Spider Rigging vs Pulling Cranks

I'm hoping to hear from you guys with a lot of experience with both methods of spider rigging and pulling cranks. (Mr. Dux, Bandchaser, BigBadDad, KyTeacher)


Do you think that the higher speed of pulling cranks causes a person to catch more crappie because of the reaction strike as opposed to the slower speed of spider rigging?

Or is it just because a person can cover more water in a day's time?

Do the crappie have more time to be picky about inhaling a spider rigged jig than a crank rattling by at twice the speed (reaction strike)?

Or is the crank more stable around the fish than my spider rig bouncing all over the strike zone because of waves?

If u pulled cranks thru the same area of crappie around baitballs, which would produce more?

I feel like from reports I see that pulling cranks is a much better producer than spider rigging tends to be.

Just trying to fine tune my thinking on this subject and wanted some other opinions.

I might be opening a Pandora's box on this too.

Thanks guys.

I am not one of the above folks but both techniques work at different times. Sometimes they want a slower presentation and spider rigging is the ticket and then again sometimes they would rather a bigger meal and cranks will do the trick. But the exception to the rules of both techniques hold true sometimes because,after all, they are crappie. When I’m searching for fish I powertroll jigs up front and pull cranks or whatever behind covering a lot of water. When I get to places such as places where I have caught before I will slow down and see if there’s a presentation that is preferred. Sometimes it’s what I’m pulling and sometimes it’s what I’m pushing. Most times the fish will tell me what they want that day. Then it’ll change in an hour .....or a week....crappie?? Go figure.


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I'm open to all responses!! I was just throwing out examples of people I see on here a lot! Didn't mean to exclude anyone!

Does everyone find baitballs before they start pulling or do y'all do a lot of searching with the cranks?

Not definitive, but this is how I see it... Cranking, in my experience, produces quality fish albeit in somewhat smaller numbers. Spider-rigging produces a greater quantity of fish in all sizes. Each has its own benefits, place and time.

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I look for shad....when I see bait balls I put the crank baits out and try to run a foot or two above them

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by BubbaThump

I'm open to all responses!! I was just throwing out examples of people I see on here a lot! Didn't mean to exclude anyone!

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I don't do much of either one, so that's the only reason I didn't chime in. :biggrin

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BubbaThump

Does everyone find baitballs before they start pulling or do y'all do a lot of searching with the cranks?

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I have caught fish without seeing a baitball all day so I search and fish at the same time just vary the pace and the bait...lots of fish marked is worth exploring but don’t get hung up on any particular area.....cover as much water as you can.


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For the record, I didn't pay Bubba to include my name with the others and be given such words as experienced, LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I do appreciate it tho Bubba, and will try to answer your question as best as I can.
Keeping this as simple and straight forward as possible, one can't and won't catch crappie in places where there are not any crappie. Same is true with all the different techniques, I believe that each technique has its own "season" per say, and one can take advantage of that particular technique and use it in areas that are holding fish, and have a reasonable chance at catching fish.
As we all know, crappie are and can be finicky and may change their minds faster than our little ladies at home, (love ya Littlemamma ;) ). All factors involving water conditions, weather conditions, moon phase, time of year and day, technique, color, speed, and the actual conditions of the fish environment have to be taken into consideration. I believe one can take the proper heavy weight and spider rig in the summer, either over brush, stakes, or even working suspended fish or working topography changes to catch fish. Speed will be a factor so the weights will help in keeping your lines straight. This will catch fish, again one must be in the areas that fish are at before it will work. Again pulling or pushing cranks will work as well, so let's talk crankin'.
This technique is a very useful and enjoyable way to catch fish, it can catch a variety of fish, and keep you very busy as well. The above first principles of being in areas that are holding fish is key. One will learn alot about topography if you will listen to the fish, and interpret what the fish finders and the fish are telling you. Look for areas on your maps prior to a trip, like ledges, bowls, old ponds, road beds, pinch points, and even very nice big flats with the depth of water that you maybe focusing on. Use this pre-game information on the water to help guide you, and with what you might be seeing on your graphs, some previous knowledge, and some luck you might just find your pot of gold.
Also having a nice selection of cranks to choose from is critical, and one of the most addicting pieces of the puzzle. This also is where the manufacturers begin to smile real big, and wives begin to frown because crankin' aint cheap, but its very very addicting. It always seems like the colors are constantly changing with the angle of the sun, the amount of UV and the water clarity, so one will chase color alot of times. A simple difference in shading of a bait will make a difference. And then you have the speed factor. In my short span of crankin', I have not ran much slower than 1.5mph, so after the crankin' gets in your blood you will be on here asking us about batteries and how to run longer!! In my non-expert opinion, it seems to me that the most consistent action in relation to speed seems to be between 1.7-1.9 mph. So, this speed will affect your crankbait depth charts but no by much. And, I truly believe that it only gets better the hotter it gets!!
The other piece of advice would be to have some line counter reels in your rod spread. I currently run 8 rods and have 6 line counter reels, and the two most inside rods, 1 on each side, I use open face spinning reels and cast them. Everybody is different on this depending on their style and who fishes with them mostly. My girls like to cast them alot, so it gives them that opportunity to cast. They handle the line counters just fine as well.

In short, we all must remember why we do this, and its to have fun and enjoy the great outdoors. Each and every hobby, one must pay to play, and everybody has their own level of paying. Decide how much you want to spend AFTER you go out with somebody and get your cranking feet wet first. It might not be your cup of sweet tea, and will save you some money. I hope that I answered some or most of your questions, and if you have any others just ask away or shoot me a pm.

Makes perfect sense. Thanks Bandchaser!

Well said Brian

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I pull earlier in the spring than most. Jan,Feb, March I mostly rig and the general consensus from my research has been most folks crank after water hits 60 degrees and fish are post spawn. At least farther south that's the way. By 55 degrees pre or post spawn I prefer to crank. Those fish aren't as schooled up, IMO, tight enough for me to keep rigging. I prefer to cover ALOT of water to find active fish. I also don't bother with bait balls altho if I go over one I usually smile big!! Also, crappies in those deeper bays don't move shallow to spawn all at the same time. So by cranking (I only pull but that is because I have so many people on my boat) I try to catch them moving up, and then the ones who have already spawned, moving back out to feed up to hit the main lake. Main problem with cranking is losing cranks. I probably lose about 50 per year. Thank you Arkie and Jenko as sponsors for me. Any questions ask away.

My thinking is pulling cranks gets a reaction bite even sometimes when the crappie are not in a feeding mood. Let's you go fast and cover lots of water if the fish are scattered. Spidering let's you concentrate on a specific area and keep baits right in front of em. If crappie are on a brushpile or stake bed, I'd rather spider rig em. If you want to pull cranks over brushpiles, have a row of several of em on a flat that doesn't change depth and make a long run buzzing the cranks just over the top of each one of the piles.

The pic of the sonar screen was from May 12 this year. I was long lining a 1/16 oz jig at 1.0 mph in 10 fow. Marking lots of fish. After an hour of long lining, I had 3 keepers. Switched to pulling cranks at 1.6 mph, 7 ft deep- same exact area. Marking same fish on graph. Couple hours later had a limit. The cranks & faster speed got a much better reaction bite than the jigs & curly tails.

Good info guys. please keep it coming.