Crawler Harness Tying 101

I put this article/video together this weekend. Hope you fellow Mille Lacs anglers might find some of this useful.

Tying Crawler Harness/Spinners 101

-J.

Thanks Jon, Nice Video.

Maybe I missed it, you mentioned both Mono and Flouro lines – any preference between the two for different bottom structure, etc.? I make a lot of these to use in Canada with bottom bouncers – with 4 or 5 lines in the water, it’s a good way to minimize snags.

Thanks

Pete

I use mono on 90% of the rigs I tie. I use the p-line for rigs that will be used in ulta clear water situations. p-line is virtually invisable under water.

But with that being said, I don’t believe fish key in on line visability in most situations. I believe most strikes are triggered bites created from the flash and vibration of the blade. But sometimes I’ll run the p-line just to make myself “feel better” about the presentation.

Bottom structure makes no difference to which line I pick. I don’t use bottom bouncers on Mille Lacs.

-J.

I also tie a lot of spinner rigs and prefer a good mono line like XT over flouro’s for one big reason.

Flouro’s sink and mono’s don’t. I realize that once you get the hardware on a spinner rig its bound to sink anyway but why go with less buoyancy when you don’t have to.

Less snags is a good thing in my book!

Do you guys usually use walking sinkers or bottoms bouncers. I made up a bunch of these a couple years ago and have not used them all that much. I think that I am going to try to use them more often this year. Also do you guys use them while trolling or just keep moving with the trolling motor? I think I am going to get a bunch of different answers but I was just wondering what you prefer.
Thanks

I run crawler harnesses as 3 way rigs. Typical weight would be from 1-3 ounces. Droppers at about 18 inches with the lenght of the harness in that 6-8 foot range.

Yes, mostly trolled with an electric motor or kicker. But there are times when the wind alone will push you along fast enough on a drift. The speed you want to target is 1.0 to 1.3.

-J.

Thanks Jon, great info

It’s great Jon..thanks for sharing. My only question is how long of snells do you generally use on the big pond? I’ve heard of 8 footers? Ten footers? I might have mised you mentioning that in the video..thank you

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It’s great Jon..thanks for sharing. My only question is how long of snells do you generally use on the big pond? I’ve heard of 8 footers? Ten footers? I might have mised you mentioning that in the video..thank you

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i typically run 5-8 ft, depending on what kind of bottom i’m fishing. mud, gravel, rock, etc.

Good video JJ. You forgot to mention the most important component in tying… the . I quess I better get tying.
DT

Well done Mr Jordan!

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It’s great Jon..thanks for sharing. My only question is how long of snells do you generally use on the big pond? I’ve heard of 8 footers? Ten footers? I might have mised you mentioning that in the video..thank you

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I think the 10foot+ snells are typically more favored by the guys that are rigging. I know I’ve run 11-12 foot snells at times out there with some pretty minimalist setups to get bites. That said, I’ve been hard pressed to determine whether or not that was ACTUALLY the major factor on which success hinged upon. Makes netting the fish by yourself quite the feat as well.

Great video Jon! Especially your detail on the knots, good stuff!

Joel