trolling crankbaits for fish

Two friends of mine I fish with have told me they use crankbaits trolling for bass and panfish. Up until yesterday I was skeptical until when on the way back to the dock my partner caught a bass and two crappie trolling a medium dive crankbait at #2 speed on the trolling motor. His rod was held high at 45 degrees so the lure couldn't go too deep and the rod was medium action. The depth averaged 10' or so and the bottom fairly smooth with a few small humps seen on sonar while he trolled down the middle of this narrow lake one mile across three miles long.


The day was in the 60's, cloudy, windy at times (15 mph wind) and the water temperature 71 degrees and dropping due to nighttime temps dropping to 49 degrees. We are going into a fall pattern early that started over a week ago along with a drought that started in June. It's been a very weird year weatherwise!


When that rod bent back I thought he snagged something until he started fighting a fish ! I own hundreds of crankbaits with different lip sizes and never thought to troll for fish - especially panfish ! Other than soft plastic design and testing different ones, I stopped using bass lures such as jigs/trailers, spinnerbaits, crankbaits, spoons, top water lures, etc. though I've done well on all of them at one time or other.


Guess I'll have to concentrate on this this presentation when fishing is tough because my partner insists that he catches fish in the middle of a sunny day trolling crankbaits. He also said that when a fish is caught, he throws out a buoy marker and retrolls the area in the opposite direction after turning the boat around and at times stops the trolling motor casting back to the area in hopes a school is present and active. Man I love fishing schools - one after the other !!!


Too bad his sonar is old and never shows fish - only the bottom and at depths that are inaccurate by a foot or more. I would have loved to have seen the fish the pontoon boat moved over before being caught with a 2 3/4" crankbait! I have a feeling that a gas engine would have spooked those fish and maybe prevented any strikes. Now the question remains : which crankbait to use !!???

More info than is imaginable ...
https://www.crappie.com/crappie/miss...-cranks-101-a/

Rickie

Tru to mimic the shape of the lure to the shape and size of the bait in the lake. Another trick that I have used is keep trolling in the same direction. I found sometimes when fish stop biting they only want a lure moving one direction. I could troll north and south a catch fish. Turn around and go from south to north and nothing same spot. Turn around and go back over the same area and catch fish. Caught plenty of crappies using the gas motor trolling up to 2.4 mph. If fish are hungry they can ambush a bait moving fast. More of an instinct reflex. As your speed increase or decreases the action of the lure will change from a slow wobble to an eradict action. Let the fish decide how fast to troll.

Thanks for the insight ! It's opened up a new way to find and fish for fish that are in the middle of nowhere! Crankbaits won't be the only lure type I'll experiment with.

One reply I got on another forum suggested that trolling is not really fishing. But when you think about it, isn't that what we do when retrieving lures past or over structure types except we're trolling a lure over a shorter distance to find fish that will bite? Besides, certain lures and presentations are usually retrieved at a constant speed, IE spinnerbaits, some surface lures, spinners, swimbaits, etc. which is similar to open water trolling is at a constant speed at a chosen depth, lure size and action. Should be interesting.

The more popular cranks work well, but even some not so well known cranks can produce. Size of the crank doesn't always seem to matter all that much, at times. I've caught "hand size" Crappie on Bandit 300's :yikes

Crankbaits do and will always catch crappie. Just don't be surprised when you catch a bunch of other species as well. And to your point, every moving presentation IS trolling. It's all a matter of perspective. And by the way, if you get into wind, why not just shut off the motor and drift? A 5 - 10 mph breeze will provide plenty of action on your crankbaits. And drifting is just as effective as motorized trolling, and much quieter. That being said, I do not believe motor sound is a turn off for fish, of any species. JMO. :)

I like to troll cranks. Excellent way to find fish and explore new water especially open water. Hot 'n Tots and shad raps were catching as many crappie as walleye for me but recently added Pico's, Bandits and Arkies. We are not limited to just trolling. Our methods are strictly based on weather wind and my wife's mood. She's da boss!

Pulling cranks is casting without having to chunk/wind . :twocents

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if you get into wind, why not just shut off the motor and drift? A 5 - 10 mph breeze will provide plenty of action on your crankbaits

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Problem with a low drift speed is that a crankbait would have to have almost a neutral buoyancy - any floater would swim too close to the surface.
Thanks all for more ideas and confirmation regarding fish and trolled crankbaits. Just seeing 2 decent crappies and a bass hit within 20 yds on a straight path was proof enough that when casting to areas isn't working, trolling may get it done!

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Originally Posted by Spoonminnow

Problem with a low drift speed is that a crankbait would have to have almost a neutral buoyancy - any floater would swim too close to the surface.

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That's why you mostly see crank Pushers using heavy weights & running the boat at 1.5 - 2mph !! Crank Pullers get their depth from excessive lengths of line out @ those relative speeds.
I've successfully Pushed cranks @ 1mph with 1/2oz weights ... but, my success rate was far below those using heavier weights & greater speeds. But, that was when I was first starting out with cranks & jigs. Now I use 1oz weights in front of my jigs & have 2oz & 4oz weights for my cranks ... I just ain't had the opportunity to use my cranks. (I'm also hindered by a trolling motor that's only 12v & 42# thrust, so I'm not able to maintain the higher speeds for more than a few hours)

Don't know if this qualifies as a crankbait but I tie my own wormharnesses to troll for walleye on Pymatuning. I use 3oz bottom bouncers to get them deep. Along with the walleye,we get some of the biggest crappies in the system.

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Spent some of that rusty money Pappy and buy a bigger trolling motor. HaHa!
LittleJohn

Buck Perry caught a few trolling his Spoonplugs.

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Buck Perry caught a few trolling his Spoonplugs.

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So true. Wonder if ever cast and retrieved them?

I’ve trolled cranks and about anything else that would possibly catch fish. The one that surprised me most was a jigging spoon. Relatively short drop and let it flip around like it’s designed to do. I didn’t load the boat but I did get an occasional good fish just letting it flutter on about ten or twelve feet of line. The one I used was a pearl white and red slab spoon.

Today we trolled toward the end of the day and did better than we did fishing structure quality-wise for perch and crappie using small crankbaits in different colors. Quality sunfish were caught shallow near steep shoreline drops along rocky banks. Had to see it with my own two eyes to believe trolling catches fish. We used #2 on the trolling motor unless the wind increased and then #3.

Before I relate exactly what was used: Does trolling work as well when the water is dead calm?


Now, I've read the ideas given in the links given above, but here's the basic set up that's worked on two separate outings and that' differed from my partners:
1. 6' Duck Commander light action rod ($20)

2. Shad Rap - didn't dive too deep in order to avoid bottom algae in 8-9'

3. Kastking SuperPower braid 8#/2# diam - cheap but good quality (no f/c leader)

4. 35 yr. old 30# thrust Minn Kota tm (first one I ever owned) - used speed settings 2-3 depending on wind speed change. I was told to maintain a certain steady speed (IE like a fast walk) and it worked great.

5. two rods out - his and mine. I insisted I hold the rod while trolling; I told him that way in the past I found that fish bit better if I didn't using a rod holder or laying the rod in front of the oar lock but on the bottom of the boat (like today). Just had to be careful when large crappie slammed the lure as the rod bowed way back !!!

6. Lure color didn't seem to matter. I used gold metallic Tenn. Shad; my partner using fluorescent orange with black back and scales and blue chrome. We don't believe in matching forage.

7. Saw far more fish on the sonar screen in the middle of the lake than to the sides. Depth varied: some in near surface to the bottom, some at certain depths. Didn't seem to matter when using cranks at mid-depth.

Question: Would a small soft plastic swimbait work if the jig was heavy enough? If so, what maximum length?

Reaction strikes seemed to be the name of the game for lures moving at a steady fast walk in a straight line. Forage fish don't swim that way nor any forage animal for that matter.

Another question: I haven't used crankbaits with treble hooks in years but when a decent crappie was caught, while trying to unhook it, I got a hook stuck in my finger past the barb which I had to rip out with pliers. How do you unhook crappies or any panfish with 2 sets of treble hooks?

the only time i ever trolled a lure at all , was one morning i was out throwing the net to catch some shad , and was on my way home...i had a catfish reel and rod in the boat and my big tackle box was under the deck in the front of the boat...so i decided to troll a lure on the way home ,with my trolling motor, it was a rapala about 3 in long with a red bill.....i have no clue how fast i was going out in the middle of the river in 35 ft of water... i had been seeing the stripes hit things on the surface early in the morning for a good while and thought maybe one would hit...i was almost to the slew and had no strikes so i got the rod out of the holder and walked back to the back to reel the lure in , just as i had the lure out of the water there was a silver flash and a huge swirl, i allmost fell over backwards.....

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Originally Posted by Spoonminnow

Question: Would a small soft plastic swimbait work if the jig was heavy enough? If so, what maximum length?

Reaction strikes seemed to be the name of the game for lures moving at a steady fast walk in a straight line. Forage fish don't swim that way nor any forage animal for that matter.

Another question: I haven't used crankbaits with treble hooks in years but when a decent crappie was caught, while trying to unhook it, I got a hook stuck in my finger past the barb which I had to rip out with pliers. How do you unhook crappies or any panfish with 2 sets of treble hooks?

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Answer to your first question .... yes !! You would essentially be "long line trolling", where your depth is controlled by length of line out & weight of jig.

Answer to your second question :
https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media...50ovgmyhme.jpg

Treble hooks are a bit trickier, but these methods will work. As for removing the hooks from a fish ... have the fish "under control" (pinned down if necessary) and use a pair of long nose pliers or hemostats.

Thanks CP - I used pliers to pull the curve of the hook straight back. Came out first time but OUCH !

small spinners like beetle spins and roadrunners are also great for trolling up panfish.

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Originally Posted by river scum

small spinners like beetle spins and roadrunners are also great for trolling up panfish.

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Right you are, buddy !! I can't tell you how many Crappie I've caught trolling a 1/16oz marabou Road Runner, one rod in hand and easing along the banks. Sometimes I've done it specifically knowing that fish are scattered/roaming along the banks, and other times just doing it when moving between spots that are too close to warrant firing up the big motor. It's mostly been during the Spring pre-spawn period & up into the early Summer time frame, but I know people that longline with Road Runners more than during those times & do quite well. I'm sure there are also some that Push Road Runners, and I've even thought about it myself & just never got away from Pushing jigs/plastics ... but, there will come a day !! :ThumbsUp

Small Rattle traps have worked good for me.

Wonder if either of these recent hand pours will catch fish trolled using a 1/4 oz jig head.
https://i.imgur.com/aIzIzmn.jpg

No reason not to give them a try

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Originally Posted by Spoonminnow

Wonder if either of these recent hand pours will catch fish trolled using a 1/4 oz jig head.
https://i.imgur.com/aIzIzmn.jpg

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My answer to that would be .... of course they will. Maybe not every time they're used, but to be sure they will catch fish !!

I did use a similar shaped product, now known as a Booty Thumper (a Slab-a-nator bait) made by my good friend Slabeye (Rodney) on a trip I took with him a few Summers ago .... and the total fish count was well over 100 keeper (9") fish caught, of which I took home around 20 of the 10.5 - 11" fish (the rest were released). And yes, we were "Pushing" these jigs @ 1mph w/1oz weights a couple of feet above the jig ... keeping them around the 10-12ft depths, running along the deep edge of a 15ft deep flat.

We were using the 2" version, back then .... and now they're available in a 3" version.

Beetle spin and roadrunners work good too

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Slab-a-nator - Booty Thumper

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I made some a while back fusing a grub body to a Sassy Shad tail using a candle. Can't remember if they worked....Will have to try them.

Them sliders work good too!!


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Originally Posted by sparkie51

Tru to mimic the shape of the lure to the shape and size of the bait in the lake. Another trick that I have used is keep trolling in the same direction. I found sometimes when fish stop biting they only want a lure moving one direction. I could troll north and south a catch fish. Turn around and go from south to north and nothing same spot. Turn around and go back over the same area and catch fish. Caught plenty of crappies using the gas motor trolling up to 2.4 mph. If fish are hungry they can ambush a bait moving fast. More of an instinct reflex. As your speed increase or decreases the action of the lure will change from a slow wobble to an eradict action. Let the fish decide how fast to troll.

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That's is my same experience!


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Update on lures that caught fish trolled between two waters fished in Sept '20 :
overhead spin:
https://i.imgur.com/KhoUftg.jpghttps://i.imgur.com/bnrybQd.jpghttps://i.imgur.com/xERDrT8.jpg

Rapalas and other medium to shallow divers:
https://i.imgur.com/8TkAkNP.jpghttps://i.imgur.com/P6sN9Hs.jpghttps://i.imgur.com/p6FKGZV.jpghttps://i.imgur.com/nsjx7NH.jpghttps://i.imgur.com/LfR08F1.jpg

and the biggest surprise, this catfish!:
https://i.imgur.com/l9af2sj.jpg

Depth trolled was between 6 and 7', nothing shallower. Thanks for the suggestions everyone !

Glad you’re having fun with it, I’ve caught hundreds trolling cranks and other baits. When I first started I caught three cats that would have totaled 25 lbs easy on 10’ rods and 6lb test. Some days you can only smile and keep having fun.

Welcome to the dark side...I've been addicted to pulling crankbaits and other lures since I read Buck Perry's writings in Fishing Facts magazine back in 1972. You never know what you might catch by keeping your lure in the strike zone for miles, rather than some of your cast. Glad to see you're experimenting on what lures might work for you.

Don't get me wrong, I love feeling the thump on a jig as much anybody, but covering water by trolling can help reveal new spots you never knew existed or took the time to fish before. You're already moving, why not drag a lure and see what you catch?

Keep after 'em. Good Luck & have fun.

Jim

Thanks Yak !

On some days fish just aren't where you want to catch them (..maybe 80 % of the time LOL?). Trolling different lures (but only the right ones) at times gets it done. Strange how fish ignore the noise of tr.m. as it goes past and still attack. Mother Nature can be real mysterious and unpredictable.