Not a lot of experience pulling spinner rigs/crawler harnesess, just wondering how much the speed plays into it. When I troll, its with flicker shads or salmo hornets and I usually go 1.5 to 1.9mph. Is that too fast for a crawler harness? I would be using a bottom bouncer, so not suspended with the rig. I would guess the size/type of spinner blade may be a factor, the smaller the blade the easier it spins at slower speeds?
Around one mph works for us.
I always see .7 mph to 1.2 mph quoted. I’m not sure my boat would dead drift that slow. Lol. I like covering a lot of water so this technique has always scared me.
I use my Terrova for slow trolling so I can keep it closer to 1mph if needed
Just fast enough for the spinner to spin works! But yes, generally the smaller the blade the easier it will spin at slower speeds, a tick or two less than 1 mph is enough. Propeller and Colorado blades spin better at slower speeds than say an Indiana blade.
I finally bought a trolling motor for the sole of pulling spinners. Easily my favorite tactic during summer months!
.8 to 1.8 is what I troll spinners at. I very the speed till I find out what they want.
Heck try trolling cranks at 4.5 MPH and crushing walleyes. That one through me for a loop but it worked!
.8 to 1.8 is what I troll spinners at. I very the speed till I find out what they want.
Heck try trolling cranks at 4.5 MPH and crushing walleyes. That one through me for a loop but it worked!
Interesting, I might need to try that this year. Sounds like a blast.
Fast enough to turn the blade any where from .6 to 1.5 miles an hour the fish will tell you what they like. When fishing a lake try and match the forage in the lake such as perch or shiner. But lakes like LOW which are stained water gold is always good with that flash. Experiment and if fishing with different people use different colors to see what works best.
.8 to 1.8 is what I troll spinners at. I very the speed till I find out what they want.
Heck try trolling cranks at 4.5 MPH and crushing walleyes. That one through me for a loop but it worked!
Yeah I have had some crazy good success trolling that fast. I caught a 28″ walleye in mid-August a few years ago and I swear I hooked into a Muskie. That is a pretty good strategy. Sometimes I feel like you catch them only based on aggression.
.7 to 2.5
Though generally if I need to go over 2 the fish are well past ready for crankbaits and I’ll gladly remove live bait from my boat until temps drop in the fall.
One tip. If your catching fish on crawler harnesses after pausing or surging the rod… They want it faster.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Chris Messerschmidt wrote:</div>
.8 to 1.8 is what I troll spinners at. I very the speed till I find out what they want.Heck try trolling cranks at 4.5 MPH and crushing walleyes. That one through me for a loop but it worked!
Interesting, I might need to try that this year. Sounds like a blast.
Water over 70 deg often calls for better than 3mph.
Over 78 and you’ll be playing in the 4’s.
Light drag and flexible medium action rods almost required.
.7 to 2.5
Though generally if I need to go over 2 the fish are well past ready for crankbaits and I’ll gladly remove live bait from my boat until temps drop in the fall.
One tip. If your catching fish on crawler harnesses after pausing or surging the rod… They want it faster.
Same for me, my cut-off from crawlers to cranks is anything over 1.8 mph. For whatever reason, I usually find my best luck around 1.4 but it’s always an experiment.
I like 0.8-1.2 mph. Slower for small blades and faster for big blades (i.e.# 4s and 5s)
Completely depends on the bite? Have had success when they would only bite when we were cruising.
A couple summers ago at the in-laws cabin up by lutsen(always a couple weeks behind most of the state for the bite) it was the 4th of July and slow. We started trolling gum drop floaters as slow as the 4 horse kicker would go. Could barely feel the bite each time but just slated them.
Long answer for= what the fish want
For those of running fast (1.5mph and faster) are you doing this in deep water? I would think you would need a ton of weight to keep it in the strike zone. I would like to get better at trolling spinners especially learning how to run it right over the top of the weeds mid summer. I can catch walleyes until early/mid July and then my success drops.
For those of running fast (1.5mph and faster) are you doing this in deep water? I would think you would need a ton of weight to keep it in the strike zone. I would like to get better at trolling spinners especially learning how to run it right over the top of the weeds mid summer. I can catch walleyes until early/mid July and then my success drops.
All depths. 2-8oz weights on hand always.
I ran 1.7 up current in 24′ yesterday with 4oz. 6’s would’ve been better.
Agree with FBRM, I usually have 1/2oz sizes up to 3oz in my boat and need to get some jumbo sizes – there have been a few times fishing ML or Oahe in 25-30 FOW where, with wind and current, 3oz was just barely getting by.
Oh and I have never found the need for small blades, 5’s or 6’s only for me. Spinners with crawlers IMO is typically not a finesse technique. I understand that’s different on the Great Lakes with inline weights/suspended fish but I’ve not had the chance to do that yet.
I would like to get better at trolling spinners especially learning how to run it right over the top of the weeds mid summer.
IMO this is a different creature to bouncers/3 ways and fishes much closer to the Great Lakes technique with inline weights. I usually start this with a 1/8 oz bullet sinker inline with the spinner/harness and adjust weight/speed from there.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Ross Gunderson wrote:</div>
I would like to get better at trolling spinners especially learning how to run it right over the top of the weeds mid summer.IMO this is a different creature to bouncers/3 ways and fishes much closer to the Great Lakes technique with inline weights. I usually start this with a 1/8 oz bullet sinker inline with the spinner/harness and adjust weight/speed from there.
Exactly!
Also, when pulling spinners in open water; the general rule of thumb is to use 1 ounce of weight per 10 feet of water when using BB or 3-way. Ideally you want the line to leave the rod tip at a 45 degree angle
I’m a Mille Lacs guy and prefer 3-ways. The majority of the time I have a 3 ounce bell sinker on fishing depth of 20-35 feet. It’s just what works for me.
Size 4 vs size 7 you can throw that rule right out the window.
I run mostly 6 & 7’s for blades.
4’s &5’s are mayfly Riggs… But then again there’s many ways to fish for walleye 
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
