Trolling cranks

I'm gearing up to troll cranks this year once the time is right. I wanted to poll the forum on whether anyone trolls for crappie with their outboard vs. trolling motor. I just have a foot control TM, but I do have a 13-year old, so one of us can serve as the ipilot on the TM if that method catches more crappie than using the outboard and a drift sock.

Given I'm just getting rigged up and going on the cranks for crappie, I haven't gone as far as buying any planer boards yet, but I thought they might be in order especially if I use my outboard to troll.

So please let me know what your experience has been!

I trolled with the big motor and a drift sock in the very beginning. It was a pain. Constantly fighting to fish around it when you have multiple rods and the crappie is skiing across the top and the drift sock is back there....just a pain. Moved it closer to the boat and further back. Just moving around the problem. Thanks to Speck and others who recommended a couple 5gal buckets with three or four 1" holes drilled in the bottom hanging off the sides...that worked great for a while, but was still kinda a pain. Finally upgraded the TM and stowed all that extra garbage in the garage and haven't looked back. Easier to control the speed/direction and nothing to deploy/retrieve/stow.

My G3 boat had a Yamaha 90 four stroke. I had a trolling plate on it and it would idle all day at 1.5-1.7 mph. I run a 36 volt Terrova on my Ranger now. Two stroke motors will load up if you idle them too long. Four strokes are fine though. A good TM with I-pilot is one of the best investments you can make for cranking

I have not pulled crank baits. MR Dux is the expert and a trip with him will not only produce some fine eating filets it will provide valuable knowledge to catch some of your own. We mostly spider rig and have found that effective for us. We have tried to adapt spider rigging to push crankbaits. We use a 2-3 oz wt to maintain depth while pushing at the higher speeds for crank baits. Trolling poles need a little more back bone for the extra weight but it still works pretty good plus we both sit in the front just like spider rigging. Most folks prefer to pull them rather than push, that is just our preference.


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I troll quite bit, use a 12vdc trolling motor, troll 4 rods at a time, 1 or two people, usually just me. but this year I am going to concentrate on pushing cranks and jigs, us to push all the time. best way to learn trolling is go to the Mississippi crappie page and look up the trolling post.

Trolling motor all the way. The GPS trolling motors are the way to go but if you don't have one then get a Troll Perfect clamp. These keep your path fairly straight on auto pilot so you don't have to keep your foot on the pedal constantly. I will say that if you don't have at least a variable speed and two batteries then it's tough and you won't go very long. I bought my boat with a Fortrex (great TM) but wish I had an Ultrex.

I have no problem with a 24 volt maxxum variable speed set on continuous run .Boat will track plenty straight enough to reel in fish .

It can be tough to troll with a cable drive foot control. If that's what you have, trolling with the outboard may be your best bet.

Second best is a trolling motor with a hand control, like Copilot. Allows you to have control anywhere in the boat, and make easy adjustments while reeling in a fish or feeding line.

The best option is Ipilot.

When I first started I pulled cranks for a few years with a 115 four stroke....I put a Troll A magic trolling plate on the out board and a bungie cord on my steering wheel. It worked good but I finally got a 24 volt Terrova with pilot and that's a lot better.

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Trolling motor for crappie. Use a transom mount hand control at local lakes. On rivers depending on water level we use either a 25 hsp tiller w/prop or 40 hsp jet/with steering for walleye or whatever. But also sometimes trolling motors. Kind of depends on situation.