By: Mark Romanack
Jake Romanack of Fishing 411 TV is a huge advocate of trolling using crankbaits. The ability to control the diving depth is one of the biggest advantages of using crankbaits.
Anyone who has spent much time trolling has probably experienced one of those days when a particular lure is dominating in terms of fish caught. It’s not uncommon for a particular lure model to out produce others on any given day. What is a little more unusual is when an individual lure out produces others of the same size, model and color!
Avid trollers become masters at taking a bait that is producing fish and maximizing it’s use throughout the spread. It’s not enough to simply put out a few of those “hot” lures in the spread. The best way to milk the most performance from a productive crankbait is to saturate the water column.
UNASSISTED
Depending on how deep a crankbait will dive and where fish are located in the water column, fishing cranks unassisted or without any added weight is the most common way to target walleye. Thanks to the Precision Trolling Data phone app, it’s easy to determine precisely how deep a crankbait will dive based on the lead length used and the line diameter/type employed. This popular trolling aid is the only app on the market that provides depth data based on actual on-the-water testing. Precision Trolling Data is based on trolling lures past a scuba diver, who in turn dives down and records the actual diving depth at specific lead lengths, on known line diameters and at precise trolling speeds. How accurate is this data? The PTD app actually measures lure diving depth to the inch!!
Unassisted crankbaits are most commonly fished in combination with either in-line planer boards or a planer board mast system to spread out lines and also to fish multiple lines on each side of the boat.
SNAP WEIGHT ASSISTED
The Off Shore Tackle Snap Weight is the most common system used to add trolling weight in front of a crankbait. The goal of using a Snap Weight is to get baits deeper, but also to keep trolling leads modest.
The two ounce Snap Weight is the most common size used in achieving this goal. Again, the PTD app plays a major role as most of the popular crankbaits have been tested using a trolling system known as the 50+2 Data. This data appears under the “Line Type” click to change option on the app. This trolling system involves letting out the desired crankbait 50 feet behind the boat, attaching a two ounce Snap Weight to the line and deploying additional line to reach a specific target depth.
The author routinely trolls with trusted crankbaits to target walleye during the spring, summer and fall time periods. Baits like this Bill Lewis PWC are amazingly effective in the hands of trollers who know how to get the most from these lures.
To reach a specific target depth, dial up the “Feet Down” picker wheel to the desired depth level. In turn, the “Feet Back” picker wheel will automatically spit out the total overall lead length (including the initial 50 foot lead) required to achieve that target depth.
Because adding a Snap Weight causes the crankbait to sink, trolling speed will also influence the overall running depth. The PTD app takes this into consideration and provides a host of different trolling speed options to select.
At the slower trolling speeds it’s amazing how much deeper a crankbait will run using the 50+2 Data compared to fishing the same bait unassisted. Getting deeper has unique advantages, but one of the biggest advantages of this trolling system is the ability to get deep without having to use excessively long trolling leads.
DIVING PLANERS
Crankbaits can also be fished in combination with a diving planer to achieve additional depth. Most anglers mistakenly believe that only shallow diving crankbaits can be fished with a diving planer. Actually, almost any crankbait can be fished behind a diving planer as a means of getting that bait to a depth it would not normally achieve.
Captain Eric Hirzel of Erie Gold Sportfishing targets walleye on Lake Erie nearly every day in the spring, summer and fall. “I almost always have a couple Tru-Trip 50 Divers running at the corners of my boat,” says Captain Eric. “I usually run a Bill Lewis PWC Lite or Rapala J-7 about six feet behind these divers. The goal is to get extra lines into the trolling spread, without making it more difficult to fight and land fish hooked on the planer board lines.”
The Tru-Trip Diver is not a directional diver, but rather dives straight down and reaches significant depth with very modest lead lengths. This keeps the back of the boat clear for landing fish hooked on the planer board lines.
The trip arm mechanism on the Tru-Trip Diver pops when a fish is hooked, making it easy to reel in the hooked fish and the diver without having to fight the resistance of the diving device.
Other divers such as the popular Dipsy Diver can also be used in a similar capacity by setting them on the “0” setting and rigging them with an OR16 Snap Weight Clip on the trip arm. This arrangement allows the Dipsy to be fished like a Snap Weight. Instead of having the lure positioned just a few feet behind the diver, the angler can let the crankbait back behind the boat any distance desired. When a fish is hooked, the diver will trip and can be reeled in and removed from the line during the fight much like a Snap Weight is fished. This unique rigging method is becoming very popular among anglers who have faith in the Dipsy Diver and want to maximize the effectiveness of their trolling spread.
The Dipsy Diver has one other small advantage. By adjusting the ballast weight, the diver can be rigged to plane out to the side of the boat a short distance. By turning the weight on the back side of the Dipsy to the No. 1, 2 or 3 position, the diver will dive and also plane out to the side, helping to increase the overall trolling coverage.
Many anglers will fish the Dipsy on the “0” setting straight out the back and a second Dipsy on the same side of the boat set on a No. 2 or No. 3 setting. This arrangement gains an extra couple of lines in the water and also helps to spread out those lines in the water column.
SUMMING IT UP
The beauty of trolling crankbaits is there are a lot of productive lures on the market and also a lot of effective ways to present these lures to hungry walleye. Crankbaits in the hands of an individual who understands how to get the most from these lures are nothing short of deadly effective.