River Trolling Crawler Rig

Just wondering what would be the best rig to use for trolling a river Walleye with a crawler rig….Here’s the conditions.

Water Depth 6′ to 12′
Fast current
sand/rock bottom….pretty clean….we troll cranks with out snaging up
about a 12″ visibility
We are catching fish trolling cranks that are ticking/hitting the bottom…so I know the Walleye are holding to the bottom pretty tight.

Would a three way or inline weight be the place to start ?
I don’t want to get the crawler rig to far off the bottom.

Thanks for any suggestions,

We use bottom bouncers when we troll crawler rigs like you describe. They work pretty nice.

X2 on the bottom bouncer. Probably an ounce and a half for the depth you’re looking at. If you’ve never used bottom bouncers before don’t let the size of them make you think twice. They catch fish and put you in the zone. It took me a while to have confidence to use them as I always thought stealthy was better for walleyes. Give it a fair shot you’ll be glad u did.

x3 wouldn’t leave home without them.

Thanks….got some and will try them next time out.

What length should I start with my leader ? I’m thinking about 2′ or less ?

I would start with 4-6′ leader 14-17 lb flouro. This time of year with the water warmer try a double hook harness with crawlers. When you feel the tug drop the tip back for a second and set the hook. Try running 1-1.5 mph

One other thing try not to drag the bottom bouncer. Try to keep it just off bottom just keep dropping the rod tip back to feel bottom so you know you are close.

Don’t forget to try “Slow Death” with a bottom bouncer. They work extremely well on rivers. Speed around .5 mph. I use two rods in holders (because we can in WI). At this speed the walleyes seem to follow up from behind and hit. Your rod will load up and the fish should be hooked. The only problem is some of us like to feel the hit. If so you can still hold one and watch the other. Beware you will catch everything that swims with crawlers.

Like others have said let the bouncer sag back and just till the wire ticks bottom. I would start with a 3-4 foot bouncer and you should be in luck putting you about a foot off bottom if you bouncer wire is ticking bottom. – Q