Best Cranks for river trolling

[erik]

Am starting to troll cranks more and have used a lot of Ristos and various shad type cranks in the past. Are the longer skinnnier (thundersticks, reef runners, deep huskies etc.) better for this in rivers? If so, what color patterns and sizes are the most productive? Also, how important are the rattling type cranks?
thank you - erik

[steve]

First of all what rivers are you trolling? If your trolling the missippi usually shorter cranks work better. My best luck has come on bombers 6a& 7a walleye divers work well too anything with a rattle in it, and make sure you pick a bait that will keep you in contact with the bottom, that is most important in river trolling. Colors usually the best are crawdad, orange, chartreuse, anything with some flash. Hope this helps you.

[Fdog]

I troll the Mississippi quite a bit and have had the most luck with Rapala Shad Raps, Rapala Deep Down Fat Raps and Walleye divers. Choose the one that gets me bouncing bottom occasionally. As far as colors I like Shad and Perch for the raps and black/gold on the Walleye divers. I've also had some excellent luck on some days with the Parrot color for raps. Finally, I started using a linecounter two years ago and believe it has really helped catch more fish.

Best of luck!

[Mountain Man]

I usually am pulling cranks on threeways and use
rapala originals in perch,fire tiger, or chrome
husky jerk(suspending,rattling). I also seem to have okay results with thundersticks in similar colors. I have recently seen more shad wraps being used on lead core with similar results, but haven't needed to try them yet.Any additional questions E-mail me at ecklor@hotmail.com

[Beaver]

I have always had my best luck with Wally divers in the chart/orange or firetiger pattern. Another good choice for shallower conditions is a Hot n Tot again in a firetiger or watermelon pattern.

[RIstorapper]

Love crankin' those rivers. With a name like Ristorapper I'll bet you think I'm going to recommend the Risto Raps but noooooooooooo...... haven't caught a fish with them yet but haven't gotten them wet much either.

Favorites:
1. Wally Divers mostly firetiger and chart. Did hammer 4 nice fish in four passes one day On the Missouri here near Bismarck with Flour. Red!!!!

2. Reef runners and rip sticks. Rainbow is favorite

3. Storm Thunderstick Jr's Favorite producer is the perch jr. for me but have several others including again a favorite color: firetiger.

4. Shad raps are a must from #7's to #9's and sometimes larger. Silver and black produced better than most.

5. Husky jerks in clown, firetiger, blue/silver and silver/black are some favorites for the shallower waters here.

Many others in the box but the above are used 85% to 90% of the time.

Hope this helps! get the precision trolling book if you are new to this game and it will help you tremendously(fifth edition/$20)

BW(ND)

[Walleye2k]

I have done well on Shad Raps... Bottom contact is important where I fish. To Prevent Snags, Some people remove the middle/front treble hook on a bait such as a Shadrap. Fishing in snag prone areas can be a pain, but if you spool up with a strong line (I use whiplash 4lb/20lb for small cranks) You can often straighten the hooks or break free snags. Just don't break your rod in the process. There are so many colors to choose from, but I use a variety to imitate Crawfish and minnows. I also like to use a seven foot rod to keep the lure away from the propwash a bit.

[Dave]

Call me an old farmer if you like but I use the jointed Mirrolures about 99% of the time. My favorite color is #23 (black back, yellow belly, gold flash).

[followme]

I recently started using the new Frenzy deep divers on the Mississippi. They seem to do real well on all species of fish.