Three way rig with cranks.

[slurpie]

Wondering if anyone has any advice or tips on this type of fishing for eyes. Theres some spots i fish that trolling they always come from one spot thinking this will keep me more on the spot. Wondering how much line to have back to crank? How do you decide how big of weight to use? Do you try and keep it at a ninety or if it drifts back is that ok? Looking to expand my options for summer fishing.

[bottom-bouncer]

the way I have done this is to use 4' to 6' leader from the three way swivel to the crank to much longer and netting the fish becomes a real challenge especially if your alone. for my dropper line I go with lighter line than what is on my reel or leader that way it should break off first in the event of a snag. I have also used crimp style sinkers but they seem to slip off to easy.

[JohnMickish]

As far as how much weight to use that depends greatly on where you are. On lake Pepin Ihave used as much as 8 oz depending on current. On the flats of Mille Lacs I use 3 ounces. If I was fishing a rocky bottom with the potential for lots of snags I would want my line to be pretty verticle so I can feel the bottom and lift over big rocks. I wouldn't worry to much about hookups with the verticle line since crankbait bites are pretty solid.

[Mike Walerak]

I don't use 3-ways with cranks very oftem in lakes. I do use 3-ways with stickbaits in rivers quite often in spring and fall. Normally 2-6 ounces is just fine and probably use 3-4 ounces most often. I prefer to have the line at a 45 degree angle and base how much weight I use on that.

If I am trying to fish deeper water with heavy current I switch to a handline setup with 1.25-1.5 pounds of weight.

mw

[markkstanley]

For lakes depth under 20ft 2oz deeper 3oz troll at 1.5mph dropper 24" or so leader 4ft. Line should be at 45 degrees. Long rods 7' min and braid to 3way. Fluoro 14lb as leader. Dropper mono 8lb. If 3way rigging for crappies drop the fluoro to 6lb. FYI it is a dynamite way to locate summer/fall crappies.

[tgruenke]

I've been wanting to try this on a a lake in wisconsin. We have a pontoon boat with a trolling motor. I'm not quite sure that the trolling motor will be powerful enough to get good action on the lures. In that case should we make sure that our lines are fare enought back so we don't scare them with the main motor?

[Jim Almquist]

When you are fishing with a 3 way rig you are usually in deeper water and the bigger motor will have less of a affect on the fish as far as spooking them but if you are shallow skip the 3 way and just long line it.

[tgruenke]

How deep would you say deep is. Usually we are between 14-20 feet. Would it be better to make sure the lure is back farther?

[Jim Almquist]

To me anything beyond 20' is deep. At the 14' to 20' range you can find a lot of big billed lures that can hit that depth without lead core line.

The way we used 3 ways was on mid-lake humps that topped off at around 22' to 27' and one guy would use a plug and the other guy would use a crawler harness with a spinner and what ever worked best the other guy would switch to the hot setup.

[gregg52]

i think if a person is serious about fishing cranks

no matter how you are going to do it it might be worth it to buy

one of those book that tell how deep each type of lure runs at

what speed how much line out etc etc use line counters etc

i think thats what i'm going to do

no senese in being out there trolling around wondering if you are in the fish zone or not

[Basseyes]

Great info!

Three waying is very new to me so forgive the complete ignorance to it and not trying to hyjack the thread.

Are there any weight styles to go with or avoid like bell sinkers or bottom bouncers on the river in the spring time?

Does current strength affect what style of weight to use?

What kind of lures work best on a three way and what ones don't? I would guess with a 24" dropper and a 4' leader anything with a deep diving bill is bad so a more stick type bait is called for?

I would assume lure length and size come into play on the river with smaller earlier and bigger latter as the water warms?

Is lure action with the current an issue with to much or to little wiggle?

How much does rod tip action come into play with the heavy weights, current and rod length?

Trolling well is an art but when you put the depth variations and current in the mix like on the river I bet things can get entertaining real quick with multiple rods in the water. Any body have any tips on boat control?

Very curious to learn how to do it.

[Jim Almquist]

One thing to take into account is that I fish more lakes so I can't give you any info on current.

I have used bell sinkers and have caught fish but the ones with the long wire just work better in more types of structure. Less snag and hang ups on weeds.

I always like the smaller billed plugs and like the jointed ones better because they produce more action.

I like a 7' rod with a med. action tip because you can get a better hookset and the stress of a 2-3oz weight seems like to much on a fast action tip.

The best part of a 3 way rig is that you are basically using the minimum amount of line so you can run your structure in a very precise pattern which allows you to hit the spot at the end of a point. I always try to keep it at about a 45 degree angle if possible.

The only thing that I can recommend as far as boat control goes is to drive your boat with the mindset that you are controlling your plug that could be 125' behind the boat when long lining and you want that lure to hit the inside corners and the tips of any points because that is where most of the fish will be so you boat could be in 3' of water or 35' but the only thing that count is where the plug is.

Hope this helps and that book that Greg mention has a lot of great info but when you do things by trial and error you will not forget what works and what stinks.

[FishDepot]

Here's my take: My experience with 3 way and "cranks" is somewhat limited, but I do use them a lot on the river and in lakes. We've done well on the big pond with 3 ways too. I usually use Phelps Floaters (Northland now owns them) with bait though. In the river, we fish in anywhere from 3 to 20 feet of water on average. Usually in 4 to 12 feet though. We usually never fish this way in fast current, moderate to slower current seems to be best in most cases. In these instances, we have never used much more than 2.5 to 3 ounces of weight. In slow water, 1 to 1.5 oz is better yet. We always use the tie on bell sinkers (with a lighter dropper so it breaks off first - 8# dropper line) too. When we do use cranks, its about an 18" dropper and a 4 to 5 foot snell to the snap on the crank. We usually use "stick" style crank baits when 3 waying, but we have done very well on shad style baits like Mann's -1 cranks too. You don't want the crank to dive too much with this style of fishing. It always seems to be more about the style of the cranks action and the speed of troll in most cases. I/we use 5'-6" rods and 7 foot rods (5-1/2' inside rod and 7' outside rods/2 per side) with medium action and fast action tips - so we can detect the slightest strikes and the hangers. This is especially usefull when pulling floaters/bait, because we are usually "barely" moving the boat forward. We also always try and let out only as much line as is necessary to stay on or just above bottom - depending on river or lake fishing and water clarity. In the river, it's on the bottom and back just enough to stay there. If it's not staying down, increase the weight. Trolling in 3 to 4 feet of water in the river is not uncommon at all; it works just fine. Take note though: 3-way fishing, like lead-line trolling, is a lot of work when you are doing it correclty. You always have to be watching/handling your rods and checking depths, snags, bait, weeds, etc. ...You cant just sit there and watch the rod bounce.

Good luck!

Fishdepot

[Turk]

With all the good info posted above, I would also add that you need to be active with staying in contact with the bottom. To me this is an active presentation where you need to work at keeping the sinker just off bottom. Did I say keep it near the bottom?

[markkstanley]

I agree with Turk for rivers - have to be near the bottom. On lakes though I have done well running 3 to 4 ft above the bottom and even higher. Walleyes will come up after a crank and they aren't always hugging bottom in lakes. No or very little current to deal with. Don't be afraid to experiment with depth on lakes.

[Turk]

Thanks Mark, for pointing out the difference with the river vs. lakes I can see you are still a wise fishing sage!

[slurpie]

Thanks for the info guys. I was wondering because where i troll it seems like all the fish come from one spot on the stretch, and hoping to stay more in the spot with this technique.

[PerchJerker]

If the fish are concentrated in a small area then trolling is probably not the best presentation --- you should be casting, vertical jigging, dropshotting, anchored up and bobber fishing, etc.

But, one nice option with 3-way rigging is you can use a heavier weight and keep your lure closer to the bait, so you should have better success keeping it in the concentrated area than if you were long lining or something like that.

[2thepointsetters]

Instead of the 3 way I use snap weights. I run them about 35 to 50 feet in front of the lure. I run weights from 1 ounce to 1lb on Lake Superior. The general rule I found is that each ounce will give you 5 feet of depth. I attach them using the offshore tackle OR-16 clips.