Spinners vs Crankbaits

[Heidicke]

What factors/conditions determine wether you choose to pull crawler harnesses or troll crankbaits? Your help is greatly appreciated as always.

[Oahe MrL]

Let the fish tell you - try them both. I usually start with what worked the day before and adjust from there.

[R.J. Ziert]

How and what fish bite becomes a matter of triangulation of habits seasons, and location. Then, mood, metabolism, and whether or not they are hungry come into the picture. We have partial control over doing something about knowing mood, and metabolism, and less control over knowing when the last ate. Trolling tries to find the aggressive fish over a wider area. Crank baits represent a more difficult catch, more aggressive, greater metabolism. What is it about seasons, depth, weather, and so on that we already know, that can be put together to answer your question ?

[Speedy]

Also, don't be afraid to break the rules, regarding what the literature, experts etc. tell you about speed, season, color etc. It has been my experience that the fish don't read the literature. I agree with Oahe MrL, let the fish dictate your presentation.

[slovene]

From my experience, cranks are usually a go to when fish are active, but spread out over a greater area, i.e. covering more water. Spinners can have similar applications, but for me is the go to when a smaller, concentrated pod of fish are found trolling cranks. For me it's a time in the strike zone thing. Trolling spinners at 1.0 m.p.h. vs. trolling cranks at 2.0 m.p.h.:theoretically, your bait stays in the "strike zone" twice as long. Last summer in a tourney, fish were very spread out along the shore. Caught a lot of decent weighing fish trolling rapalas, but then the boats moved in. Started venturing down the shore more and found a smaller pod of fish. Immediately stopped the boat and threw out blades and crawlers and absolutely pummeled the fish. The fish were very active that day and would hit both presentations. As was aforementioned, experiment and let the fish dictate what "they" want to you and not vice versa.

[Crankbaiter]

First of course you need to find the fish. I am going to answer from that point forward. Finding fish is a very big subject in it self.

Once fish are found and you are deciding on the best presentation to catch the most fish in a day my basic therory has always been start fast and slow down if you have too. Seems like most folks work opposite of that and I have always wondered why.

If fast will work then you will catch more in a day. If it wont you will know soon and can start slowing down--Cranks/Spinners/Rigging/etc. This of course is a general statement assuming these are logical presentation choices for the situation at hand.

By working this way you will first arrive at the fastest way to make the fish go on any given day. As opposed to starting slow and always wondering if you could be going faster and catching more....

Just my 2 cents worth

[R.J. Ziert]

Fast = reaction bite - shallower water - aggressive smaller fish - more fish. Ten 3's = 30

Slow = quality bite - deeper water - wiser bigger fish - less fish. Five 6's = 30

It depends on where you want to end up.

You can accomplish both with either Spinnerbaits or Crankbaits.

[Texeye]

If fast will work then you will catch more in a day. If it wont you will know soon and can start slowing down--Cranks/Spinners/Rigging/etc. This of course is a general statement assuming these are logical presentation choices for the situation at hand.

By working this way you will first arrive at the fastest way to make the fish go on any given day. As opposed to starting slow and always wondering if you could be going faster and catching more....

Can't you pull spinners about as fast as cranks by using different blades and weighting the spinner?

Have you or anyone else seen a time when spinners would not work but cranks would?

I ask because I hate pulling cranks but like spinners. I seem to get hung up on all the variables with lures but seem to find spinners more predictable.I love to pitch cranks but man I hate pulling them. I don't mean to hijack this thread but like to pick some of these guys brains. Thanks.

[slovene]

As far as pulling blades goes, I rarely go above 1.5 m.p.h. (usually average 0.8 to 1.3 m.p.h. and frequently S-curve boat for speed up/slow down of lure) and have never delved into weighted spinners. Around here the Colorado or Indiana seem to be the best option, although I would like to experiment more with Leafs in the future. To answer your question, there are days when spinners will turn few fish, while cranks destroy, and (not to be redundant from my earlier post) vice versa again. As for pulling cranks, maybe all you need are the right tools to make it a little more enjoyable:reel w/line counter, rod holders, and a trolling guide such a Precision Trolling are good things to have when learning to troll cranks. The line counter and guide can help take a lot of the guesswork out of the game and keep your lure(s) in the right zone. There is a right time and place for everything and, by putting in more time trying methods you aren't familiar/comfortable with, it will give you more confidence to try/use them when the "right time" arises.

[Crankbaiter]

Can't you pull spinners about as fast as cranks by using different blades and weighting the spinner?
Have you or anyone else seen a time when spinners would not work but cranks would?
I ask because I hate pulling cranks but like spinners. I seem to get hung up on all the variables with lures but seem to find spinners more predictable.I love to pitch cranks but man I hate pulling them. I don't mean to hijack this thread but like to pick some of these guys brains. Thanks.

To answer your first question No and yes. Cranks can work up to 3+ mph but "no" spinners wont work that fast. Of course someone might argue that point but there not intended to go that fast. Cranks can be run super slow so "yes" you can pull cranks slow.

There is only one hard fast rule that I have seen in walleye fishing...there are no rule's. But there are rule's of thumb to increase your odds.

It is all about having fun. Thats priority #1. If you like one presentation over another and they will both catch fish on any given Sunday... then there's your answer.
But beware the price of always using your favorite presentation and not listening to the fish is.....humble pie.

[Texeye]

Thanks guys. I think where I messed up was trying to figure out too many types of lures at one time. I think the learning curve would be shorter if you started with one or at the most two types of lures and began from there.

I haven't given up. In fact, this year was the first year that I gained confidence in pulling cranks. I had a few days at Mobridge that I will never forget.

[stinkycat]

First of course you need to find the fish. I am going to answer from that point forward. Finding fish is a very big subject in it self.

Once fish are found and you are deciding on the best presentation to catch the most fish in a day my basic therory has always been start fast and slow down if you have too. Seems like most folks work opposite of that and I have always wondered why.

If fast will work then you will catch more in a day. If it wont you will know soon and can start slowing down--Cranks/Spinners/Rigging/etc. This of course is a general statement assuming these are logical presentation choices for the situation at hand.

By working this way you will first arrive at the fastest way to make the fish go on any given day. As opposed to starting slow and always wondering if you could be going faster and catching more....

Just my 2 cents worth

I am one of your "Most Folks" but after reading your post it makes a lot of sense. Now I just have to figure out how to break my old habits.:laugh:

[Xswab]

Read something once or twice about learning new methods/presentations......only take out what you want to learn......be it lead core; cranks; spinners...etc. I haven't been able to do it, yet. I like feeling the bottom composition and have decent success using BBs w/spinners and cranks.

[teamlund]

I usually start with crankbaits and I start trolling alittle faster (2.0 - 3.0 mph, I have caught fish at over 4 mph!!!) for the sake of covering alot of water and trying to find active fish...If that doesnt work I will troll throught the area where I had marked alot of fish and creep through them with crawlers...try diff speeds and colors, and sizes.....If this doesnt work I go back to cranks and continue looking for an active schooll of fish that are ready and willing to eat....Through the years all of my largest fish from numerous bodies of water have come on cranks:popc1:

Dont forget that whgen trolling faster you will ocacasionally get reaction strikes...A fish sees your delicious crankbait and only has a split second to catch a quick meal....He may strike even if he is in a negitive mood....eat right now or dont eat

[eyeballs]

Lots of great advise. I would like to add a couple small thoughts. Starting fast is an unarguable fundamental if you don't know the program. However, defining "fast" deserves a little closer look.

At ice out on a muddy river creeping upstream at a snails pace is a good start, scaling back to hovering. On a lake you may start out at 1.6 for fast and slow down to 1.2-1.3, then jigs/rigs.

Post spawn start out at 2.5, then 2.0, then 1.8, then crawlers at 1.3 to 1.5, then jigs or rigs, .80.

Summer time 3.5 or 4.0 is a good start. On some lakes it's as slow as you should go. Others not so. Of course, you understand there's a great many more factors that go into how long you run a program or how long you spend at a certain speed,depth,structure type and what you see on the electronics for life. Shallow, stained lakes vs clear lakes vs reservoirs vs rivers - the rules of thumb all are different. Hot reports? slow reports? take everything into account. Starting off slow or stationary with no bites and later deciding to speed troll out of desperation doesn't usually work out to well.

Another dynamic is structure - there are times when you just won't be effective running cranks at 1.8 compared to spinners at 1-1.5. Twisty weed edges, busy reservoir contours are good spinner starters. Basins, straight weed edges or uniform weed tops, among many more areas, are good cranky places.