ETCC Pushing Cranks

Been getting fired up for this upcoming East Tennessee Crappie Club tournament season. We drew the lakes we were going to fish at our last club meeting at Bass Pro Shop.
We will be hitting the waters at Fort Loudoun, Watts Bar, Chickamauga, Cherokee, Tellico, and Douglas lakes this season.
I just put a new water pump in my outboard and thought this was a great excuse to put in at Tellico Lake and give her a test run. Might as well throw in a few rods since I'm going that way huh.
Water temp was hanging at 83 degrees and the back of creeks appear to be loaded with bait fish. I only had a couple of hours to donate to the cause this evening so I decided to tinker around with a new to me technique of pushing cranks. Might as well tie on some of those new Arkie crankbaits I have been setting on for a while now. Pink/Black Orange/Chartreuse and Orange/Black were my colors. All of these colors caught fish pushing at 10 to 12 ft depths at .8 mph. The bite was really nice and steady for me until the sunset. Plenty of action was at hand but the crappie were all running on the short to barely legal size. Caught lots of white bass in the mix with a few nice ones which were all released. May have to try a new location next time and see if I can find some bigger fish.

Great report. Sounds like a great trip.

Pantastic ... what rods are those (brand/length), how much weight, and why so slow ?? :scratchhead

Just asking, 'cause we push with 2oz weights (5ft ahead of crank) and run at 1.8mph (with rods from 14' to 20' ).

... cp :kewl

Always good to catch fish and try a new technique. Looks like you had a good time.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by CrappiePappy

Pantastic ... what rods are those (brand/length), how much weight, and why so slow ?? :scratchhead

Just asking, 'cause we push with 2oz weights (5ft ahead of crank) and run at 1.8mph (with rods from 14' to 20' ).

... cp :kewl

---

My rods are BnM PST122's
6lb Vicious Line all the way
Weights are 1.3oz OR36 size 2 tadpole by Offshore Tackle
A 20" tag line to an Arkie 220 series crankbait
I chose the speed based upon watching the action of the Arkies at the surface and settled upon .8 to 1 mph.

Good job

Great report and pics. Arkies catch fish for sure.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Pantastic

My rods are BnM PST122's
6lb Vicious Line all the way
Weights are 1.3oz OR36 size 2 tadpole by Offshore Tackle
A 20" tag line to an Arkie 220 series crankbait
I chose the speed based upon watching the action of the Arkies at the surface and settled upon .8 to 1 mph.

---

Thanks !!

I'm not equipped to push/pull cranks at the speed & with the weights that my local members use, but may be able to follow your example.

I don't have any 12's but do have some 10's & 14's ... I've just found that with any weight over 1/2oz on the 10's (pushing jigs or slow trolling minnows) that the rod bend is almost at the end of its capability & light bites are hard to detect. I wasn't sure that using more weight & cranks would be any different, but I haven't really tested that theory just yet. My 14's I am sure would have no problems, as I've seen the local members use them with the 2oz @ 1.8mph and have no problems. Knowing that I could use half that weight @ half that speed & still catch fish (just not cover as much water in the same timeframe) gives me hope that my current setup will still allow me to use this technique, and not have to spend a couple thousand $$ upgrading my TM system.

My three 14's are (1) PST & (2) Capps/Coleman rods & my two 10's are a Sam Heaton SS & a Huckabee Dipping rod. I'm a big fan of Vicious 6lb test, as well, and have it on all of my casting rods & dock shooting rods.

Thanks again for the reply !! Now I have a bit more confidence that I may be able to "hang with the big dogs" when the crankbait bite is on. Appreciate the help :ThumbsUp

BTW ... do you know yet when you'll be fishing Watts Bar ??

... cp :kewl

http://www.crappie.com/crappie/image...FFFABRRRQB/9k=

Crappie Tournament on WattsBar Lake

October 17th 2015

Location: Kingston City Park Ramp
Registration: 6:30-7:00am at Kingston City Park Ramp
Blast Off: Anglers will be able toleave the weigh in ramp by either boat or trailer at 7:00 am. No lines can be in the wateruntil 7:30 am (SHARP)
Weigh in: All fishing will stop at3:30 pm and weigh in will begin at 4:00 pm (all participants must be inweigh in line by 4:30 pm). Participants may keep up to their state allowedlimit, but only 7 biggest fish may be weighed.
Methods: Live or Artificial bait may be used.
Fees: $35.00per boat for members
$50.00per boat for non-members
Boatcan consist of 1 or 2 adult fishermen.
Payback: 90% payback. Pays 1 spot for every 5 boatsentered. Also pot for BIG FISH is included in the entry fee.
Questions: Contact: Matt(865) 640-1602 or
Contact: Darren (865) 389-4268

Thanks CrappiePappy.
I appreciate your questions.
I actually tried to fish with the Capps and Coleman rods once and did not find them to my liking. Too limber for my taste so I settled on the stiffer PST's and haven't looked back since. To each his own they say. I saw a video once where Capps said he prefered the BGJP for his style of fishing. LOL
The deal with crankbaits is that different brands have different actions at different speeds so this is something to take into consideration.
To answer your question on Watts Bar we will actually have two events on that lake this tournament season. This will be our 2015-2016 schedule. Keep in mind you "Do Not" have to be an East Tennessee Crappie Club member in order to fish any of our events. Anyone is welcome!

2015
Sept 19th - Chickamauga (Hwy 58 Bridge Ramp)
Oct 17th - Watts Bar (Kingston City Park Ramp)
Nov 21 - Tellico (Island Crk Ramp)
Dec 19 - Cherokee ( Boat Launch Rd Ramp)
2016
Jan 16 - Douglas (Dandridge Public Access Ramp)
Feb 20 - Chickamauga (Wolftever Ramp)
Mar 26 - Cherokee (Boat Launch Rd Ramp)
Apr 9 - Watts Bar (Kingston City Park Ramp)
Apr 30 - ETCC Classic will be held on Ft. Loudoun - (Concord Ramp)
Participants must have previously fished any 3 tournaments to be eligible for the classic.

Good pics and report Gene.

Yeah, Pantastic ... I got the C/C rods just for that very reason, that they're a little more limber than the PST's. My primary intent was/is to Spider Rig & push jigs with my 14' rods. Pushing cranks is just at the "may try it, sometime" stage. With 1/2oz of weight, I cannot see any difference in the curve of the rod tips between the C/C & PST rods. With greater amounts of weight it may show up more :dono

Then again, I'm so used to fishing with many different lengths, actions, and brands of rods/reels, all at the same time or switching from one to another ... that I'm not all that concerned about the subtle differences in rod reaction to a bite.

I was just curious about the Watts Bar tourneys, as I have usually made a trip down there in Oct & Apr when possible, over the last 20+ years (for Crappie). I've fished it, mostly in those two months, for over 30yrs ... for Smallmouth at first, then Crappie most of the latter portion of that time. It's where I learned to shoot docks, and where I primarily use that technique.
I usually fish from Whites Creek to Piney River .... but I have fished as far up river as Caney Creek.

I wish ya'll the best of luck with your tournaments & Club !!

... cp :kewl

Fished Tuesday Geno with similar results. We were pulling though. Ended with 18 keepers and 40 shorts, 3 largemouth,3 stripe 2 yellow bass and 1 Walleye. We fished in the morning dodging rain squalls. Good report.

Glad you did well Pan but I want to give you my setup for pushing and explanation if I may. 2 - 11' and 2 - 9' Wally Marshall medium heavy rods with braid to the 3 way and a 3' 10 lb leader. The 3rd leg of the 3 way has a split ring and duo lock snap to hold the weight which is a 2oz trolling sinker(less drag). This loads the rods pretty well and even light bites are evident. The braid and 10 lb make sure that I at least get a chance to see a snagged bait again, which doesn't always happen when I longline cranks with 6lb so I went to 8 and do much better. As CP stated I run a little quicker but as fast as some, running about 1.3 or 4. This also allows me to push 4 out the front while my guest pulls 4 or more from the back. Kinda feel like a vacuum sometimes. I have hung both the pushing and pulling rods and doubled them over hard and had them survive. Losing baits rubs against my frugal(cheap) nature and do well at recovering what I get hung.
Just some input, and I'm surely no expert or pro at this. AS with most things I do I listen to many and develop my own way, I hope this helps you develop yours. Keep after it, and tight lines.......Skeet.

Thanks for sharing your setup skeetbum. I have been thinking on the simultaneous pushing/pulling idea for a little while now but haven't tried it out. It was something I was thinking about while pulling planer boards this past spring. Like you, I like to listen to others who share information to develop my own style. Perhaps some others will share their setups also and let us know what working for them.

This is an interesting discussion on how everybody does this different. Those that have fished with me know that I push and pull at the same time. I also will run two rods on planer boards to make the spread wider. This seems to work good for us...but doesn't mean it's the right way or the only way to do it. I run two 10' trolling rods right out the back. At a 90 degree to the rear of the boat I run two 12' rods out the back. These 4 rods out the back I manage while I watch the graph and steer the boat with the trolling motor. Up front, my wife pushes two rods straight out the front of boat at 1 o'clock and 11 o'clock using 3 oz weight and a tag leader of about 30". Then she runs a rod at 2 o'clock and 10 o'clock with a planer board on them at about 30' -40' to the side of the boat. If she catches a fish on the boards, I have to move my 12' rods so she can get the fish in. Her pushing and planer board rods catch as many if not more fish than my pulling rods. The four rods in the front of the boat are 8' walleye trolling rods and they a stiff backbone with a limber tip. They handle the 3oz weight and the planer boards just fine. We have tried several different ways, but this seems to be the most comfortable for us and allows us to fish 8 rods at one time spread apart covering as much water as possible.

Running these planer boards do you not have other fisherman wanting to try to go between you and the board if the board is a good distance from boat? I've never done planer boards just seen on youtube where they can go a good ways from boat. Thanks

Geno... Great thread, learning a lot, keep the comments coming....I'm hoping to learn this way of fishing soon

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Eatmorecrappie

Running these planer boards do you not have other fisherman wanting to try to go between you and the board if the board is a good distance from boat? I've never done planer boards just seen on youtube where they can go a good ways from boat. Thanks

---

I don't know any crappie fishermen who run their boards much over 40 yards max from the boat. I typically run mine much closer. I've not had anybody try to run between my boat and the boards but have had lots of folks get much too close to my boards trying to figure out what I'm doing. So far I have managed to get them away from my set-up by nicely asking them to give me some room.

Thanks for the reply MRdux.

good job gene, great report, these ETCC guys just keep coming up with ways to help us spend more on tackle dont they,but what fun it is,lol,i've been with cranks4crappie several times and he has his setup and technique down to a science , i love learning new ways to catch fish

Most of the crappie that we caught up there yesterday were shorts. Only two that were 10.5 inch and they came from under docks. Nice report. Love those white bass too.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by sailfish1

good job gene, great report, these ETCC guys just keep coming up with ways to help us spend more on tackle dont they,but what fun it is,lol,i've been with cranks4crappie several times and he has his setup and technique down to a science , i love learning new ways to catch fish

---

Sometimes I wonder if I have invested more into my fishing than I have my 401k plan.
Perhaps I will get the chance to hook up with cranks4crappie one of these days and check out all the scientific data. I'm sure I could learn something that I could incorporate into my own formula. This translates into "more money."