Advice for Trolling Cranks

:help

OK, I have played around summer trolling crank baits for crappie in the past, but I've never really gotten serious about it. I would like to try it more seriously and would appreciate some tips and feedback.

I surmise I will mostly want to troll in the 12 to 20 foot range (on Chickamauga Lake). In order to keep from rigging or re-rigging a whole new set of rods, my preference would be to troll with 10 lb. test mono (and leader, if needed). Prefer to long-line and not use planer boards (because I don't have any for crank baits).

I need feedback on whether that set-up will work first?

Secondly, suggestions on preferred crank baits for those depths, trolling speed, etc. Thanks for any help from anyone!

Richard,

Im sure you will get several opinions but here is what I do.

Bandit 200 & 300 trolling at 1.6 to 2.0 mph. Line counting reels work best or I just measure out 100 yds. and wrap a rubber band around my line on my spinning reels. I use medium/heavy rods. I ussually run 2 rods off the front and 4 out the back.

I like colors in Pink, blue/silver, one called the "Mistake", Chartruse and Mad Cow. I also often change out the factory hooks to red hooks. Can prove it helps but in my mind it does.

Chart below gives you some idea of the depths.
http://www.crappie.com/crappie/attac...uick-20ref.jpg

Super! Those charts are great... very helpful. You said "100 yards." Did you mean 100 feet?

same charts work for Arkie 350,s.......better colors, better wiggler, better bait........lower price too Arkie 350 Series Crankbait

Yes feet.

Richard
Fishing crankbaits are a lot like any other style of crappie fishing...everybody has there on way of doing it that works best for them...and it can change from day to day depending on the mood of the fish. TNfisher gave a great explanation in his post. Things that I might add that may help...
1) Be patient with it and stick with it. you may not load the boat down with fish, but what you catch will be good ones.
2) 1.5-2mph is the standard...but don't be scared to go faster. sometimes faster is all it takes to trigger the bite...most of the time a reaction bite.
3) wiggle the boat while trolling. the stop and start of the crank will trigger the trailing fish to bite.
4) color matters. somedays they que in on a specific color and that is all they want. other days it doesn't matter about color. yesterday on Loudoun, they would only hit one color of bandit for us. I had three of that color and those three rods were the only rods that caught fish all morning. I am changing colors constantly. treat it just like you do pulling jigs in the spring. change colors and styles of cranks often.
5) don't be scared to troll where there is brush or stumps. if you hang, break it off and watch for your crank to float to the surface. 8 out of 10 times it will float up and I will circle around and pick it up.
6) location, location, location. keep looking until the depth finder is showing fish. creek channels, mouths of creeks, main river channel breaks, main river flats, just keep looking and searching until you find em.
7) sharp hooks are a must. without sharp hooks you will get bites and not hook up. or the fish will surface way behind he boat and shake his head one time and out will come the crank. I use gamagatsu and they do well.
8) I mostly use bandits, arkie 350's, wiggle warts, walley marshall crappie cranks, and shad raps....each has it better day...it just depends.
9) smaller line will get you deeper if necessary.
10) line counter reels will keep you at the same depth on every rod.
hope this helps.

Around here we use 2oz weights to keep from having to have so much line out, and drag a fish in over so much distance.

A long handled dip net is good to have, too, since some use rods up to 20ft long for pushing cranks.

Many use line counter reels with braid, then a swivel, the trolling weight, then 5ft of 6lb test mono, a swivel or clip & then the crank. Since you can't "stop" when a crank gets snagged, you just sacrifice the crank to the timber troll and keep on going. Speed is generally ~1.8mph, but sometimes in the turns you may get hits on the outside crank (going faster) or the inside crank (going slower).

I'm not equipped or set up for cranks, so I mostly cast, spider rig, or push jigs ... so all the above info is what I've seen & heard of being done by my crank pushing/pulling buddies.

... cp :kewl

Great post.... Mr. Simms is not the only one eager to learn this. Just part of what makes this site great!

All great advice. However, they haven't told you the dark side to cranking. You will need to buy extra tackle boxes for storing all the different colors/types of cranks. It's an obsession but I'm getting better, oh, I like that color, give me 6 please. :biggrin

If you get a chance go on the Mississippi site to the thread pulling cranks 101. It is 150 pages but a ton of good info.

Went today. Only caught three, but one was a monster, just shy of 16 inches.

Good job. Almost a 16 incher sounds great to me. Sometimes with cranks you just catch quality and not quantity.

Now Deedoe don't tell all our secrets! lol

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TN Fisher

Richard,

Im sure you will get several opinions but here is what I do.

Bandit 200 & 300 trolling at 1.6 to 2.0 mph. Line counting reels work best or I just measure out 100 yds. and wrap a rubber band around my line on my spinning reels. I use medium/heavy rods. I ussually run 2 rods off the front and 4 out the back.

I like colors in Pink, blue/silver, one called the "Mistake", Chartruse and Mad Cow. I also often change out the factory hooks to red hooks. Can prove it helps but in my mind it does.

Chart below gives you some idea of the depths.
http://www.crappie.com/crappie/attac...uick-20ref.jpg

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is the chart for pulling out back of boat , or pushing?

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Originally Posted by TN. WATERSHED

is the chart for pulling out back of boat , or pushing?

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That chart is for Pulling cranks......you can pull from front....back.....or sides......pulling is when you do not use weights.....you control depth by length of line out at 1.6 to 1.8 mph.....that chart is also for 10 lb. Mono line

Quote:

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Originally Posted by "G"

That chart is for Pulling cranks......you can pull from front....back.....or sides......pulling is when you do not use weights.....you control depth by length of line out at 1.6 to 1.8 mph.....that chart is also for 10 lb. Mono line

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thanks G, I am trying to learn to pull them out of the back of boat.

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Originally Posted by "G"

That chart is for Pulling cranks......you can pull from front....back.....or sides......pulling is when you do not use weights.....you control depth by length of line out at 1.6 to 1.8 mph.....that chart is also for 10 lb. Mono line

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I see speeds posted here a lot faster that what I usually troll crank baits. The fastest I ever troll is 1.6 mph. The slowest is 1.2 mph, because that is as slow as I can go and still get the crank baits to "swim". Most days I troll from 1.2 to 1.4 mph, and I usually catch crappie at those speeds. I also stop/start from time to time and find that will trigger a strike. You can get a similar effect by pulling the line back through the rod guides a foot or two and then letting go.

I've had a lot of trouble with lines fouling. I assume because some cranks aren't pulling true. When I run them beside the boat, they look to run true, but 100 feet back, when two lines get together I don't even realize it until I pull them up and have a spaghetti mess... and had obviously been wasting a lot of water. What can I do to help that situation?

Arkie 350 series crankbaits will run true out of the box. And I use different rod lengths to keep four feet of separation between lines. Make your turns wide and sweeping.

Also , dont forget to check out Power Pros Depth Hunter braided line. It has different colors on the spool, each is 25ft with a white mark every 5fy . I use it insted of line counter reels, the 10/40 pulls the same as 10lb mono, it saves alot of cranks that get hung up.

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Originally Posted by MrGoodtime

Also , dont forget to check out Power Pros Depth Hunter braided line. It has different colors on the spool, each is 25ft with a white mark every 5fy . I use it insted of line counter reels, the 10/40 pulls the same as 10lb mono, it saves alot of cranks that get hung up.

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Might be a dumb ?, but what is your starting point for determining how much line is out, the rod tip, where line enters water, or ??

Vary the amount of line you have out on your cranks. I may run 50 feet on one rod and the one beside it have 120 feet out. Lots of times if you get in a situation where you are forced to make a reasonably tight turn, speed up your motor till you complete the turn. I run my Terrova on "rabbit" lots of times if it looks like the lines are going to get together in a turn.

It is also advisable to reel in a couple of your baits every few minutes to check for tangles. Lots of times it is very hard to detect your cranks being tangled up. You are fishing dead water if the baits aren't separate and running true.

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Originally Posted by jimp

Might be a dumb ?, but what is your starting point for determining how much line is out, the rod tip, where line enters water, or ??

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Should always be the point where it enters the water. I keep my side rods low and my back rods at a 30% or so angle up.

I think a HUGE mistake many crankbait fishermen make is always trying to get the bait to run deeper and deeper. You are passing up a lot of fish if you are not paying attention to your electronics and where the schools of bait are.

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...pst7aoyjoa.jpg

I run a "dropper" rod off each side of my boat normally. I use a 4-5 oz weight in front of a leader and shallow runner bait. This photo shows my weights being tracked on 2D sonar. I can then adjust my depth when I see the suspended fish or bait.

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Originally Posted by mrdux

Vary the amount of line you have out on your cranks. I may run 50 feet on one rod and the one beside it have 120 feet out. Lots of times if you get in a situation where you are forced to make a reasonably tight turn, speed up your motor till you complete the turn. I run my Terrova on "rabbit" lots of times if it looks like the lines are going to get together in a turn.

It is also advisable to reel in a couple of your baits every few minutes to check for tangles. Lots of times it is very hard to detect your cranks being tangled up. You are fishing dead water if the baits aren't separate and running true.

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Dont play with the rabbit button on a 112 terrova while turning... it will bout throw you out of the boat....i know!

Obviously wrong photo link above. Here is the 2D screen shot.
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps628eb250.jpg

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Originally Posted by MrGoodtime

Dont play with the rabbit button on a 112 terrova while turning... it will bout throw you out of the boat....i know!

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Yes, I wasn't referring to a tight turn, just not a sweeping turn. My 80 will do the same.

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Originally Posted by rsimms

I've had a lot of trouble with lines fouling. I assume because some cranks aren't pulling true. When I run them beside the boat, they look to run true, but 100 feet back, when two lines get together I don't even realize it until I pull them up and have a spaghetti mess... and had obviously been wasting a lot of water. What can I do to help that situation?

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Like some others have said, you can try varying the amount of line you have out. I know you said you didn't want to use planar boards, but they do help keep your lines apart. And wide turns help too, along with watching your lines when you turn. It seems like I still get tangled up a time or two each trip anyway. I use a #10 swivel to help when that happens - just unclip your lure from one line and it is usually much easier to untangle everything. I don't know what your rod holder set up is like - a description of that might help some of us give better advice.

Another tip, if and when you hook up raise the pole up high while reeling in to get em to the top of the water and out of the other lines quickly

would pulling Arkie cranks be same chart as for the Bandit chart? got my order in Friday, 33 new Arkie cranks and sure do like the looks and color of them

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Originally Posted by TN. WATERSHED

would pulling Arkie cranks be same chart as for the Bandit chart? got my order in Friday, 33 new Arkie cranks and sure do like the looks and color of them

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Yes so the say...the 350's are supposed to run just like the 300'$

The 300 bandit chart will work just fine