What techniques do you use to pull cranks on the river?When I used to fish down there a long time ago we used to just long line shad raps and that worked pretty good.Just wondering how you set up your rods.Leadcore,3 ways,1 rap or 2 per line,stick baits or shads?Thanks
Most of the guys i’ve been seeing are pulling 3-ways with cranks. hope this helps.
It largely depends on water temps for me.
Early season until May I’m 3 -way rigging stickbaits.
Once I get into May then the long line or lead core bite is the way to go.
Deeper into the summer I’m long lining with braid.
I pull cranks all the time depending on the water your fishing i would say your more then safe to long line them spring,summer and fall.The only time i go to the 3 way rig is if im going down into some deep water otherwise most your cranks now days will get you down to any depth you want.Myself i prefer to long line them 80-100yrds back.Hope this helps 
Good fishing guy’s & gal’s.
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Myself i prefer to long line them 80-100yrds back.
I don’t think you could get away with with this anywhere above Everts this time of year.
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Myself i prefer to long line them 80-100yrds back.
I don’t think you could get away with with this anywhere above Everts this time of year.
Dont recall Everts being any part of the ? I do recall something about cranks and what people prefer thank you . LOL to each there own
I think what Fransis is saying and some of us would questions is….. 300 feet back! 
Can’t say I run that far back even in open water out on Mille Lacs.
-J.
Well maybe some of you so called fishermen should try it and not knock it till you do.I been doing it for years now and have caught many many fish so like i said befor to each there own but dont ? someone else on there advice
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Well maybe some of you so called fishermen should try it and not knock it till you do.I been doing it for years now and have caught many many fish so like i said befor to each there own but dont ? someone else on there advice
I’m not knocking on you at all with what I’m about to say here… just addressing the length of line out.
Depending on the crankbait, after you get out over 150 – 200 FEET of line a crankbait stops diving any deeper. The increased amount of upward pressure on all that extra line negates any extra depth you might achieve.
Is there anything wrong with letting out 100 YARDS of line? No. Each to there own. There’s no wrong way to catch a fish. If you were fishing in extremely clear water on a calm day that extra line might help keep from spooking the fish. But on the river in dirty, shallow water it certainly wouldn’t be necessary.
So on a 3 way rig do you run a bell sinker?I suppose weight will depend on current flow.2-3 oz?Do you just run 1 crank per line?And how long of a droper do you typically run?Thanks again 
3oz bell usually. 6-8″ dropper, 40-42″ leader for me.
Thanks
Depending on the crankbait, after you get out over 150 – 200 FEET of line a crankbait stops diving any deeper. The increased amount of upward pressure on all that extra line negates any extra depth you might achieve.
Now this is funny and not true at all.I have used many different cranks on lakes,river and even the ocean and can get to any depth with a lot more line out then say the 100-200 feet of line your talking about.I have even been told by guy’s such as Al Linder Tony Dean and others the way to get to the fish is to maxamize the length of your line to your advantage when trolling the longer the better even if it mean’s putting out over a hundred yard’s of line.So now i will rest my case on the facts of what i was taught well fishing with guy’s with names like stated above i think these guy’s have a good clue to what they teach when your on the water with them paying good money for there advice.
whatever floats your boat sir. I will go with the side to strongly agree to disagree with this case.
I dont know about 300′, but one thing that helps me catch more fish on cranks than some others on Pool 2 is to let out more line than typical. Since I am fishing shallow water and often tight to shore, if the fish are “off” at all, I think that the extra distance from the boat can make a big difference at times.
300′ does seem excessive though.
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Depending on the crankbait, after you get out over 150 – 200 FEET of line a crankbait stops diving any deeper. The increased amount of upward pressure on all that extra line negates any extra depth you might achieve.
Now this is funny and not true at all.I have used many different cranks on lakes,river and even the ocean and can get to any depth with a lot more line out then say the 100-200 feet of line your talking about.I have even been told by guy’s such as Al Linder Tony Dean and others the way to get to the fish is to maxamize the length of your line to your advantage when trolling the longer the better even if it mean’s putting out over a hundred yard’s of line.So now i will rest my case on the facts of what i was taught well fishing with guy’s with names like stated above i think these guy’s have a good clue to what they teach when your on the water with them paying good money for there advice.
I think they said feet. You heard yards. There’s a big difference. While it is true that the majority of cranks will dive deeper on 100 feet of line than they will on 50 feet of line the simple fact is at a certain point, often after you have 150 – 200 feet of line out (depending on the crank) more line will not equal more depth. And you can take that to the bank.
For a very scientific analysis of this pick up a copy of Precision Trolling with the dive curves. You will see that there’s a point of diminishing returns for ALL cranks where more line does NOT equal more depth.
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and can get to any depth with a lot more line out
With all due respect, this is not correct.
For example, a #5 shad rap’s dive curve maxs out around 9 – 10 feet, depending on the diameter of the line used, and doubling, tripling or quadrupling the amount of line out WILL NOT get you more depth. There’s simple physics at play here. The downward pressure of the bill of the crank is eventually equalized by the upwards pressure on the line caused by the friction / drag of the line moving through the water.
But you don’t have to take my word for it. Opinions are like noses, everyone has one. You’re entitled to yours despite the overwhelming information available to the contrary.
Have a nice day. I’m going fishing.
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Have a nice day. I’m going fishing.
Lucky dog
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I think what Fransis is saying and some of us would questions is….. 300 feet back!
Can’t say I run that far back even in open water out on Mille Lacs.
-J.
Am I the only one that caught this?
Dude; Even in my great vast, lack of knowledge, inexperience of pulling boards/cranks on Superior for Salmon we go back as far as 300feet. But our baits aren’t running any deeper than they would at 100feet. You should know this if you have ocean fished.
People on the river don’t go back 300 feet because you loose your boat control in the aspect of contour trolling. How the hell are you suppose to keep your crank on the breakline or in the zone when trolling a river channel at 300feet?
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People on the river don’t go back 300 feet because you loose your boat control in the aspect of contour trolling. How the hell are you suppose to keep your crank on the breakline or in the zone when trolling a river channel at 300feet?
This is the main difference between someone who knows how to troll efficiently and someone who just drives around pulling baits. The little things make all the difference in the world. You would have a very hard time keeping your bait where it needs to be with this much line out.
I am not even going to comment on whether that much line out helps get a crankbait deeper. That has already been covered.
Concerning the original question in this thread, I use all the methods of trolling you mentioned from time to time. The main thing you have to ask yourself is which technique will get your bait to the depth the fish are at the speed the fish will hit it given the conditions (current, boat traffic, debris in the water) you have to deal with. Different situation obviously call for different techniques. For instance, if I went out looking for walleye with cranks today I would use either lead, three ways, or handlines because those are the methods that will get a crankbait down to the fish at a slow enough speed to induce a strike. If I was trolling a curvy breakline in mid summer at 10 feet deep I may choose to use lead instead of longline because I will be able to follow the contour of the break better with less line out.
The bottom line is the fish don’t care whether the shad rap they eat is being pulled on a long line or a three way as long as it gets in front of them at the right speed.
My two cents.
Im not sure I have that much line on my reels 
And I sure dont want to be reeling that much in 
No big deal if it works for ya keep doing it
Again thanks for the info and replies
Nope, not too cold at all. Downsize your stickbaits and slow down your trolling speeds and you should be in business.
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