Crankbaits

[oldgoat188]

Im new to this so: When is the best time/water temp to use crankbaits? What brand/size works best? Is trolling more effective than casting? Anything else to consider when stocking up for the first time?
Thanks ahead of time!

[Brad in MS]

i like using crankbaits as a "fish locator". i like casting a crank into areas where i think crappie maybe holding. if i catch a few in a spot i will generally downsize to a standard jig setup and fish the area thoroughly.

i've trolled with crankbaits, especially in water in excess of 10 ft. obviously with more baits in the water your chances of catching more are increased due to the fact that you can cover more water than with one rig. when doing this i like to use a heavier pole since trolling with crankbaits will cause a flimsy rod to bend a great deal.

i've used the following crankbaits Rebel crappie-crankr, Bandit 100/200/300, Strikeking Slab Hammer and Bitsy Minnow. i've used pink, black, chartrueuse, and white colors in any of the above baits.

[throwback]

I'm interested in this as well. I have some crappie crankbaits but haven't used them. Been catching a plenty on jigs.

[jonboatfisher]

i've trolled with crankbaits, especially in water in excess of 10 ft. obviously with more baits in the water your chances of catching more are increased due to the fact that you can cover more water than with one rig. when doing this i like to use a heavier pole since trolling with crankbaits will cause a flimsy rod to bend a great deal.

i've used the following crankbaits Rebel crappie-crankr, Bandit 100/200/300, Strikeking Slab Hammer and Bitsy Minnow. i've used pink, black, chartrueuse, and white colors in any of the above baits.

Do you add weight to the line to make them run deeper? What speed do you pull them?

[Brad in MS]

no i don't add weight in front of the crankbait, i just pick a crankbait that is designed to run at the depth that the fish will be holding.

if fishing super shallow during the spawn i'd use a bandit 100 which is supposed to run super shallow. if trolling deeper water i'd switch to a bait that is for that depth like a bandit 300 (12 ft) or a rebel crappie crankr.

i don't really troll or spider rig too much but when i have, we "tight-lined" the crankbaits with the boat moving as slow as possible, basically a controlled drift using the trolling motor to keep us on track.

also, whether bass fishing or crappie fishing with crankbaits i like to use fluourcarbon line. it is invisible under water and sinks by design. but the main advantage is that you can feel the bite much better. the line doesn't stretch like mono so the bites are easier to feel. started having less "misses" when i switched to fluoro.

[yikess]

Go to the MS board and look at the top for a thread called Pulling Cranks 101. There are a 123 entries that will cover every aspect of pulling crankbaits.

[bfish]

Go to the MS board and look at the top for a thread called Pulling Cranks 101. There are a 123 entries that will cover every aspect of pulling crankbaits.

http://www.crappie.com/crappie/missi...nks-101-a.html

[Rees Guide]

And it will tell u every aspect of it, awesome help to me last summer.

[rdobbs]

I think crappie hit different colors on different lakes. I like white, chartrause, blue/silver. I built a bracket
and have a 2.5 HP mtr next to my 150 HP. I set the small 2.5 at a certain angle, and the rutter on the big
motor will allow me to use the steering wheel. I have a 5 ft ultra action pole mounted on each side in the
rear sides of boat. At the steering wheel I have another holder and another one opposite it which are 6 ft
poles. I generally start out with 4 different colors, and the one that is catching the fish tells me what to
use on the others. I fish mostly 12 to 15 ft of water just after spawn. I have caught several hundreds of
crappie on Rebel wee-R lures. Everytime I try the jig, I catch more stripe than crappie. I run the small motor
real slow for crappie to where the tip of the pole just has a little bend and small viberation from the lure. Personally,
for my lake and crappie fishing I use wee-R's 75 % of the time. Has taken me 25 years testing to figure all this out,
but what works for me might not work for you. by the way, my rod holders are mounted firmly to my boat. They
are 1 1/4 diam. and stick out just far enough to get the rod handle in. It looks like a gun boat. Wish I knew how
to post pics, but hope you get some idea how i fish for crappie. Haven't used a minnow in 25 yrs. Good luck