Crankbaits for the river?

[Dragonfisherman]

I am looking at getting some new crankbaits for eyes on the red river and I wondering what most people use as far as if you get the floating types or the sinking and what size you prefer? Gonna get some new salmo hornets just wondering what exactly to get...

[mistermom]

A lot of folks on the Mississippi pools pull floating stickbaits on 3-way rigs. And also troll the rip-rap and wingdams with shadrap type cranks.

mm

[Tonka Boy]

I just read an article that stated to troll shad raps on the sand flats. They said to stick to the 10-14' depths during the fall for trophies. I've never fished the river myself, but would like to based on what I've heard.

[buzzsaw]

X-raps baby!! They worked well for me this past weekend! The only downfall is on the river you tend to lose a few to branches and such.... that gets expensive after a while.

[markkstanley]

Shad raps or husky jerks longlined, minnow baits off 3ways, casting sand flats or wingdams go to Bomber A, jointed and non-jointed shad raps and Ratt'l traps. Colors firetiger, chartreuse and blue back. That's what I have used with guides and myself postspawn when the fish scatter and you have to cover water. I have also used Xraps on the upper Mississippi for smallies with good success. After the fish Buzzsaw caught I'm going to have to try them for Pool 4 eyes. I have also seen people use reef runners quite a bit. The crankbait deal can get expensive - my personal best was 5 lost lures in one outing. For line I use braid - better hookups and the chance to pull your lure off the snags.

[Mike W]

I would think what you choose depends on what you want it to do and what type of water your are going to be fishing.

On pool 2 I like the deeper running cranks with a lip on them. There is alot of time on the pool that you need that lip to be hitting bottom. The lips on the cranks alow the bait to flip up when it stricks bottom and bounce over what ever it hits. This pattern holds good for the better part of the summer down here but there are times of the year that just to much debre collets on bottom and this does not work. Thats why you need to taylor your baits to the situation up there.

6a bombers, #5 shad raps and deep diveing husky jerks where some of my favorite last year. Those bombers have a great abillity to get over some nasty stuff in the river. Throw in a linecounter, power pro line, and a longer trolling rod, and some rod holders and you should be set up for trolling river walleyes.

[Ed Carlson]

It would greatly depend on what section of the Red River your intending to fish, and when.

The headwaters region on high to moderately high water levels a Hornet is a good bet as is the bullhead. Falling water levels a #5 Shad Rap is a good bottom bumper as is the smaller Bullheads. Evening casting and early day casting a Bomber Long A, Salmo Sting, #11 Husky Jerks, and shallow running shad Raps in #8 are all good bets. A few Rattle trap tyle Lip-less cranks are wise to have on hand into the post spawn period. The new Salmo Zipper is one I would highly recommend and use frequently.

Central Red River #7 Shad Raps Blue/White and Yellow White, and the #7 Glass Ghost Shads (Clear water) work well in sandy flats with not much wood to deal with. #5 Salmo Hornets are a great bet too. Lindy Shadlings are a timber/rock friendly crank for most of the older section of the Red.

Canadian end of the Red #7 & #8 Shad Raps in Yellow/White and Pink Pearl will do well on most fall trips. The GM Pink Pearl limited edition, Hot Red Firetiger, and the Purple limited edition Shads in #5's with lead core should prove to be a hot deal this fall. Reef Runners can be good too in the 8-10' range at slow to moderate speeds. Deep diver #11 Husky Jerks in whites and Trout patterns or the Clown pattern will do well. The new larger sized Salmo Bullhead will be a real danger to big Greenbacks on the Red and on the Winnipeg River.

Water clarity is the key on the whole Red River system. Clearer the water the brighter the color and add more flash/sparkle. Darker the water use darker colors and higher contrasting patterns. In muddy water, I will often use Black or dark Purple. A heavy rain can change the game in hours so the selection of cranks you stock should reflect these potential challenges.

Hope this is of use to you.

[18 inch Crappie]

Talk about lost cranks on the river, Gander has some on sale for $1.99 I am thinking about picking up a bunch so If lost to a tree on the river, not out as much as a rapala.....

[Ed Carlson]

My tip for casting cranks on rivers is use Power Pro line and a good snap like a Berkley Cross Lock. Duolock snaps will open up on a hard pull so I prefer the stronger Cross Lock with superbraids. Or tie direct with a loop knot, that is fine too.

I like 4#dia/15#test for most trolling and casting applications. For areas that are thick with brush and snags I will bump it up to 8#dia/30#test. You will seldom loose a crank due to the softer wire on most cranks as they tend to straighten enough to open up and pop free under a steady straight pull on the Power Pro line. (Point the rod rip at the snag and pull while holding the spool of your spinning reel or the spool on your baitcasting reel with your thumb. DO NOT grab the line and pull by hand or jerk the rod while holding the line and the blank. If you do you will very likely get cut badly by the line or bust the rod in the process.)

Power Pro reference chart for line diameter/test.

Hi Vis Yellow and Moss Green low vis are the most common colors. You can also get Power Pro in White.

Another tip is use about 80 yards on a spinning reel with some electrical tape as backing, or use mono. Then latter in the season backspool the same 80 yards to another spinning reel or spool and use all that fresh line that has seen little use. You can get 2 seasons or more out of one spooling that way. In my experience the extended use and durability of Power Pro plus the ability to retrieve more potentially lost lures more then offsets any higher costs of a quality superbraid line over the long run.

A slightly slower tip on the rod is a good idea on superbraid rods too, you get a better hook set. Also I recommend you run the drag a bit lighter so you do not rip the lips off fish and tear loose hooks on a hook set. A steady sweep set is all that is needed and often the strike does the hook set for you if the hooks are in good shape.

A wise investment is a 9865 Frabill Lure Retriever. They can salvage expensive lures with a few twists of the wrist, for snags overhead and beneath. They extend out to 15' so you can retrieve most hung cranks with ease. They collapse down to 57" when not needed and store easily. They pay for themselves rather quickly.

I pulled up one snag of old mono and wire off a dam last spring that had 14 nearly new Raps and other assorted cranks on it...that paid for the Frabill lure retriever rather quickly Eh.

Quality Cranks are not cheap and these tips have saved me a bunch over time. With the Frabill Lure retriever I may be gaining ground on lost lures these days. That may take a while because in the past I feed a lot of cranks to the Red River before getting wise.

Hope these tips help you out.

[Fishing-Around]

Ed...you found my cranks and raps...THANKS Alot!!!...When can I pick them up