Whats your go to stick bait on 3 ways

With so many options on stick baits I was wondering what the veiwers opion was on there favorite

Here are some of my favorites..

The best would be working from upper left to right.

When the water is dirty use the fire tiger’s and bright colors. When the water is cleaner use the minnow looking baits the chrome’s and such.

Good luck

Rapala #5-7-9 in Vampire 666

with a little special paint..deadly

and then fire tiger

a stick bait that i am getting more confidence in is the Roach Rouge..there are some real good color paterns and I like the real slow roll they have for the real cold water..doctor these up with some of my special paint and wa~la~ FISH ON !!

In the late winter and very early spring, I’ll take the #7 floating rapala in black/silver, followed by firetiger and black/gold.
On dark, rainy or cloudy days, orange/gold.
Rapala came out with some new colors. Theys should be alot of fun to play with.
JWB

hey Vandy…those look exactly like my stickbaits!

Dave… …hard to beat da VAMP!!! especially when the shad are around!

3-ways, I have tried running 3 ways before, and end up in a tangeled mess, never knowing where the rap is and what it’s doing. How do you guys rig this setup? How much weight, dropper length, leader length, and do you run your kicker or trolling motor pulling these around?
Basically I’m asking “How do you fish these things properly”

Jami

My standard starting set up includes an 18″ dropper and a 6′ lead to my crank when targeting a deep sand flat. If I am fishing an area with a steep drop I will shorten up my dropper length to keep the bait in the strike zone better whilke going up and down the break.

The 18″ dropper and 6′ lead is mostly with floating Raps. The combination chages as your bait changes. Some baits require a 24″ drop with a 6′ lead. The running depth of the crank plays a big part in the equation. The key is to get your bait to run just off the bottom.

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Basically I’m asking “How do you fish these things properly”

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A couple more tips. Use heavier line like 10/12/14 lb mono, like Berkely XT. Make sure your plug is in tune and running straight before lowering to the bottom of the river. (In other words, hold the 3-way slightly under water at trolling speed and watch the lure work. It should not pull to the left or right, it should run true.) Also, don’t just release the 3-way into a free fall. SLOWLY lower the rig to the bottom. Once you feel bottom, hold it there for a few seconds and drop your rod tip back and you should feel the weight thump bottom. IF not, slowly let out more line. A good casting reel with a flippin’ switch works sweet for this aplication. I ususally start out with a 3 ounce weight an work heavier from there. I’ll use the bow mount, kicker or both to get the desired trolling speed which is usually just a slow crawl. However, there are days when the fish want it fast…up to 3.5 mph or more. Don’t give up on this absolutely deadly presentation. Especially good during the next 70-90 days of river fishing!

-J.

Hey Vandy, I notice you have a thin fin in your collection. Those never, ever catch walleye…. never!

-J.

My favorite stickbaits are Original floating raps, Husky Jerk,Storm Thunderstick, Matzuo prism minnow, Smithwick Rogue series, and Bomber Long A’s. Lots of others I have not tried, and many other good ones I did not list.
I usually run weighs like John J, somewhere between 3 and 8 oz. I like 8# diameter fireline for mainline, 10-12# Vanish for my lead to crank, and 8 or 10# mono to the weight.
Excellent point John made on not freefalling the rig, especially if you are having difficulty with “balled up” line. I use my kicker most often, especially when trolling long flats and channel edges. Bow mount for hovering in a small area, on a wingdam, or both motors in some circumstances.
Another key to keeping line untangled, bait running true, and fish hitting is to use just enough weight to let the weight tick bottom occasionally, but definetly not dragging bottom. Many will counsel to keep line at 45 degrees to the water or less angle. I will run up to 60 degrees, but 45 is standard.
Good luck, post a pic of your first 3-way fish!

Thanks for the info guys. Looks like I have to give this a shot and add much heavier weights to my shopping list.

Hey Jon,

Before they went out of business Storm Lures from Oklahoma was one of the best companys out there for tournment fisherman. That’s probably why they went out of business.
I still have some rattinlin thin fins and they really don’t catch walleye’s.. Alot of my baits have rattles.
Some one asked about weights..I usually start with 3oz..and go up to 12oz.. You need to keep your rig at a 45 degree to the boat.
Dropper’s 18 inches with 5 foot leaders.
Dropper’s 24 inches with 6 foot leaders.
These are with shallow diving cranks in the floating category..deep divers and sinkers all have different droppers and leaders.
Good luck have fun and let the bigens go.

This may sound extreme but I like 25lb mono going to the sinker and 25lb fire line on the main line and on the leader. The fish are so tuned into the plug that I dont think they even notice a leader.Even in the clear water last week they were hitting. You loose a lot less gear,and the price of lures and big pencil weights is worth it.Of course there are some snags that you just cant get out of, but youll still get out of more snags with the heavy line.

I have tried this without much luck. Heres a question. The shallow diving rap goes about 2-4 feet whitha cast and retrieve or trolling. Wouldn’t it also dive 2-4 feet attatched to a 3 way? Therefore wouldnt you need a dropper of at least 4 feet to keep it just off the bottom if the dropper weight is bouncing litely off the bottom? Not trying to be a smart azz…just doin the math.

I used to be a #7 Rapala guy, but now I use more Roach Rogues. When you are looking for big fish, give those Roach Rogues a try. They work really well

I have been using more and more Smithwicks lately also. Both casting and handlining….Bigger baits for bigger fish!

Scott

Dustin and I really haven’t had much time to pull cranks yet this spring but we found the rouges and the rouges jr. did a pretty good job of cutting down on that near constant conveyer belt of 12″ saugers that can drive a guy insane some days. We ran floating raps on one side of the boat and the rogues on the other. The rogues caught far fewer fish…. no doubt about it. But the extra fish the floating raps caught were the shakers that keep a guy reeling back in to release fish over and over. On legal sized fish the rougues showed a distinct advantage on that particular day so we will definitely be trying these baits more later this spring once the water warms and we get closer to the spawn. Got any favorite colors to share? Clown was good for us.

Fishaholic,
I understand your thinking concerning the length of dropper, but the length of line to your stickbait has a shortening effect on how far the bait will dive. Try running your 5-6′ leader in the water next to the boat where you can visually see how far it dives. Current flow will also have some effect on the dive depth, although minimal with a short lead. Seeing the depth of dive will give you more confidence that your bait is running in the strike zone, thus helping you stay at it until “Fish ON” occurs!
If you find you are feeling the bait stick bottom too often, or are picking up a lot of bottom debris, shorthen the leader or lengthen the dropper. If the bait does not occasionally tick bottom, try the reverse.
The key for me with this presentation was staying with it until I got the knack and feel for how the bait was running, making sure I was trolling through areas holding active fish, and switching bait size and color from time to time to find what the fish wanted. Sounds like a lot of variables, but time spent is the best way to develope confidence in this presentation. Stick with it and you will find it a fantastic cool to cold water presentation .

I want my baits ticking bottom continuously, but not hard digging. You’ll get the feel eventually. And don’t be afraid to give your rod a good sweep often. You’ll notice a lot fish will grab the baits when it comes to that half second stand still before the boat catches up to it.

One other thing, I’m a bit different than the rest of these guys in the fact that until the current gets up to a fierce velocity, I’m useing 2 to 3 oz pencil weights and letting the weight drag bottom, but only lightly. I find that extra noise and stirring of the bottom can attract more fish and give them a larger something to zero in on.

Works for me anyway.

Thanks for the info

James, some days I do not mind fighting all those little head shakers but come tournament time I have a few new favorites that seem to catch bigger fish and they are all Smithwicks.

The Mr. Walleye (Roach) Rattlin Rogues
1) Fire Tiger
2) Orange Chub
3)Purple Chub

As it gets later in spring, I run some even bigger baits, the Floating Super Rogues:

1) Tiger Roan
2) Lazer Craw
3) Clown

The 1,2,3 is the order they come out of my tackle box when I am handlining. I do not pull 3-ways very often anymore but they basically work the same as a 3 way. When one is “going” so is the other.

Speed,current,depth are all factors in pulling. I start with 14″ droppers and 36″ leaders. In genoa 2 weeks ago,our fish came on polelineing with 10′ leaders on day 2.The weight sometimes spook the fish and sometimes they want the noise on the weight banging the bottom.The higher the current the shorter the dropper/leader is a good rule of thumb.I normally run power pro leaders but heavy mono gives a lesser dive curve on the cranks. Trial and error untill you get it dialed in. Then stay with the same cranks and change colors untill you see what works.