Trolling Cranks Help

[specseeker]

Am trying to get up and running trolling crankbaits. Found a great deal on 6 Abu Garcia 6500lc's. About to pull the trigger on the B&M Prto Staff Trolling Rods , 2 - 16', 2 - 12' and 2 - 8' unless anyone has any other suggestions to offer. Been looking around and reading here on the site and it seems that Bandits or Strike King lures get the most amount of recommendations.
Would you all help out with color advice. Do you use different colors at different depths (200 series vs 300 series)
The main lakes we fish are Mark Twian, Lake of the Ozarks, Enid, Lake Washington, Lake Fork & Toledo Bend. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks for your help.

[skeetbum]

Let me start by saying that I'm no expert but started doing this last year and I'm having fun with it this year. The rods will do well for both pushing and pulling and I think would be a good choice in the lengths stated. I use BGJP's and they wont stand the added weight that I have been told some use while pushing, up to 6oz. Mine are 8, 10, and 12'(2 each) and I use spinning reels with 8lb line, but most use 10. I keep the 8' rods short, the 10's a bit longer and the 12's a good long cast from the boat and seldom get tangled on one another. My rods stick out at 90* to the boat, and the next is a few degrees further back and so on, creating a spread almost 30'wide. I have Bandit 300's mostly and some 200's also. Color is dictated by the fish, some that you wouldn't think would do well will surprise you. Speed and track on the gps help a lot also. Somewhere between .8 and 1.5 gets the most action for me. Flats with irregularities can be found on maps and maybe cut down on the trial and error. another post on here somewhere has the depth chart on bandits that will tell you how deep the with go at what length of line. Good luck with it, you're gonna have fun.

[Rees Guide]

Gonna make a suggestion, leave the PSTs alone, they have a fragile top section, especially in the 8 foot rod. Get some Ozarks in a 14s and 10s and a couple of BnM 410s for your inside pole, gets you a good spread. Another thing I have found is tha unless you are in a rig 20 foot long or longer a 16 foot pole is a pain in the butt. I catch alot of fish on my inside poles, the 410s.

["G"]

["G"]

Get you some Okuma line counter reels and The BnM Pro Trollers are just fine. I use a 14 ft. and a 10 out each side at the back and two 8 footer straight out the back......this gives me 4 ft. of separation on the lines. Been pulling with these PST's for 6 years now and never broke a tip. Dont try to lift a fish with the rod.....get the rod srraight up then bring the fish out of the water and swing into the boat....or use a net. Click here for buying Okuma line counter reels http://northwoodsoutlet.net/store/in...roduct_id=2086

[specseeker]

Thanks for the lead on the Ozark rods I'll check it out. We don't have any problems managing the longer rods. We are fishing out of 20' War Eagle boats.

[specseeker]

Was going to spool the reels with 10lb Vicious flouralcarbon, any opinions.
Also are you all tying directly to the lure or are you using a snap swivel?
Thanks

["G"]

I use 10 lb. mono that's what the depth chart is based on....I do use a snap swivel

[ATM]

The PST's are great crank bait rods.

[Handicrappie]

I use 4 8ft, 2 12ft and 2 16ft pst's in my set up. They have yet to fail me.