guys like me. VERY valuable info on this thread!!!

Sorry....one more question (and maybe a dumb one)...
When someone says that they have 50' of line out to get to their desired depth like what is on the Bandit depth charts - what does that mean exactly. Does that mean that you are counting the line back from the reel, the rod tip, or from where the line hits the water?

If you stopped at 50' at the reel, you'd then have the length of the rod and the distance before the line hits the water. If you were using 16' poles, and then the line didn't touch the water until it was 10' back - would you add 26' to your desired 50', so the line counter would read 76'?

Sorry for the dumb question - but I want to be 100% sure I'm doing things correctly.

THANKS for reading this!!!!

Originally Posted by duxrok

Sorry....one more question (and maybe a dumb one)...
When someone says that they have 50' of line out to get to their desired depth like what is on the Bandit depth charts - what does that mean exactly. Does that mean that you are counting the line back from the reel, the rod tip, or from where the line hits the water?

If you stopped at 50' at the reel, you'd then have the length of the rod and the distance before the line hits the water. If you were using 16' poles, and then the line didn't touch the water until it was 10' back - would you add 26' to your desired 50', so the line counter would read 76'?

Sorry for the dumb question - but I want to be 100% sure I'm doing things correctly.

THANKS for reading this!!!!

Line is already down the pole when u zero the counter.
How many poles u figure to use? 4 reels 100 bucks. 6, 150
Nit on a gnat for what u already spent. Counters will finish the objective..

Hey, fly into Jackson, I'll pick u up, an u'll get first hand experience of how one redneck geezer does it right here on Barnett Rez.. Then ud really b n trouble...

I never thought of being out already. DUH! See...just goes to show how little I know. Thanks!!!

I made the big purchase of the Terrova. I thought I was gonna have to call out someone with heart paddles on that one and the Birrrd when she asked (and I foolishly told her) how much it cost. Since then - I've bought a second battery, dual bank charger, in-line 60 amp fuse, quick release for the TM, braid, and good lord only knows how many crank baits. I still have a "wish" list....but its gonna have to be "wish" until the shock of the other stuff has worn off. (Rods, Reels, more cranks, more cranks, more cranks, etc...) I'd love to see how someone who knows what they are doing does it....but fly into Jackson? Boy - that's just asking for a butt whoopin' from the Birrrd. I'll just have to add that to the ever growing wish list for down the road!

I don't even know if this will work where I fish.