Today's Crankfest!

Water temp is cracking 80 on the surface. Fished 6.5 hrs culling a limit from over at least 80 caught on Bandits at a speed of 1.5 to 1.8 and it did rain a dash. I think this is the best limit of large fish I have taken this year, but still nothing over 15" and lots of fish from 11" up. I did have to keep 2 fish that swallowed the bandits and were 9.5" each. I covered about 11 miles of trolling in water 7' to 14' deep and everywhere I was,,I caught fish. 4 were males, 6 smaller females had spawned. Anything from about 12" up eggs weren't ready to drop yet. Anything below 12" the eggs were ready to drop if they hadn't already. Fish were really active. Saturday is a new moon and fishing should be hot. Attachment 240935Attachment 240935 Enjoy the pic.
Sorry about the double pic. oops!

Good job cranking

Nice mess. Can't believe the crappie in that lake.

good mess

That's a great mess of fish.

Got 14 this morning cranking before the trolling motor quit. Didn't get a good charge on the batteries last nite. :banghead

Good mess of fish.

Good job again!

Are you pulling the cranks behind boards??

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Originally Posted by Kevmc

Are you pulling the cranks behind boards??

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No, haven't used plainer boards since my chasing king salmon days on Lake Michigan out of Benzonia, Mi. from the mouth of the Platt River. Long lining bandits and trolling with 12' b & m rods, Okuma line counter dx20's loaded with 20lb yellow power pro braid and 300 series bandits.

Maybe I missed it, did you say what lake?

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Originally Posted by seagullplayer

Maybe I missed it, did you say what lake?

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Lemmon.

Nice job. good looking Crappie.

I need to go with you and save my money I'm spending on a guide down in Kentucky Lol. Want to learn more about cranking. Headed down here end of June

If you go to the Mississippi forum and read "Crankbaits 101", it will teach you everything you want to know, I have read it at least twice and keep tabs on every posting in it. Second thingy is pay attention to reading the depth finders. 3rd important thing is using the charts for either bandits or arkies as they are pretty spot on. Line counter reels for me are a must loaded with a line equivalent to 6 lb test. 4th is speed your trolling. 5th cover a lot of water searching for the fishes and as you catch them, don't be afraid to figure 8 the spots your catching them in. If the bite slows down, go somewhere else and come back later and pick up a few more. Now as the spawn is on, start looking for the creek channels, flats and deep water next to it, and pay attention to the bait balls and run thru them with your baits running at various levels thru the top half. I also carry paper maps and study them while trolling looking for structure, humps, flats, creek junctions. I also love to run my cranks right thru standing timber when given the chance like at Patoka as I don't loose that many bandits and if I do get hung up, can work the bait loose most times. I honestly think, as I watch other fishermen pounding the banks, and know, I am catching larger crappies in deeper water, especially where nobody else is hitting it. Also, what I really love about trolling Crankbaits depending on the lake your running in, is all the other species of fish you will also catch sometimes besides crappies. Those are your bonus surprises that may give you a really great rush in fighting on long crappie rods and light gear as well as maybe a added fish to your meal besides crappie. Experimentation is also part of the challenge, so experiment as the guys in the Mississippi forum have given us all their years of trial and error in their postings. Good luck fishing.

very nice synopsis there cevans