I just put the finishing touches on the article I wrote (different than this one) and sent it off to Nick (if that tells you anything). I'm working on another one for Wood's N Water.
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Really enjoyed this and all your articles.
Thanks CRP. I have quite a few of them waiting in the wings. Just have to find the right time to post them sometimes.
Not much to report from my attempts at trolling cranks. I only spent a short time using cranks on my first attempt. I was too frustrated with floating weeds. I went back to trolling small swimbaits and road runners and did pretty well and they are easier to clear the weeds. I tried again a couple days later when I found a slightly clearer path, but I was off the weed edge a bit where the crappie were holding. Nothing. I think they were still buried in the weeds. I'm not giving up on trolling cranks...I'm exploring the different options for keeping the floating weeds clear. I also think they might work well a bit earlier in the year late May/June before the floaters build up.
Here is a few tricks to keep floating weeds at bay....
Put a bead on your main line (say size 5 or 6mm) followed by a good sized barrel swivel. Run a leader (3/4 the length of your rod) down to your connector and your bait. The bead and swivel with help stop the weeds from running down your line and fowling your baits.
Trick two (for those of us who are lazy and don't want to re-rig rods when we run into this). Take an Off Shore Tackle OR16 (RED) clip and clip it about 6 feet above your bait. This will stop the weeds from running down to the bill of your baits.
It doesn't eliminate it, but it does help.
One other thing we do when running cranks with short leads and planer boards. We will reel in the board and then hand over hand the bait in to clear it. We can change it out and have it back in the water in about 1/3rd the time of reeling in everything.
Thanks for the tips. I used the bead and swivel technique but it just couldn't keep up with the sheer amount. I was resetting too often for my liking. I'm thinking about a redundant system of weed catchers, but I haven't refined it yet. Even if I do catch the weeds before the lures, they will build up to a point the line raises in the water column due to the drag. No option but to reel in and clear them.