Thread: Need to slow my rig down,,,,,

Originally Posted by bird down

theres hundreds of different things u can do if know exactly what speed u want. Truth is I don't think those fish know what speed they want it! Try going with the wind and adjusting your weight on your rigs before u start digging into that motor. There's nothing wrong with the speed you mentioned but your going to have to soup up your rigs if your needing to get your baits down. If that doesn't help you can try a bucket, chains, drift sox, new prop, new motor, outboard down, outboard up, trolling motor down deep, trolling motor up shallow, add weight to boat, add water to boat....

Very accurate post. GO WITH THE WIND as often as you can. It does make a huge difference. I have 5 different sizes of drift socks to lock in my speed. I like .5-.7 right now. I also agree that speed is less critical right now compared to keeping your bait at the right depth. The presentation is the key. I also said Right Now. Things change as far as speed in the cooler or warmer weather.

If your trolling motor is a 5 speed. Minn Kota Years Ago Made A maximizer box that works great for controlling your speed I got one and used it for a couple year until I got a hand control motor with a maximizer built in.

I'd say your not putting the bait in there faces. You get it there and they will bite it. I use to push minnows at 1 mph in spring and fall. Keep the lines vertical find the right depth find where the majority of fish are and put it in there faces that's it. Most folks go slow but there really isn't a need for it unless it's super cold water temps.

Hot rod,,, what dictates depth of the crappie this time of year and how do I know how deep they are? JUst watching the finder doesn't seem to help,, so I usually run as deep as I can,, sorta bounce it off the bottom as I troll along,,,I use a modified Capps and Coleman setup buy having the weight inline and then just using a steel spreader on top and dragging the minnow on bottom behind weight around 12"....!both lines using teasers and tipped with minnows,,,i have tried using roadrunners on bottom and teaser on top,,, but it doesn't seem to matter right now,,, nothing is biting

Anything wrong with presenting a plain ole minnow? Perhaps different sizes until they tell you what THEY want? It sounds like getting fancy with teasers and roadrunners isn't getting you where you want to be. I would take a strong look at getting back to the basics and trying one minnow on a plain hook with the appropriate weight for the conditions. Something else you may want to try, if your graph is lit up with fish and they aren't biting......move until you can find some active fish. Pretty graphs don't put food in the freezer. No sense in fighting it and getting frustrated. Good luck.

Originally Posted by yikess

Anything wrong with presenting a plain ole minnow? Perhaps different sizes until they tell you what THEY want? It sounds like getting fancy with teasers and roadrunners isn't getting you where you want to be. I would take a strong look at getting back to the basics and trying one minnow on a plain hook with the appropriate weight for the conditions. Something else you may want to try, if your graph is lit up with fish and they aren't biting......move until you can find some active fish. Pretty graphs don't put food in the freezer. No sense in fighting it and getting frustrated. Good luck.

Hard to beat a minner on a Gold aderdeen !!!!!

What size weight is most guys running this time of year? Most waters are less then 15 ft round Butla right now,,, so,,,aim thinking maybe going 1/2oz to 3/4? MY mainline is 10 lb viscious and use 10 lb on my spider rigs,,,