Trolling crawler harness's

[Chris]

I troll on a large shallow lake and was thinking of using night crawler harness's. I dont know how deep they will run at different lengths off of my planer boards. What speed to go either. My lake is 6-7 feet deep at the deepest. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[Stan]

Chris,

It looks as if you are in for an experiment. Your crawler harneses will run at different depths , as you suggested, based on line weight (diameter), in line weights added, number and types of blades on the harness, and finally trolling speed.
First pick out the type of harness you most often use. Note the line weight you are using, and add a small amount of in-line weight (bead chain keel sinker or cigar shaped in line sinker work fine). Begin trolling at 1mi/hr, letting line out slowly until the harness hits bottom (or weeds-note their depth on your graph) This tells you how much line you must use to get the bait to the bottom. A line counter reel is very helpfull here. Usually reeling in the line about 4-5 feet will keep your harness just off the botto at that depth. Repeat for other depths.
Now you have the amount of line you need to run the harness at any particular depth you choose, as long as you use that particular amount of in-line weight and troll at that speed.
Repeat the experiment for other trolling speeds (usually .75-1.5mi/hr are reasonable with harnesses) and different weights.
Al this gets you "into the ball park" and you need to fine tune from there.
As you see, there is no easy answer to your question, but as you get more experienced, it will become second nature.

Good Luck

[Eyez]

I'm not an expert, but I'd start with a 1/2 oz weight and run it back about 20 feet from the board. that should get you to about 5 feet. You can experiment with line lengths by letting the line out beside the boat without the board attached, and see how much you need to hit bottom. Match your spinner blade to the speed you're going and the color of the water. I like bigger blades in dirty water, more vibration. You should be able to run bigger blades as slow as 1/2 mph, or smaller colorado or indiana blades or any willow leaf blades up to 1.5 mph. Bigger blades will pull harder, so you'll need more weight or more line out behind boards to achieve your depth.

Like I said, I'm not an expert at this technique, but that's what I've learned the times I've done it. Hope it helps.

Eyez

[Gilligan]

As others have said its alot of trial and error. I had a system down using 3/8 oz with 50' of line for my target depth then I switched to fireline and had to back off to 1/4oz. to reach same depth. Many variables here; speed, line diameter, weight and size of blades.

I like my weight to occasionaly contact bottom and I add an in line float and shoot crawler with air to help ride above sinker and off bottom.

[FROGMAN]

WOW thats pretty shallow. I've got a shallow bay on one certain lake I fish, and the best tactic there has always been to troll bottom boncers with spinners. A 1 to 2 oz. BB should be all you need to hold them down while using Off Shore boards. Good Luck



Keith Segar
NPAA #260

[Dunn]

For trolling that shallow of water with harness' I would suggest using split shot as weights mainly. Using snap weights only for 1/8-1/4 oz at the most. Use the 50/50 method. Put on the snap weight 5 foot from the spinner, and 50 feet out again then the board. 1/8-1/4 oz should get you down from 3-10 feet.

Use the split shot a bit differently. Try putting it right at the connection of the mainline and leader. Just adjust how much weight by adding or removing a shot.

Good luck,
----------------
Marshall J. Dunn
Bluewater Research, Inc.
(OffShore Release)
N.P.A.A. # 701

[Dunn]

5 foot = 50 feet.
----------------
Marshall J. Dunn

[JCarp]

Consider 3 ways for better depth control. Fool around with different weights on the dropper until you get it running at a 45 degree angle (will depend upon boat speed), then attach to the board. You may want to use floating harnesses or inject the worms with air to keep them off bottom on inside turns. Adjust dropper length according to desired depth.

A variation of the snap weight setup is similiar. 25-35' lead from floating harness with air injected worm, fool around with snap weights until you find the weight that will give your line a 45 degree angle with the weight at the desired distance off bottom (educated guess time or apply your trig from school), then attach to board. As a shallow water setup this is a little snag prone if you let the weight contact bottom.

With split shot, you'll be all up and down the available water column whenever there are speed changes. This may be a good thing.