Heavy Snap Weights for Walleye

What is the best way to get your lure to an accurate depth using a 5-6 ounce snap weight? Is there a certain method or formula to get an accurate depth?

A better ? is what depth are your targeting and what type of lure are you going to be pulling.

Depth ranges from 15-40 and bait size number 5s through 9s crankbaits around 2mph

Do you need that much weight because of current? I don’t know of a chart of dive depths but I’m interested in the conditions you’re fishing in.

Mostly reservoirs with some current. Fishing deep trees or tight contours.

Gotcha. Wish I could help more. Ever just run a 3 way rig instead of a snap weight? You’ll know you’re making bottom contact and should be able to keep a bait in the strike zone.

I would use a fishhawk td. They clip in your line and tell you how deep it went. Once you figure out how deep the weights take the depth probe you can add the dive depth for your crank. Obviously it won’t be 100% perfect because of the different drag produced by the crank, but it’s a good starting point.

There are snap weight depth curves all over google.

Below is an article that I first read in 2010 about trolling with heavy snapweights that really changed how I troll cranks. My wife and I have been using 8 oz. snapweights ever since I first read this article and we’ve literally caught thousands of walleyes doing it.
It works extremely well.

Heavy snap weights and superline offer an alternative to lead core
22.May.2010 by Will Brantley
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Editor’s note: This is just one article from a recent issue of FLW Outdoors Magazine, which publishes both a Bass Edition and a Walleye Edition. To learn more about the magazine and how to subscribe, click here.
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Four crankbaits wobbling on the ends of four long lengths of lead core are effective at seining the depths for deep walleyes. That is, until one of the crankbaits snags a leaf, stick or some other assorted debris. Then it runs sideways. With the other lines nearby crisscrossing in the same water depths, it doesn’t take a fishing genius to know a tangled disaster is in the making. Time to crank in that line – all 150 feet of it.
Open-water trollers negate many of the tangling problems with planer boards, of course. Planer boards serve a variety of other purposes, but keeping lines spread out and under control while fishing suspended walleyes is job one.
Deep-water river trollers (and really, trollers who are using lead core anywhere) can accomplish the same purpose by swapping a few of their lead-core rods for setups with superline and heavy snap weights. This trick is really nothing new, but it is not commonly seen in conjunction or as a substitute for lead-core trolling.
Yet, some pros, such as Pat Neu of Forestville, Wis., and Dan Stier of Mina, S.D., are rapidly learning the benefits of running the two in tandem, or even abandoning lead core altogether. Dealing with a tangled mess of lead core, lead lines and crankbaits, particularly with cold hands during a big-river tournament, is likely to encourage anyone to search for a better way.
“In water that lends itself to use with lead core, you often have four lines running alongside one another within a 25-foot area,” Neu said. “That’s just a recipe for disaster if one of them picks up some debris. So I started looking for rigs that would still get lures down to the fish but would spread them out both horizontally and vertically.
“I remembered some tricks we began using on Lake Michigan with snap weights and superlines to get dodgers and flashers down to salmon in the 40- to 60-foot depth range. This was about 10 years ago when the lake began clearing up, and you had to fish deep because the salmon were being spooked by the boats overhead.”
Snap-weight rigs can still be used in conjunction with two lead-core lines, offering similar amounts of coverage without all the tangling hassles. Plus, the weights have the added benefit of collecting surface debris that gathers on the line before it can reach the crankbait. That is not possible with lead core – yet another advantage of this system that Stier learned from a veteran South Dakota angler several years ago.
“He always made fun of lead-core trollers,” Stier said. “He didn’t use anything other than snaps for contour-trolling crankbaits. I’ve learned that by using snap weights, you can be in the strike zone longer, adjust quickly by reeling up or releasing line, and land fish or retrieve baits in about a third of the time that you can with lead core. Plus, because you’re using braided line, you can see the vibration of your crankbait through your rod tip. That’s critical, especially in a river system where you have a lot of debris – and it’s not always easy to see with lead core. If you pick up trash and the bait stops wobbling, it’s instantly ineffective.”
Ease of use, tangle-free and capable of reaching the depths – you can’t ask for much more from a trolling system to chase the contours of deep water.
Simple set
The technique is deceptively simple to fish.
“I’ve fished with people this way, and many of them have asked, ‘Why haven’t I been doing this all along?’” Neu said.
Some basic crankbait trolling knowledge and the ability to read a depth finder are required. Neu has found at 1.8 to 2 mph, the speeds he typically runs crankbaits, the depth he wants to hit with his crankbaits will closely match the length of line from the rod to the snap weight, given an 8-ounce weight, 30-foot lead, diving crankbait and 14/6 superline.
“Basically, you let out 30 feet of line on your line counter and clip on the weight,” Neu said. “Then, reset your reel and let out another length of line that corresponds to the depth you’re fishing – 25 feet of line for 25 feet of water, in other words. Then, put it in the rod holder and wait for a strike. It’s that simple.”
Stier’s setup is virtually identical, although he allows for a 50-foot lead (still trolling at approximately 2 mph).
“Fifty feet of line will usually provide about half of any crankbait’s diving depth,” he said. “If you have a bait that dives to around 12 feet or so, 50 feet is often about right.”
Stier has used this technique in water as shallow as 7 feet and as deep as 70 feet. He sticks with 8-ounce weights regardless.
Experiment a bit with the lead length you prefer. If you use a slightly heavier or lighter sinker, or if you have a favorite crankbait that runs a little shallower or digs a little deeper, some adjustments may be in order. These numbers are simply good starting points. Also, it is important to note the weight isn’t dragging along bottom. Rather, it hovers above, with the line at roughly a 45-degree angle in the water column. The crankbait actually dives and runs below it.
Both Neu and Stier often run two lead-core lines and two snap-weight lines (where legal, of course). The lead-core rods are typically run on the corners of the boat, while the snap weights are fished on the inside, directly out the back of the boat. This reduces, or even eliminates, the chances of them crossing one another.

Simple equipment
Neu uses an 8 ½- to 10-foot lead-core rod for this presentation. He likes a rod with a stout backbone but with a light tip so he can tell when the lure hits bottom and when it picks up debris.
Stier varies his rod lengths depending on where they are positioned in the boat. Outside rods are generally 10 to 12 feet long. Inside rods might be as short as 6 feet.
Neu uses Off Shore Tackle snap weights. The typical size is 8 ounces as mentioned, but 6-ouncers are sometimes used as well, particularly when fishing shallow water. Similar to a planer board, these weights are attached to the line with an OR16 Snap Weight Clip that has a tiny protrusion through the center of the pad. The protruding stud on the OR16 clip keeps the clip from pulling off the line even with an 8-ounce weight attached.
Crankbait choices run the gamut, but something with a fair amount of wobble is best. Stier likes Salmo Hornets and Rapala Shad Raps. Neu often uses Reef Runners and SPRO MadEye Shads.
“You can really see them working in the rod tip, and it’s easy to tell when they pick up sticks and stuff,” Neu said. “Diving baits will pull down and run under the snap weight, but stick baits need longer leads to run under the ball. That’s important to note. Also, if you’re using a smaller shallower-running bait, like when you’re fishing early in the season, you might be able to use a shorter lead.”
Simple execution
Pulling a sizeable crankbait in current with an 8-ounce weight attached to the line will keep the rod loaded up, but detecting a strike isn’t a problem.
“The instant you pick up debris, the rod tip stops vibrating so you don’t troll very long with a fouled lure,” Neu said. “There’s also no doubt when you get a strike. They just nail it. And because you have so much less line out, you spend a lot less time reeling them in. That’s important in a tournament.”
Keeping fish hooked up isn’t a problem. If you have a partner, he needs to be ready as the snap weight comes over the side of the boat. Unclipping it should be a fluid motion with one hand while the other hand keeps the lead taut. But with the current and the rod loaded from the weight and the fish, this isn’t too difficult.
“I was fishing like this at a PWT event in Mobridge, and it was easy to remove the weight and keep tension on the fish, even when I was by myself pre-fishing,” Neu said.
Stier uses his reel’s clicker when fishing with snap weights.
“I set the clicker, back the drag off until it clicks, and then tighten it slightly,” he said. “When a fish hits, you’ll often hear it before you see it. Don’t get in a hurry. Lots of guys want to pick the rod up and immediately begin reeling. But the current and the forward motion of the boat will cause that fish to rise right to the surface most of the time. I just pick up my rod and wait until the fish is up. When the clicker stops, I tighten the drag just a bit and reel it in.”
Many fishing innovations and techniques have been created because of certain shortcomings or general discontent with other methods, but that doesn’t mean the other methods don’t still work and don’t still have their place. Lead-core trolling is a time-honored art, but it does take some time to master, and maintaining a spread of lead-core lines in water with heavy debris can be challenging.
Snap weights, superlines and crankbaits provide a viable, easy-to-use alternative for deep-contour trolling. And using them in conjunction with lead-core lines is still an option. Then again, once you try the snap-weight system for yourself, deploying them with lead core might not be an option – your lead-core reels could be gathering dust in the garage.

Open-water snap weights
When you realize the tangle-free advantages that trolling snap weights and crankbaits can provide in a river system, it’s easy to think of them primarily as a substitute for lead-core trolling in current. But the system has other uses as well, including targeting suspended fish in deep lakes and reservoirs.
Pro Pat Neu of Forestville, Wis., often uses his 8-ounce snap-weight system when fishing for walleyes holding deeper than 25 feet in slack water.
“At that point, you just can’t get a big-billed bait down there to them on (Berkley) Fireline,” he said. “I like using snap weights when I need to quickly present a vertical presentation, rather than the horizontal presentation of planer boards. However, the fish do need to be far enough off the bottom to keep from dragging the baits.”
Neu likens fishing snap weights in open water to fishing a downrigger. As when trolling the system in current, he simply divides the water column. If he marks fish at 30 feet over 50 feet of water, he’ll release 30 feet of line, attach his snap weight, reset his line counter and release another 30 to 35 feet of line. His crankbait will be within a few feet of the fish, but it also allows for rapid adjustment.
“If I’m trolling along this way and suddenly mark a big fish that’s just 5 feet off bottom (45 feet down), I can release more line so there is 45 feet out and, bam, the bait will pass close enough to trigger a strike,” Neu said. “I can also reel in some line if I spot a fish higher in the water column.
“This is just a fast, efficient way of getting crankbaits down to deep-water fish. It’s much faster and easier to adjust than lead core, and an 8-ounce weight doesn’t disturb the water column (and spook fish) much at all.”

We run 3 way rigs with 2-6 oz snap weights on the missouri river system quite often. The weight obviously goes on the dropper part of the 3 way while the leader to the bait is just as long as the rod. We haven’t had a problem with a 6-8′ leader after the big chunk of lead, but I thnk thats due to the stained water. Probably couldnt get away with it on the Bay.

As far as depth is concerned, there are lots of variables. Best piece of advice I can give you is get a notepad and find a flat and start testing for the way that YOU fish. in 30 FOW with a 3-6 oz snap weight at 1.5-2.0 mph you’re going to find bottom very quickly. Make sure you have a calibrated line counter, and I would use braid for that heavy of a snap. Once you get that info it can be applied to suspended fish as well.

One that sticks out for me is at 2.0 mph at 20 FOW we had 27 feet of line out with a 6 oz. snap.

An easy way to do it with line counter reels and heavy snapweights is to stop your boat in whichever depth you’re going to fish, set your line counter to zero, attach a heavy snapweight just above your crankbait and drop it vertically over the side. The depth that you see on your line counter when it hits bottom is the number that you want your line counter set to when trolling. It makes no difference whether your line counter is calibrated accurately or not.

Let your crankbait out the number of feet that you read on your line counter when your snapweight hit bottom, attach your snapweight and let the same number out again. With most crankbaits using those numbers, if you troll at 2 mph, you’ll catch walleyes.

It makes no difference whether your line counter is calibrated accurately or not doing it this way.

^ this is false. When the boat is moving the line will rise and be above your targeted depth. The most accurate way to do it is with the boat moving at the speeds you are intending to fish. Idk about you, but I don’t want to be fishing in 20 feet of water and need to remember to let out 67 feet on the line counter because it isnt calibrated. Take the time to calibrate them and maximize your efficency on the water.

^^^especially if you are running multiple lines.

Browndog wrote:

^ this is false. When the boat is moving the line will rise and be above your targeted depth. The most accurate way to do it with the boat moving at the speeds you are intending to fish. Idk about you, but I don’t want to be fishing in 20 feet of water and need to remember to let out 67 feet on the line counter because it isnt calibrated. Take the time to calibrate them and maximize your efficency on the water.

Correct. I wouldn’t suggest doing it the other way.
But when I troll the river I just run a 3 way. It’s about as easy as it gets

Karry Kyllo wrote:

An easy way to do it with line counter reels and heavy snapweights is to stop your boat in whichever depth you’re going to fish, set your line counter to zero, attach a heavy snapweight just above your crankbait and drop it vertically over the side. The depth that you see on your line counter when it hits bottom is the number that you want your line counter set to when trolling. It makes no difference whether your line counter is calibrated accurately or not.

Let your crankbait out the number of feet that you read on your line counter when your snapweight hit bottom, attach your snapweight and let the same number out again. With most crankbaits using those numbers, if you troll at 2 mph, you’ll catch walleyes.

It makes no difference whether your line counter is calibrated accurately or not doing it this way.

Karry, Thanks for posting the article and your comments. I am going to try this more this summer on Lake of the Woods.

You really don’t seem to be fishing to deep. One technique you could try is the Torpedo sinkers (can be fished as like a bottom bouncer but much more adjustable) I have been using Blood Run Walleye Copper for a number of years and it is a deadly technique for deeper depths and no weights

arcticm1000 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Karry Kyllo wrote:</div>
An easy way to do it with line counter reels and heavy snapweights is to stop your boat in whichever depth you’re going to fish, set your line counter to zero, attach a heavy snapweight just above your crankbait and drop it vertically over the side. The depth that you see on your line counter when it hits bottom is the number that you want your line counter set to when trolling. It makes no difference whether your line counter is calibrated accurately or not.

Let your crankbait out the number of feet that you read on your line counter when your snapweight hit bottom, attach your snapweight and let the same number out again. With most crankbaits using those numbers, if you troll at 2 mph, you’ll catch walleyes.

It makes no difference whether your line counter is calibrated accurately or not doing it this way.

Karry, Thanks for posting the article and your comments. I am going to try this more this summer on Lake of the Woods.

We troll using this method on Lake of the Woods all the time. Works great!

Karry Kyllo, what size weight are you using for your method?

8 oz. weights
I thought 8oz. snapweights sounded heavy before I first started using them (probably like you do), but after I read the article that I posted above in 2010, my wife and I were at the Lake of the Woods, we tried them and started catching walleyes immediately. We’ve been using the method ever since where ever we fish and we haven’t found any place where using heavy snapweights won’t catch walleyes. When we can only fish one rod each like at LOTW, we always troll using just heavy snapweights because getting lines out of the boat and getting fish in is so much quicker than using leadcore and it catches just as many walleyes. One 8’6″ rod pointing straight out each side is how we run them.
When we can use two rods each, we use them in conjunction with lead core to spread the baits out a bit and to give walleyes a slightly different look. One nice thing about using them together is that they both elevate with increased speed. When trolling, if you happen to stray into a shallower spot than you have your depths set, increase throttle and your cranks will rise in the water column. Just slow back down to your regular trolling speed when you get back into deeper water.
It’s so simple and so easy to do.
We use both Offshore OR16 snaps or Cabela’s snaps. They both work really well. You need OR16 snaps with braid because they have a tab on the middle of each pad that helps hold the braid. Offshore OR16 snaps are expensive but I’ve found no name snaps on eBay that are identical to OR16 snaps at a fraction of the price. On each snap we put two 4 ounce bank sinkers that I make at home with a Do-It mold. I can post a picture of the setup if you want.
We used Fireline when we first started using heavy snapweights and it worked great but we noticed fraying where we attached the snaps. It had to do with the shape of the line. We switched to 15/4 Power Pro and we’ve been using it now for the past 10 years without fail. With braid a single wrap around is needed on either the OR16 or the Cabela’s snaps to stop them from sliding but it’s not a big deal once you get the hang of everything.
We use 8’6″ medium rods and they work really well. They are always load up a bit with 8 oz. snapweights but I think the rods being loaded up actually increases the hookup ratio.
Sorry so long.

If you have or buy the Precision trolling app on your phone they have the 50+2 method where it shows a snap weight and then let 50 feet of line out and how much more line you would need for each bait to get to your specific depth. That is the best money you will spend if you pull plugs!

Red Reno wrote:

If you have or buy the Precision trolling app on your phone they have the 50+2 method where it shows a snap weight and then let 50 feet of line out and how much more line you would need for each bait to get to your specific depth. That is the best money you will spend if you pull plugs!

In the OPs scenario, he doesn’t want much line out to follow tight contours. Basically trying to pin his lure to the bottom.
DT

Karry Kyllo wrote:

An easy way to do it with line counter reels and heavy snapweights is to stop your boat in whichever depth you’re going to fish, set your line counter to zero, attach a heavy snapweight just above your crankbait and drop it vertically over the side. The depth that you see on your line counter when it hits bottom is the number that you want your line counter set to when trolling. It makes no difference whether your line counter is calibrated accurately or not.

Let your crankbait out the number of feet that you read on your line counter when your snapweight hit bottom, attach your snapweight and let the same number out again. With most crankbaits using those numbers, if you troll at 2 mph, you’ll catch walleyes.

It makes no difference whether your line counter is calibrated accurately or not doing it this way.

I’m sure this method catches fish, but you’re not very close to the bottom with an 8oz weight (a lot of blowback)

Heck, there is significant blowback with 8 POUND downrigger weights at 2mph down 30′ lol

EDIT: You posted attaching the weight “close” to the crankbait, but I just read the article and it said a 30′ lead.

That makes a lot more sense, since your crankbait is diving well below the weight.

On LOTW I use a combination of downriggers and leadcore myself. On the riggers I use small 8 pound balls, 25′ down and a 25′-30′ foot lead behind the ball for most of the basin. For leadcore, 4 colors of 12lb 832 leadcore on a board with a crankbait is killer (I always fish four guys in my boat there)

B-man,

I probably wasn’t very clear on my explanation.

If I mark fish at 30 ft.(as an example) and want to run my cranks at 30 ft. or so, I stop the boat someplace where my depthfinder reads 30 ft.. Then I attach a snapweight just above the crankbait, zero my line counter and drop it vertically over the side until it just hits bottom. With 8 oz. weights it’s very easy to know when it hits bottom. The number I read on my linecounter when the snapweight hits bottom is the number that I want to use on my linecounter to when trolling. Now I reel up the crankbait and snapweight and remove the snapweight.

I then start the boat moving at 2 mph and (still using 30 ft. as an example), if my linecounter read 34 ft. when it hit bottom because my linecounter may have not been properly calibrated, I let out my crankbait to 34 ft. on my linecounter. I then attach my snapweight and let out another 34 ft. on my linecounter. I’m now confident that my crankbait is running somewhere in the fish zone.

You’re right about blowback. If running at 2 mph with 8 oz. snapweights, I estimate that they run at about 45 degrees behind the boat which mean that the snapweights are really just running at about 21 ft. deep. That’s OK though because the dive curve of a #5 Salmo Hornet (which I troll alot as an example) shows that with 30 ft. of line out, the crankbait dives down another about another 9 ft. or so. Add it all together and the crank is running close to 30 ft. deep..

Yes, it varies from crank to crank I know but doing what I outline above will get you in the zone the majority of the time and you’ll catch fish. If your cranks run deeper and you feel them pounding bottom and you don’t want to run that deep, just reel up a few feet and go. You can also adjust depths by letting more line out or reeling some in, speeding up or slowing down, or zig jagging back and forth. It’s all about experimenting and refining your presentations while you’re trolling to figure out what you have to do to trigger walleyes to bite on a given day.
Successfully trolling cranks is rarely as simple as putting your rods in rod holders and driving.
Like every other method of catching walleyes, when trolling cranks the walleyes will let you know what they prefer on a given day.