Getting Started - Pushing With a Bassboat

[croixfan]

Hey guys,

Looking for some wisdom on getting started on pushing some crankbaits. I fish out of a Ranger RT188. It has a 50HP Merc on the back (HP limit on lake) and an 80 lb Ultrex up front. The boat is equipped with three across pedestals up front, but it is the "standard" 188 vs the 188C.

The lake I'm fishing is just under 200 acres. There is NO standing timber or lay downs present. There is also no weed beds. The lake does have a nice number of points many of which have mussels on them to provide clean bottom. In addition there are a number of sunken brush piles around the lake that you can pick up fairly readily on your electronics. Water color is stained with a green tint. Rarely is it super muddy and in the summer with stable conditions you are looking at around 18-24" of visibility.

Questions are as follows:

• What would you recommend for rod holders? Located in Illinois so I'm limited to three rods when trolling
• What would you recommend for rods? Brand, length, and action
• What would you recommend for reels? From what I have seen, looks like line counters may be the best option
• What would you recommend for the weight? Seems to be a sort of "trolling weight" and also a weight with a long, straight wire
• What would you recommend for the crankbait? See a lot of talk of Bandit 300's

Also, while I'm looking to try pushing crankbaits, I would welcome and tips on pulling jigs. I have seen one fisherman on the lake trolling jigs and he is picking up a fair number of fish.

The lake has a great population of bass, bluegill, and crappie with a few walleye. Most of my time is spent bass fishing, but looking to go after the crappie. They bite fairly easily on the brush piles if you can find the right one. We loaded up over the weekend on a bunch of shorter fish that were really fat and aggressive.

Thanks in advance for the feedback.

Croixfan

[ET Fish]

White or black crappie? Or both?

[CrappiePappy]

Everybody has their favs when it comes to rods/reel & rod holders. I Push jigs more often than cranks & use 1oz trolling weights & run at approx 1mph. 18" - 24" 6# test leader between trolling weight & jig. And yes, I use the "torpedo" shaped trolling weights. Barrel sinkers work, too, but some say the drag on them is greater than on the torpedo shaped ones.
I use BnM Capps/Coleman 14' rods & BPS Uncle Bucks 13' collapsible rods ... & Hi-tek Elite rod holders (4rods per holder). I also have a couple of 10' rods & 7' rods that I can add to the spread if needed.
13' & 14' rods all have line counter reels ... Okuma's & Shakespeare ATS's

When Pushing cranks : I add my BnM PST 14' rod and go to 2oz trolling weights @ 1.5-1.8mph ... I have Bandits 100-200-300, PICO's, and a whole host of other brands (collected over the decades of Bass fishing). The leader is 3'-5' of 6# test mono.

I'm Pushing out of a ProCraft 16' Bass boat - 12v Motorguide 43# thrust - Hook 7 depthfinder (for DI & maps) & Garmin 93sv/Livescope.

[croixfan]

ET,

I'm not sure how to tell the difference. Here's a picture of a recent mess I caught



Croixfan

[croixfan]

CrappiePappy,

Appreciate the feedback. I'll check out the equipment you mentioned. Couple of more questions:

- How did you mount the holders to the boat?
- For the jigs, what brand and size do you use?

Croixfan

[CrappiePappy]

FYI ... those are Black Crappie.

On my mounting of the holders, the Hi-Tek Stuff holders come with a plate that I screwed into the floor of the boat. The T-bar slides into the plate and is fastened to the plate with a bolt.
Here's a pic showing that :



(The big black knobs you see on the holders were purchased separately, and are not Hi-Tek products)

As for what size/brand jig head I'm using ... I'm not what you call "brand loyal", so I have a mixture of brands such as "Lost Creek", "Luck E Strike", "Arkie", and some custom pours. Most are in the 1/16oz to 1/4oz range in weight. As for the "plastics" I use, most of those are Slabanator Jigs, Charlie Brewer's Sliders, with a few Panfish Assassin Crappie Dappers & Mr Crappie Slabalicious thrown in for good measure.

[Moveon]

FYI ... those are Black Crappie.

On my mounting of the holders, the Hi-Tek Stuff holders come with a plate that I screwed into the floor of the boat. The T-bar slides into the plate and is fastened to the plate with a bolt.
Here's a pic showing that :



(The big black knobs you see on the holders were purchased separately, and are not Hi-Tek products)

As for what size/brand jig head I'm using ... I'm not what you call "brand loyal", so I have a mixture of brands such as "Lost Creek", "Luck E Strike", "Arkie", and some custom pours. Most are in the 1/16oz to 1/4oz range in weight. As for the "plastics" I use, most of those are Slabanator Jigs, Charlie Brewer's Sliders, with a few Panfish Assassin Crappie Dappers & Mr. Crappie Slabalicious thrown in for good measure.

Where did you get that umbrella holder? Did you buy that somewhere or make it yourself? I made something very similar to that and have it on my boat.

[CrappiePappy]

Where did you get that umbrella holder? Did you buy that somewhere or make it yourself? I made something very similar to that and have it on my boat.

That's a hand made umbrella holder.

[Billbob]

Pappy that boat is to clean


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[Blackjeepjk]

I’m fishing basically the same boat as you except mine is the 188c with front well and I mainly push jigs. I use the spyderloks.
I’ll attach a few pics for reference.




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