Thread: pulling crankbaits

In the summer a wide wobble is usually better than a tight wobble,in cold weather it is the opposite way,but of coarse when you think you got them figue out ,they change the rules,that's why we call it fishing

I have been wanting to try trolling cranks in the Chick River for crappie for quite some time. Long line trolling has always been good to me here and crankbaits are a good imitation of one of the dominant forage types. I've been equipping for the venture for a while. I have been tied up since April on home repairs and am coming to the end of that saga. There is a 15' Tidecraft stick boat in the back yard awaiting a complete redo. Before I get knee deep into that, I thought I would give it a shot, thanks to prodding by this thread. I can't say that I tried too hard or too long, but this is how it went:

I went out behind the house (the big bend with all of the piers on the New Kent side just below Walkers.) I rigged a 10' B&M trolling rod with a small silver shad colored model A (I think it's the smallest one they make). I also rigged a 6' ultralight with a tiny rapala model deep diver.- So I had one wide wobble and one tight wobble, both would run down about 10' with enough line out. WIth one rod on each side of the boat, I trolled the bend 3 times up and down on a falling tide. I got bit a bunch of times. The hookups proved a bit disappointing- all were White Perch which were feeding in the channel on the moving tide. On the depth finder, I marked what might have been crappie off the large tan boat house, but no strikes there.

I talked to an electrofishing team from the State some years back. They told me that the crappie seem to hold along the lily pad lines in the summer months, usually on the shallow drop side (ie: the long flat edge across the river from Riverside camp). They said that the crappie seem to switch sides in the fall, moving to the side with the sharper drop.


So, that's my two cents for now. I intend to pursue this much more intensively this fall. For the summer months, I think the crankbait trolling for crappie in the river might not be the best technique.