Boat Control When Crankbait Fish is Hooked

[vetleap]

I see quite often that when a crankbait fish is hooked that people just keep on keeping on while basically skiing in the fish. To me skiing in a 3 lb plus fish is not all that fun.. I fish the Missouri river 90% of the time and I prefer the fun of being able to play a fish. The only time I keep my boat in gear with a crankbait fish on is if I'm trying not to show others I have a fish on (then I don't want forward progress but remain stationary) or the wind is an issue. If it's a good fish I either reel the other lines in and drift back, or remain stationary. So I'm curious what others do when they hook a crankbait fish?

[U D]

Crank it in. reset the line. Never stop trolling.

[dutchboy]

Neutral.

[A & W Dad]

I always have the bow mount down when trolling, sometimes to steer sometimes not. I usually flip big motor/kicker in neutral and maintain a little forward progress with the trolling motor to keep things from ending up a big mess.

[Prov275]

Originally Posted by A & W Dad

I always have the bow mount down when trolling, sometimes to steer sometimes not. I usually flip big motor/kicker in neutral and maintain a little forward progress with the trolling motor to keep things from ending up a big mess.

X2


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[Custom Eyes]

I ski them in whenever possible. I'm fishing, not putting on a playing the fish show. lol The only time I've really had to change speed or put the boat in neutral was when I'd land 10-12#+ hogs trolling in the Detroit River current. Or if I've had a board sinker on in the lake. Ever ski a 12#er in? I have. It's fun! lol Besides, I've lost countless more fish trying to play them, than just horsing them in. Every time you give them a chance to shake that head, you're one step closer to losing the fish.

[vetleap]

Wow...different strokes for different folks..

[dutchboy]

Guess i'll never need a fish so bad that i'd drag it in. Why not use a muskie rod and 90 pound power pro and eliminate any chance of losing it short of tearing it's head off?

Different strokes.........

[KPKyllo]

It depends. Most of the time I don't stop or slow down because I'll probably have at least another rod in the water trolling cranks too and I want to keep the other rod in the zone. Depending upon where I'm fishing, I may have many more than one other bait in the water and stopping to reel in a fish makes little sense to me since all of the baits will be out of the zone until I get trolling again. I'm likely following a wayline also and depending upon the wind, I don't want to drift off of it when I stop and then get back on it.
If the fish is a tank, I may stop but other than that, I keep trolling.

[Custom Eyes]

Originally Posted by Brian Hoffies

Guess i'll never need a fish so bad that i'd drag it in. Why not use a muskie rod and 90 pound power pro and eliminate any chance of losing it short of tearing it's head off?

Different strokes.........

If you've ever bothered to try it, skiing them in puts MUCH LESS resistance on the line, and thus less force on the fish. What's worse for the fish? Skiing them in with no fight in a few seconds and releasing, or "playing" the fish for 10 minutes for your own thrills, then releasing it half dead? Either or, you can't really ski a fish unless it's willing or small. Some will go for it, others dive and you have to fight them in.