As already stated you can pull cranks with the wind blowing 10-20mph, you can cover a lot of water, and heavy boat traffic's waves can be managed. No it's not as much fun as the "thump" but at 100 degrees and my Bimini top up I can fish all day, and at 69 that is tuff in this heat vertical jigging.

DrNip I had some of my best days with south wind 5-10mph it would push the bait towards the north side of the main lake. I normally would pull from around Denver ramp east to the water station on the hill and the west side of Clear Creek. Depending on what my FF looked like I would pull the main channel and over the humps main lake. I have a happy troller on my motor to help control speed. Most crankin guys will pull from 1.0 - 2.0 mph. My favorite is 1.5 mph 90% of the time .. then let the fish tell you what they want. Nip I'm with IkenI you can pull cranks with about any rod, it might not be the best for the technique but will work. It is a little hard on light action rods, if you have a couple old 6' bass rods try them. You can use a black marker and mark your line at 55' that would be a good start. Then let line out until you catch fish.

If you have not watched the video pulling cranks on Wister Lake, Oklahoma it is pretty good. (you will have to forward thru all the advertisements).
Go to YouTube and search barry stokes wister lake