Let’s Talk Crankin

This is one of my favorite ways to fish Mille lacs walleyes. This year I will be using the Salmo Minnow and Hornets. What are some of your favorite producers?

Can’t wait to get the cranks and the boards out again. I really like the Rapala Tail Dancer Deep and the Reefrunners. The Deep little Ripper is one of my favorites. I’m going to give the Salmo’s a try though this year, they look like a quality product.

I run the Rapala Deep Taildancer Religiously…Big Lure, Big Water, Big Fish!!

Have caught lots of big eyes with shadrap firetiger #5 & #7’s with snap weights off the mud flats and deep gravel

Taildancers in the deep and shadraps, husky jerks.
I want to get to learn pulling boards this season. I said that last year and ended up enjoying what I know so that’s as far as that went.

I think we need Koonce to come up for pulling boards this Summer and Johnsonville Brats

Otherwise Deep Crankin it is Deep Tail Dancers,Reef Runners, and White Bikini’s . Shallow it’s HJ’s, Shad Raps and LC’s

I want to do a lot more of it this year. I bought the Precision Trolling Book and all the cranks two years ago. I still have not pulled them out for open water crankin.

Will the gas prices cause some of you to crank less and switch to using the electronics? If it is the difference between catching fish and not, I would use the gas too.

If I troll cranks on opener weekend (or the next 2-3 weeks) I’m running #5 & #7 shad raps over shallow south end rocks. Craw/Shad/Firetiger would be my top 3 color picks.

-J.

I doubt I’ll do any trolling till after mid June. The bite is too easy corking and rigging to spend time and money(gas) pulling cranks.

When I do pull cranks, I mostly use the KaBoom Minnows from Daves Lures. This year I’m going to also be using his 2 new lines of balsa wood cranks, the Ruff Guy, and the Goodie Minnow.

If you want to see what they are all about, just click on the link in my signature.

Thise look really sweet! I gotta try some of those “Goodies!”

Do any of you guys ever pull cranks early season during the daytime over shallow water? I was thinking of trying some #5 shad raps over shallow rock during the midday on Saturday behind boards. A few years back while the guy running the boat was fiddling with the trolling motor I made a few casts toward shore and caught about a 3 lb. walleye at high noon. It got me thinking that if we got the cranks out away from the boat we could probably do ok in the daytime. Any comments?

Powereyes, first of all Welcome to IDA.

Secondly,

Quote:

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My wife calls Mille Lacs the “other woman”, I call it heaven.

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Now dat right dare is funny. I know what you mean.

Thirdly, I would imagine your technique would work, especially on a wind blown shore lines. That is the thing about Mille Lacs, anything can work at any given time. The biggest mistake people make is not having an open mind. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Welcome to IDA Powereyes.

I have tried to pull boards on the opener and found it CAN be a pain in the . When I am not dodging boats people are not paying attention to where they are driving and cutting my line either before or after my board

On the other hand I believe this could work very well.

I wrote an article for the mille lacs digest two years ago on that topic. Pulling cranks shallow during the day can be awesome. Cloudy days with some wind is best. Cast or flatline cranks in the shallows and over rock structures.