Trolling Crankbaits

[cray]

How far off the bottom can i get and still catch walleyes on crankbaits? I have been trying to keep it right on the bottom. The lake I fish is real rocky and the bottom has sudden depth changes. I seem to catch 1 fish for every 2-3 lures I loose.

[Seabass77]

That's really tough to say. Sometimes dragging on the bottom attracts fish. Other times, if fish are aggressive, they'll chase a pretty fair distance.

Might not be a easy answer here.

[Northlander]

In my experience time of year, water temp, water clarity and forage base are factors in this. If its a clearer lake I catch more fish suspended than I do in darker waters.

[jaymevb]

what kind of line are you using? have you tried braided line and maybe back of the drag a bit?

[gurkster]

I agree with jaymevb - braided line and proper drag set. When you hook up to bottom just back the boat up over your snagged crank and most times you can pull it out from the backside and continue on trolling.

[cray]

I have been using 12 lb mono.

The bottom of this lake is really jagged and rocky. Live bait rigging is impossible so i tried trolling with the same result. Loss of tackle.

I was thinking about trying to pull crankbaits 2-3 feet off the bottom, but didn't know if this was a waste of time.

[Jim Almquist]

  cray said:

I have been using 12 lb mono.

The bottom of this lake is really jagged and rocky. Live bait rigging is impossible so i tried trolling with the same result. Loss of tackle.

I was thinking about trying to pull crankbaits 2-3 feet off the bottom, but didn't know if this was a waste of time.

If a walleye is looking for food it will grab it 10 feet off the bottom. You just have to troll your plug at the depths were it is at and not were the boat is at. All you moves should be based on your lure is at 125 feet behind the boat. I have caught plenty of walleyes that were in 20+ feet of water and my plug was only down 12 feet. Some of that might have been because I had the walleye follow the lure and it finally hit when the lure was getting away. make sure to vary the speed of the plug. Every now and then pull it faster and sometimes just let it drop back real slow. You will be surprised how many bites will happen that way and they seem to hit the plug harder which makes for a better hook set. Jigs and Rigs need to be close to the bottom but plugs can ride a lot higher in the water column.

[RiverFish]

Running cranks on bottom bouncers might be an option as well.

[pikerliker]

My buddy just caught a 29 incher yesterday with a rap 6 or 7 feet down over 20+ feet of water. I was running the boat and had been following the shoreline and then drove out over deeper water in a bay to get to the other shoreline when she hit.

~piker

[TravP]

Do yourself a favor and buy the Precision Trolling Handbook.

[hanson]

  cray said:

How far off the bottom can i get and still catch walleyes on crankbaits? I have been trying to keep it right on the bottom. The lake I fish is real rocky and the bottom has sudden depth changes. I seem to catch 1 fish for every 2-3 lures I loose.

Try to stay a bit higher! Not worth loosing that many cranks in the rocks IMO.

Ticking bottom is OK. Pounding and digging bottom is asking for trouble.

[RiverFish]

Sometimes you need to dig or hit bottom to get bites.

[My_Key]

  TravP said:

Do yourself a favor and buy the Precision Trolling Handbook.

Great book, I finally broke down and purchased the Pro Edition this spring. But I was disappointed to find they didn't have the charts for the Lindy Shadlings. The book claims you can go to their HSOforum for charts that aren't in the book(for a fee), but I have tried multiple times and cannot find any additional charts anywhere.

[Borch]

  hanson said:

Try to stay a bit higher! Not worth loosing that many cranks in the rocks IMO.

Ticking bottom is OK. Pounding and digging bottom is asking for trouble.

This is what I do as well. If your not triggering fish try pumping the rod every so often to trigger fish. Much of the fish caught from pounding the bottom are due to the jerks and pauses in addition to the noise factor.