I'm trying to learn how to troll cranks and jigs for crappie. I've watched a lottt of videos on YouTube and read many of the treads here. I'm seeing that the biggest part of trolling cranks is knowing how much line you have out to know how deep your crank is running. Everyone is talking about line counter reels. Since I am, let's say, financially challenged, can I put a clip on line counter to my current reel, or is that not the same thing? Is there reels that come with line counters that are head and shoulders above the rest? I use my rods for just about everything. Not one specific purpose. I troll and cast spinners with my 6' ugly stick and I troll and Bobber fish and jig with my 10' slab daddy. So if I could buy a couple cheap clip on line counters for when I'm trolling cranks that I can remove when doing other techniques that would be ideal. What is everyone's opinion on a clip on line counter vs. an actual built in line counter reel?
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Berkley-1...&wl13=&veh=sem
Here is the line counter I'm looking at but if anyone has other options I'm all ears. Still very very new to trolling, only tried it once, but I'm trying to soak up as much information as I can so I can be effective at it more and more each time I go out.
Edit: also, I use spinning reels, not bait casters if that makes a difference