Rapala tail dancers

[slurpie]

On the bill of these things it says a depth say 20'. Do they go deeper than that if you let more line out or not? Was using one that said 15' and caught a fish then my brother put on a 20' but we only got the one in that spot. We were fishing in forty foot of water. Is leadcore the most ideal way to get a hook down there?

[riverrat56]

They will max out at about what they say on the box, they will run shallower with more line out but there is a point that letting more out doesn't get them any deeper.

To pull cranks that deep I think lead core, down riggers, or heavy three ways are your only options.

[slurpie]

thanks river rat. Maybe its time to try leadcore.

[PerchJerker]

You can't read too much into 1 fish ........ but if you got one approx 15 feet down over 40 fow maybe the fish are suspended. Or maybe the active fish are suspended. It's possible that you'd catch more fish running 10 or 12 feet down from the surface instead of 15-20 feet down. Did you see any suspended fish or bait on your electronics?

Running thinner diameter lines will get your baits deeper, but 30 feet or so is the max for TDs unless you use lead core or weight them. The more line you let out the deeper the cranks will go to a point, but once they reach their max depth that is all the deeper they will go without weight.

[Northlander]

Like stated thinner super lines will get them down deeper. If they arent running deep enough run a inline sinker, snap weight.

[slurpie]

there was some suspended but way more on bottom. Tried other techniques and no luck first pass with a crank and got one. Going out later with 4 people in the boat trying boards and a variety of depths. Think ill try inline weights so i dont have to spool up leadcore yet. would like to get one to hit bottom occasionally. Thanks for the options guys.

[Ed Carlson]

If your goal is to dial in a specific depth for suspended fish and you do not wish to use a downrigger or leadcore than a cheap and effective method is 3-way rigs.

Rule of thumb is...1 oz per every 10 feet of depth with a shallow lipped crankbait in tow. With a deep diver in tow, expect it to reach a 45 deg angle below that weight and add the extra depth in consideration to your leader length. There is good and bad points to both options, and in general, I prefer the shallow lipped cranks for this system.

What I recommend you try is 3 to 4 oz bell weight rigged 24" bellow a 3-way-swivel....then 4' to 10' of fluorocarbon line a snap swivel hooked to a shallow lipped version of the pattern you were sending down in a deep lipped version.

What you will get is a dialed in presentation that is depth specific, effective anywhere in the water column ...just adjust your line out.

It takes a bit of practice but once you get the system basics it is a great tool to have for suspended fish.

A trick from up my sleeve: I often add a #3 or #4 silver or gold Colorado quick change clevis and blade just above the bell weight...for flash and noise.

What I feel this does is draw attention to the area of the lure travel just ahead of the crank come wondering bye. On open suspended fish drawing them in the direction just couldn't hurt. It has upped my catch on suspended fish in the past when ran side by side with 3-ways not equipped with it. The quick change swivel allows for tweaks or eliminating the blade as needed. Works for fish relating to the bottom too, this suspended flash rig had drawn them up to feed when bottom approaches were snubbed repeatedly.