3ways and raps.

I was on the river friday and I thought we did fairly well. Started with jigs and plastics with little luck. Went to slip sinker with plain minnow and started having lot better results. Had almost all hits moving upstream real slow. Read reports here fishing 3 ways with stick baits and was wondering if this works this time of year. If so is there any rule of thumb on color for this time of year. I have read just about every article on this forum and it has been very helpful. I have a photographic memory but a lot of bad film. We stayed in the depths Dustin said he had best results in and it paid off. Was surpried as we caught very few sauger. Almost all eyes. Had none over 20. Ran 15 to 18 but to me thats an excellent day. Between 2 of us about 30 fish. Fished about 5 hours.

Im sure not the most experienced 3-way and crank guy here!… Im kind of suprised they have not chimed in….. when it comes to rule of thumb color “guessing”…. if your not hearing colors of any kind and your on your own…. well… I guess everyone has their preferences…. it seems to vary by pool and even time of day…. in clear water try natural colors like silver/black. gold/black, and perch…. also blues are good….. in muddier water.. then try hotter colors like fire tiger, and clown…. there are so many factors… like size of lure, speed of trolling, even weight of 3 way sinker or dubuque “jig”…… there are plenty of tricks you can pick up… and Im only just learing them….. all I can say is YES… cranks can be very good at this time of year…. and if 3 ways and bait are working then maybe cranks will too… try em…..
recently I mentioned that the fishing normally becomes quite tough around now… any nice day may have 100+ boats out… and until the fish start to move upriver in earnest there is only the wintering population of fish that are getting very heavy pressure….. so doing something different is GOOD…. and doing it someplace different is also GOOD…… stay away from the crowds… do something a bit different…. these things will help you produce….. I have to keep this in mind too…. my last 2 trips out have been tough because I did not follow my own advice….

3-ways and cranks can be dynamite in the up-coming month of March on in to mid April on the big river. When we get a few warm days in a row those water temps will climb in to the upper 30’s, you can really put on a show with this presentation. 3-ways/cranks can and will produce right now but it is more consistent for my boat when we get a 3 to 5 day warming trend.

rivereyes steered you in the right direction for colors. Clear water use the more natural patterns, dirty/stained water use the brighter colors. Just remember the above color selection is just a rule of thumb to follow. Always be versatile with color selection to find what’s best for that outing.

Thanks Rivereyes and Dustin. I know what you are talking about Rivereyes when a guy gets too bull headed to switch. The guy I was fishing with had 5 nice fish in the boat before I would switch. I read Dustin’s report on fishing ringworms and was bound and determined that was what the fish wanted. Different day, different weather and probaly the biggest thing was me. Like I was told in the service, It’s not the dope on the weapon, it’s the dope behind the weapon. Thanks again.

Hey Art…3-way and cranks can be a good bet right now….if you were getting them on bait chances are you might get em on the cranks…. for a few winters in a row all I did was pull cranks and was never skunked.
Give it a try.