Cranks

[Thunderchicken]

Hello there fello fisherman! I have a question that most of you probable know but I'm having some trouble with. I have never really fished with cranks before, but I went out last year with a fella and spanked the eye's with some walledivers. He more or less just let me run the boat and reel the fish in when they bit. He never told me what time of year to try them, what size to use for the correct depths, or how fast to troll with them. I would greatly appreciate any help in this art of fishing, otherwise I will just be a live bait man the rest of my life

Thanks in advance to those that can help,
Chuck

[Jim W]

Where do you plan on cranking off at?
River, lake ??? Stained waters, clear waters etc.

Jim W

[This message has been edited by Jim W (edited 05-02-2003).]

[Fathead]

Some basic information you should know is...

1) The depth your chosen lure will run

This can be determined by the lure manufacturer posting this on the package. But I think a good source of information to look into is a booklet called "Precision Trolling" guide. This manual includes depth curves for specific cranks (including wallydivers) at various speeds and length of line let out.

2) As far as speed goes...

My standard rule of thumb for walleyes is...Water temps 65 degrees and below I will run at speeds 1.8mph or slower (the colder the water the slower the presentation). When water temps are greater than 65 (especially mid 70's), I will run 2 to 3.5mph.

The reason for increased speed with warmer temps is that you are looking for more of a reactionary bite. Give the fish little time to think whether they want it or not. You force them to react. This speed info should only be used as a starting point, and modified each time you go out on the water.

3) Size matters...

I like larger sized cranks early in the year to match the size of the forage in the lake early on. (Ex. #11 rapalas, #9 taildancers, etc.)
By mid to late June I switch to #7 rapalas.
By mid July I move to larger #9's and by first or second week in September I step back up to #11's, 13's and even 18's in late fall.

4) Match color patterns to forage base...

This is a loose rule of thumb with many exceptions. For example, if there are perch in the lake, try using perch, minnow colors. However I really like certain odd colored lures like red/silver or vampire raps for warm weather reaction bites. These color choices can change daily if not hourly sometimes.

Hope this helps, it seems to work well for me. Good luck cranking it is alot of fun and very effective (especially in the tougher fishing months of August).

[Thunderchicken]

Jim, I will be fishing the Missouri river here in South Dakota and some of the prarie lakes. I see a few of the boaters pulling plugs along the bluffs at the river but I would think that it would be tough due to the sevarity of depth change there.

Flat head thanks for your info it will get me pointed in the right direction I think. One question though, Do you always run them on or at the bottom? I here that people just put out 100 to 150 feet back and not even be close to the bottom.
Your thoughts?

Thanks again!!
Chuck

[Guest]

There are many differnt ways to troll, the first thing I would do is get a Precision Trolling guide. That will tell you what depths most lures will run at certain lenthes of line.

You can run a mono line and keep your lures way back from the boat, or you can run a leadcore line and put your lures down faster.

There are times of the year when you catch all your fish on the bottom and there are time when you do best fishing suspended off the bottom it all depends on water temps.

To make it easy on yourself go out and get a reel with a line counter, then when you catch a fish you know exactly how much line you need to let back out.

I just got back from SD yesterday we were fishing Lake Sharpe and we caught most of our fish trolling leadcore in about 12ft of water and just off the bottom.

Good Luck
http://www.geocities.com/wish_i_was_fishing2002

[Guest]

Where do you get that book?
-Thanks Nick and how much is it?

[Guest]

You can get the book at Cabelas, Scheels, Gander Mountain, probably WalMarts and most good bait shops. You also can get here at fishingmn. But the book is only good if you have line counter reels. You have to know how much line you have out. The charts in the book have dive curves that reflect the amount of line out for most lures. It also has a conversion for line size and superlines.

I have seen folks toss a #7 shad rap over the side, close the bail and troll over the "Golden Highway" on the Minnewaukan Flats on Devils Lake. The roadbed tops out at 10 foot. The lure is running 6 foot with 10# line with 30 feet out. You need to let out 90 feet of line. Remember also the deptrh that your transducer is down in the water. More than likely this lure is 5 feet above the fish.

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Kevin Neve's Devils Lake Guide Service
fishingminnesota.com/kevin-neve-guiding/
e-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 701-473-5411 or 701-351-4989
Minnewaukan ND