• Pulling Cranks 101- The Good Parts Version - Page 3

    Page THREE of Pulling Cranks 101 By: Iwannafish (and lots of others)

    Read page one here and page two here.

    Midnight-f150
    : What fishing rods do most of you use for pulling cranks? I saw those B&M Pro Staff Trolling Rods on the Midwest crappie show. Are they worth the extra? What length pole do you use and why? When I read this thread there was a lot of different length talked about. How many rods do you run when there are 2 of you in the boat?
    __________________________________________________ _______________________
    G: The B'n'M Pro Trollers are worth the money. Length is just personal preference and fishing style. I use 10 and 12 footers. I will eventually replace my 10 footers with more 12 footers for pulling off the back. Some folks like to pull off the sides and have different length rods. I fan mine of the back corners with two sets of four Hy-Tek rod holders and I can get them spaced out ok with all same length poles. I am also set up where I can pull 4 off the sides when I am by myself and its nice having different length rods in that application.
    __________________________________________________ _______________________
    RCC: I pull 5 off the sides by myself. An 11 and an 8 on one side and a 12, 10, and an 8 on the other. I use B&M jig poles and have had no trouble with them. I picked up a couple of 6 foot Diawas today to try straight out the back.
    __________________________________________________ _______________________
    G: They tell me when pulling straight out the back to have your rod holders angled upwards...this is supposed to keep the rods from getting pulled out. Does anyone have any input on this? Sat? Wannabe? Torch? Anyone?
    __________________________________________________ _______________________
    Tritonman: that is the way i ran the two out the back at Sardis, put them up at about a 30 degree angle and it worked fine. Even when that 3 pound cat hit it the rod stayed in place (thanks E-Z!!)
    __________________________________________________ _______________________
    DonDon: I run 3 out each side. 16, 12 and 8, then out the back, I have built in rod holders and use 6 foot rods and YES, turn them up and they won't come out of the holder. I use the 6 footers here because the higher you have the rod tips, the more line you have to have out to get the desired depth. I have 4 foot of separation on my out the side poles and then to my inner poles, I have 8 feet, then between the inner poles, I have 6 feet so I don't get tangled as often
    __________________________________________________ _______________________
    Majflyboy: I would like to revise my original thoughts about rods and reels for pulling cranks. Started off with one 10' & one 12' off each side but learned pretty quick that that setup didn't give me enough line separation and the tangles were many. I bought a pair of 8'ers and put the 12's in front, the 8's behind and run the 10's straight off the back of the boat, this gives me 4' of separation between all my rods. A do-over would see me forgo the 10'ers all together and instead, get 16'ers put them out front, 12'ers in the middle and 8'ers last. (I believe this is the setup that SatDoc1 and Torch use and we know they catch fish.) All my rods are BnM Pro-Trollers and I think they are great, good action and very good backbone for those big cats and hang-ups. Now for the reels, I still like the Okumas but I think I would go the 20 DX rather than the 15 DX, why?, they are a little wider, but not so much as to be heavy or in the way, and the extra width spreads the line out so it's not as apt to get behind the spool. I still like the 10lb Stren High Viz yellow. Maybe these thoughts will save someone some money, hope so.
    __________________________________________________ _______________________
    Release to the Grease: Maj., I'll vouch for the 16-12-8' front to back setup out the sides, I can pretty much turn on a dime with no tangles as long as I don't have a ton of line out and I can't do that with only 2' difference in the rod lengths (as in 12-10-8 or something). I'll sometimes add a couple of down lines to that mix on 6' rods out the front holders.
    __________________________________________________ _______________________
    Luv2wade: Okay guys, I have been reading and collecting information on pulling and pushing cranks trying to learn new techniques. One thing I have not heard discussed is what water clarity is the best? 6" - 2'; 2'-4'; 4'-6' water clarity. Is one water clarity better for pushing than pulling, or is it just one's own preference? Is long lining jigs better in clear water? Thanks.
    __________________________________________________ _______________________
    G: I would say the difference between pulling and pushing is just preference....I know some guys that do both at the same time also. Dark water-----use darker colors.....clear water------use lighter brighter colors.
    __________________________________________________ _______________________
    Hunter7711: OK! I've read the full 80 pages. I've seen a question asked 3 times with no answer. What is the difference a Bandit will run using 10# compared to 8# and 20# braid. I know what the difference will be casting, but not trolling. Running all 3 at 50'
    __________________________________________________ _______________________
    Release to the Grease: I use 6lb mono and get about 2' deeper than I do with 10lb mono due to smaller diameter, that ratio will vary some depending on how much line you have out. In other words, I can cover 13-16' with 3 rods on a side running 55-75' of line out on 6lb vs. 3 rods running 65-110' of line with 10lb. I spend a little less time reeling in line and letting it back out this way and get a little edge on turning radius with the shorter line lengths. I tried some 4lb this year and had a few breakoffs but the 6lb is doing great, BPS Excel mono. Also, I didn't notice much difference in the running depths b/w the 6lb and 4lb, if your braid is 6 or 4lb diameter it should be pretty comparable to my results. I haven't tried braid for cranks but I'm happy with the mono because I like the little stretch it gives you running at 2 mph, you get some forgiveness when a big catfish hits it (landed a couple around 10-12lbs this summer on 6lb) and it probably hooks up a little better on crappie for the same reason. I don't lose many baits with the light line but I'm not fishing around a lot of snags either, that would be a good reason to go with braid or heavier mono for sure.
    __________________________________________________ _______________________
    Crappiecrazed: Here is a question for you Terrova I pilot owners that pull cranks with your I pilot Terrova. I have one and use it for the long lining and LOVE it. My question is, when you are trolling at the speeds your trolling at, let’s say 1.5mph, do you run your tm battery down. Seems you would be running the tm pretty hard. I have the 55lb thrust Terrova so it’s not the 24 volt system. I have never even come close to running my tm batter down but I’m only normally running my motor on about speed "3" to run .7mph so I would think I would be running on 5-7 and not sure how long my 12v batter would last on the water.
    __________________________________________________ _______________________
    G: We normally pull at 1.6 to 1.8 mph....you are probably going to need another battery in parallel with the one you have now. I use a trolling plate and troll with my outboard.
    __________________________________________________ _______________________
    Majflyboy: Welcome to the craze, crappiecrazed. You didn't mention what size boat you have but I have a 175 pro crappie with a 24v, 80lb Terrova w/ii-pilot and can easily get 7 hrs. pulling with two group 31's. You can increase the trolling time with your 12v TM by hooking another battery to it. I can't remember if it's parallel or series but someone on here can help on that. Let us know how you do after trying pulling a few time, we all learn from each other. Remember, LINE SEPARATION!! Good fishing.
    __________________________________________________ _______________________
    G: Wiring two batts together in parallel will give you 12v.....wiring in series will give you 24 v.
    __________________________________________________ _______________________
    Yikess: I always use my Terrova in shallow water and before the sun comes up. Often I'll use a combination of my big motor with a drift sock and the troller to extend my fishing time. I've found I can fish all day if I use the big motor when going into the wind and switch to the troller while going with it. I have no feedback steering which allows me to steer with the Terrova when using the big motor.

    If you have room for Group 31's that would be the ticket. If you had two of them connected positive to positive and negative to negative that would be even better. I don't have the room for this set up unfortunately
    __________________________________________________ _______________________
    Luv2wade: How clear are the lakes that ya'll are pulling crankbaits on? By the colors I see listed most look like baits to be used on stained or muddy water lakes. (Based on my bass fishing days ) I have lakes that are stained all summer, some that are a black tanic. But I have several reservoirs that are real clear maybe 3-4 foot visibility in the summer when the thermocline sets up. I know crappie like wild colors but I was wondering, with thier excellent eye sight, if it made a difference or if you had to use more realistic looking baits like shad or chrome?
    __________________________________________________ _______________________
    Majflyboy: Water clarity, sunlight conditions, time of year, many weather conditions are the reason I have so many colors. You can start with the rule-of-thumb colors but may have to change several time to find what the fish want.
    __________________________________________________ _______________________
    Hunter7711: I'm no expert by any means. I fished with a couple of guys that do it all summer. From what I've seen, they start out with dark colors in the morning (black, crawdad red, etc.) As the sun gets higher they go to the brighter colors. (Chartreuses, Pinks, Shad colors). At the same time they will try a couple of chrome to see if thats what they want on a given day. When we went we had at least 2 fire tigers tied on at ALL times. Everything reverses as the sun gets lower in the evening.
    __________________________________________________ _______________________
    DoubleGobble00: I read yesterday online where a guy ties a line with a jig on it to the back hook or o-ring. He was mainly catching fish on the jig. Seems like the crank bait was used to keep the jig at the right depth (kind of like a depth planer board). Also the crank bait seemed to get the fishes attention and they would hit the jig when it came by. Might be something to try since it the water is getting cool. Seems pretty close to long lining but you skip the time used to determine line length to get the jig to the right depth. Seemed like a pretty good idea to me. Anybody ever tried this?
    __________________________________________________ _______________________
    Majflyboy: I've heard of it Zack but haven't tried it,,,yet.
    __________________________________________________ _______________________
    G: Now that we have made it to November, how early next year can we start pulling cranks again ?
    __________________________________________________ _______________________
    Majflyboy: It's not even time to STOP pulling cranks G. That's what Zack is talking about, Bernard won and DD got big fish Sat with cranks. Several more were pulling that were not fishing with us. I should have put them on myself.
    __________________________________________________ _______________________
    G: I know that Major but I mean when you finally do stop pulling cranks ( or are you going to fish straight on through?) when do you start back again? I just thought maybe you quit at the end of DEC. then start back When ?
    __________________________________________________ _______________________
    DonDon: Things just have to be RIGHT for them to hit in the winter time is all. Most days, heck no but there are those days when they'll slam them
    __________________________________________________ ______________________
    Majflyboy: Last year I kept hearing, "can't wait until the water temp gets to 60 so we can start pulling again". I saw Paul J. pulling cranks in Jan this year. I just don't think there is a stop/start month or temp, I'll keep them in the boat and not be afraid to try them in any water that's not chunk full of stumps.
    __________________________________________________ _______________________
    Doublegobble00: I am with Maj on this one... I just got some 8, 12, and 16 foot PSTs with Okuma reels. Had them in the garage last Saturday but that won't happen again. It is time to put them in the water...
    __________________________________________________ _______________________
    Wilbur: If you push cranks off the front does it matter if you have 100 200 or 300? Considering you have a 3 or 4oz. weight. I have 4 14ft. Pro-Trollers. I was thinking of pushing 4 and pulling 2. Any help appreciated.
    The crappie up here are on the average 11 to 12 in. Do you think they will hit a crank?
    __________________________________________________ _______________________
    G: For pushing....yep you could use 100's, 200's, or 300's......but I really think you get a better wiggle with the 300 due to the bigger lip. I caught some fish pushing at Okatibee fishing with Scottv and I tried a 200 but like I say, I thought the wiggle was better with the 300 and that’s what I caught the fish on. I push on some of the small state lakes nearby where I live and I use either 300 bandits or the Wally Marshal crank baits.
    __________________________________________________ _______________________

    Comments 3 Comments
    1. Billbob's Avatar
      Billbob -
      good read
    1. bigarm's Avatar
      bigarm -
      Good story. B&M Trolling Rods for me. 16,14 and 12footers
    1. brucec's Avatar
      brucec -
      Good stuff!!!!
  • .

BACK TO TOP