Trolling crank baits

[TROLLER]

So I am off this week for a trip to the south part of our province to chase the hopefully fat fall walleye.

thinking of trolling crank baits and am not quite sure on a few things.

1 How deep and as I have no down rigger am wondering other than a 3 way or snap weight should I maybe just use a deeper diver type rapala

2 What speed do you usually troll, I have heard 1.5 to 3 MPH my plan is to just keep adjusting the speed till something hits.

Any ideas such as type, colour of crank baits ect. are very much appreciated.

[EZM]

Crankbaits will dive to the depth they are designed to dive to - there is very little ability for you to control their depth, as, at some point, they simply don't dive or run any deeper if you let out more line. Most are designed to have an action (you will feel the rod vibrating) between 2-3 mph.

That's a good way to attract summer walleyes off of mid depth structure in 10-15 fow.

Some crankbaits run shallow (2-3 feet), while other run very deep (20-25 feet). Find where the fish are holding and drag through them and don't be hesitant to bounce it off the bottom - that's where strikes often occur.

Another option for cooler water and less aggressive fish in the fall ...

In the spring and fall, I really find using a bottom bouncer, worm harness (with a minnow or bait) and a willow spinner OR shake-e blade to be very effective. This is 0.3 to 0.8 mph typically.

Have fun - let er' rip - see what they are willing to strike and keep mixing it up.

[dodger]

Caught some eyes this weekend trolling rattling raps in 12' of water at 2.5/mph. Remember to post a couple of pics

Dodger.

[WayneChristie]

Originally Posted by dodger

Caught some eyes this weekend trolling rattling raps in 12' of water at 2.5/mph. Remember to post a couple of pics

Dodger.

thats so mean, I always try to hook them in the mouth!

[Demonical]

I've hooked a lot of walleyes on Storm Lures, Thunderstick. Fav' colour was 'Pumpkinseed', which is kind of a tanny-buckskin with tiny black specks. But we also used other colour Thundersticks with success.

The old standard Canadian Wiggler... chrome was also a winner.

This was at Lesser Slave, Spruce Point, back in the day.

I haven't used them in a long time, mainly cuz I don't get up to Spruce Point much anymore.

Both the Thunderstick and Cdn Wigglers will dive 12' to 15'.

[fluxcore]

I run rattling raps usually a shallow runner and use a bottom bouncer rig or a 3 way swivel set up right off bottom. I'll run one setup bouncing bottom and the other 2' off and adjust by what I'm seeing on the sounder. Oh and I run an S pattern changing and adjusting my speed constantly until I'm able to figure out a pattern I can recreate or an area that holds fish (a good gps really
Helps) good luck!

[dodger]

Originally Posted by WayneChristie

thats so mean, I always try to hook them in the mouth!

Smart azz.

Dodger

[FlyTheory]

Haven't fished cranks forever but my buddie swears on the cotton Cordell Wally diver or a jointed grappler shad. I did really well on those cranks myself as well.

[cube]

Originally Posted by TROLLER

So I am off this week for a trip to the south part of our province to chase the hopefully fat fall walleye.

thinking of trolling crank baits and am not quite sure on a few things.

1 How deep and as I have no down rigger am wondering other than a 3 way or snap weight should I maybe just use a deeper diver type rapala

2 What speed do you usually troll, I have heard 1.5 to 3 MPH my plan is to just keep adjusting the speed till something hits.

Any ideas such as type, colour of crank baits ect. are very much appreciated.

You can use other things like lead core line, dipsy divers, Jet divers, tad poles, snap weights etc to get the extra depth you require if needed.

As for speed you often need to match the speed to the lures your using at the time. ie I have some lures that work beast at 1 mph and totally blow out at 2.5 yet others that don't really start working until at least 3. So obviously you can't troll both of these at the same time.

You can also very depth by how far you let the lure out behind the boat. Precision trolling is the best resource for this as it has a number of accurate dive curves for a fair number of lures. The depth printed on most lure boxes are off by quite a bit as most depths printed on the box seem to be for casting not trolling and hence are always rated shallower than they will run in a trolling situation.

Good luck

[Walleye101]

https://youtu.be/8Yc_SH0yegY Very simple highly effective.

[Lambo]

Al Lindner likes 3 ways...

[TROLLER]

Well I went with a 3 way with a rapala minnow white in colour.

Had lots of strikes and was very surprised at how hard they would hit, nothing to brag about but a good day.

Worked my way to the far end of the lake when the north gust started instantly. No warning nothing just big old nasty gusting north wind.

Took me almost 45 minutes to get back to the dock and all the while I kept thinking why the hell did I ever decide to downsize my boat. At least I found out that my little Crestliner Kodiak will survive a good size wind especially when it is hitting you on the port side the whole way back.

Did not get in the day of fishing I was hoping for so will have to give it another go later this week or next. There are some fat walleye out there and I will find one sooner or later.