2 Trolling Questions

[amateurfishing]

I have been knee deep in crankbaits this year learning hard & doing somewhat reasonably well with northern, bass, & crappie success in a 8-10 FOW area of a local lake.

1. When using cranks, how wide on each side of said crank will the noise or or movement possibly attract fish? I mean how far to the left/right will the action or noise tempt a,fish? 2? 5? 10 ft? Curious for trolling grid purposes.

2. My sonar is a HB 597, is it possible in any way to track different lengths behind boat (80, 90, 100ft) to better aid in hitting precise targets, points, etc. I use line counter reels for line count but how do you translate that length visually on water when controlling boat for specific structure, how do I learn where different distances off the back of the boat are? ThX!

[Brad B]

as for your second question. each crank bait will have its own dive curve. the package will say how deep they will dive when reeled in or trolled. example I have been running #5 flicker shads lately and the dive curve say that if you run them on 10# xt line they will dive to 10 feet deep when pulled at 110 feet behind the boat. I have been having luck with this when trolling in the 12 to 15 ft depth range. the crappies sure have been liking the #5 flicker shads lately along with even some larger bluegills that have hit it. that totally surprised me when I seen I caught a blue gill on this crank.

[TrollnDrift]

If your 597 has casting rings that might give you a clue as to where your baits are behind the boat

[amateurfishing]

ThX Brad, I understand dive charts but was referring to horizontal range, not vertical.

ThX for the casting rings idea, I do have that but did not see any results, maybe I was not using it properly, will work on that again.

[redhooks]

You can put a bright big floater on like a musky size lure, big husky jerk or kwickfish and run back 100 feet and it won't dive until you close the bail. That'll give a visual idea of how far back, then switch to your lures of choice. Flickers and shads have been working great for me lately. Tail dancer deeps are fun to play with as well. The trolling game is a blast!

[walleyefisher10]

As far as your question about side to side attraction of a crank bait. It really depends on the water, real clear water the fish will see your crank better then real stained water. as far as vibration of the crank I am not real sure how far to the left or right that a fish will come to strike the bait.

[dan z]

The bigger the " wobble" the more vibration. Banana style baits hunt better. Short shad style baits attract. TDD have been hot this summer for me. The15' diver trolls 12' with 74' out. I'm using calibrated line counters with 10# power pro silk and have had success almost every time out. Salmon hornets #4 has been good shallower with 104' out and bumping bottom @ 9 or so feet.

[Comit 2]

Wow.

(1) Sound travels much better underwater then in the air. With that said, It all depends on the fishes mood. Just to give an answer. I would have to say I try for boat control to put my lure within 5 feet of the fish holding structure.

(2) This is an art. You need to do this kind of thing over and over to get the feel for it. Buck Perry had a way to teach this where you have your lure tic the bottom. Let me explain. You have a small bar that runs out from shore 100 yards. As with most bars there is a saddle area before the end. You want to check the end of the bar that tops out a 8 feet deep. So, you need a system. Find a lure that runs 9 feet with X amount of line out. Now set up a trolling run that will cross over it (GPS waypoint) now wait for your lure to bonce over the top of the bar. The fish will most likely hit just as the lure starts to break free of the bar and free swim. Now you can fine tune your line out to just tic the top of the bar and you are well on your way.

If you do this long enough you will find times when you have the right lure with the right amount of line out but you just can't make contact with bottom so you let more and more line out to make contact and your not making contact, then all of a sudden you are plowing the bottom with your lure. No worries, This is something you will run across, especially where the saddle is on bars (It is why there is a saddle). You just ran into a cross currant that was sweeping your lure up off the bottom. Next time through don't let more line out and you should fine the edges of the current and maybe fish at the edges.

You will find a hand full of different lure that you will settle on for most of your trolling in time.

Hot'N'Tots and Banana baits have an instability built into them so they kick out once in a while so they are not a good first choice for learning trolling lure control 101.

[LoonASea]

The question I have often pondered is when a package says dives to 8ft with 100 feet of line out is that line out from the rod tip or where the line enters the water ,,,with my rods in rod holders there can be 30 feet of line out that isnt in the water ,,,that has to have an effect on the dive curve ,,Any thoughts??

[h8go4s]

The question I have often pondered is when a package says dives to 8ft with 100 feet of line out is that line out from the rod tip or where the line enters the water ,,,with my rods in rod holders there can be 30 feet of line out that isnt in the water ,,,that has to have an effect on the dive curve ,,Any thoughts??

You're over-thinking it. The dive curves are a general guideline are going to be different for every line diameter. Fish will typically rise to a bait but won't dive to it so you want to run at or above the depth the fish are. You have to factor in your own experiences. Let out 100 feet in 8 feet of water and see if you hit bottom. Then make adjustments from there. And if you have 30 feet of line out that isn't in the water, lower the rod holder.