Trolling Cranks

I usually start the opener on the Pond on the North end of the lake at midnight of opener every year. We usually do very good in the day but the night action is usually very slow. This year we have decided to try trolling cranks to see if covering alot of water we can hit a few more fish….I have not done this much before and would appreciate any insight or suggestions on night trolling to get us going in the right direction. ie, Depths? Speed?Types of Cranks?

Good Luck to all out there on opener.

CRB

CRB,

The night time trolling cranks can be just as good as the fall. Very similair patterns here that I have experienced. Shallow weed and rock or gravel from 4-10 foot depths. Windy? All the better. Fish the windy side of these structures! My favorite night time trolling crank is the Smithwick Suspending Super Rogue in the black/back and silver sides. Gentle forward rod sweeps followed by a taut line on the follow back pause and repeat step. Vary trolling speeds early on to get a feel for the bite and the mood of the fish and note their location to the structure you are fishing.

Trolling cranks is one of my favorite ways to start out opening night. I usually start with an # 7 Rapala Taildancer in the Hot Chub pattern or # 11 Original Floating Rapala in the Vampire or Perch pattern with a snap clip tied to the end of the line. I use 8/12 Spiderwire Fusion superline with an 8-foot slow action Bass Pro Shops graphite planner board rod and a line counter reel. I like to start out by running my baits along the shorelines. In some areas I fish, I get within 20-30 yards from shore to give you an idea how close the fish can be to the shoreline in say water of 5 feet or more. I start out in speeds around 1mph and creep along and sweep the rod forward like Steve mentioned. The sweeping motion can trigger strikes and also shake off any scum the lure may grab onto when bouncing any rocks or the bottom. The slower speed is key when using the sweep motion. By trolling at a slower speed and sweeping the bait forward, you will have a good overall speed for the baits. The bite will also determine speed factors. Last year the crank bait bite was so good for us on opening night, we were ripping cranks along at 2+mph all night and really smacked them good and the water temps were in the low 40’s. It will probably be a lot different this year.

Good Luck

THANK YOU!!

I will use this advice wisely and try some of your mentioned ideas. I wiil also post back after opener to report our success. Thanks again for your insight.

CRB

Watch out for those anchor ropes!! My advise if you do snag up on one is to just cut your line and have another pole ready to go.

Good Luck,
J.

Watch out for other boats because Mille Lacs Lake is a zoo in the early opening hours. We usually wait until about 4 in the morning to go out, assuming that all of the non-serious anglers are off the lake by this time.

Crankbaits sound like a great idea.