deep running cranks in shallow river

[Norm M]

 I am talking about using crankbaits  that the manufacturers claim can hit about 20 feet as well as cranks rated to run 10-12 feet in a river that is on average about 4 to 5 feet deep .

I use the extra deep divers because I can retrieve them extremely slow and still maintain bottom contact. A friend of mine likened it to jigging with a crankbait. I retrieve against the current, this also helps keep them down. When the water temps get into the mid to low 30's, I have been known to break out the Garcia 300C with the 3:1 gear ratio. I time making one turn of the reel handle by singing a song to myself when needed. These extra large lures really push water and get noticed. Even when coming from behind the fish in frigid water, they have enough time to feel and react to the lure .

I also quartercast them upstream , make a turn or two of the reel handle and let it drift alng below the surface but above the bottom. Smallmouth, walleye and cats have all taken them. Once again , I believe they feel them pushing water with their bulk. They come off the bottom and eat them, so I guess it seems vulnerable and easy to catch and worth expending energy on.

Big, fat, dumb, slow , EAT ME .

It must be noted that I catch darn few fish doing this but the ones I do catch are quality fish. When fishing water temps in the low 30's many times you are fishing for 1 bite per trip.

It's not for everyone but what activity is ?

[Mitch f]

I use a version of that, but I usually wait till the water temps are in the high 30's before I'll even go out. You are thinking outside the box, which is good!

[Al Agnew]

Norm is so far outside the box he usually can't even see it.  Not many anglers would even think to try all the things he does, and he catches more than most of them.  I like the idea of using those bigger, deeper cranks, have done it occasionally myself with some success now and then, but not in really frigid water.

[Flysmallie]

I haven't done this much on rivers but it's how I always fished a crankbait in the lakes. If you can't fish it slowly banging along the bottom then you either need shallower water or a deeper running bait.

[rFisherk]

Some of the biggest smallmouth I've caught is with the canoe anchored at the head of a deep run, casting a Wiggle Wart downstream and retrieving it just fast enough to keep it banging and digging the bottom. This also was the most productive method for trout on the Eleven Point. How fast I retrieve depends upon the current. Works any time of year, not just in winter.

[Old plug]

Way way way way back in the day( very late 50's and early 60's) I used to do that all the time. I still got one of the old favorites down in the locker. Had a metal bill on it cannot remember the name. 

[Hog Wally]

I've been doing that for years.  Bandit 300. I won't give the color on the interweb because it is oh so deadly.   You won't catch any dinks either.  Sounds like you are doing the same thing.  I actually fish super deep divers all summer too   Honestly let's quit talking about it now.   It's a technique I have perfected in the last 5 years on the meramec.  He is real close to hitting a home run. 

[Jerry Rapp]

so, if you have a whopper flopper for top, a deep diver that dives 5 feet deeper than the depth you are fishing, and a ned rig, you should never go fishless again?  Correct?

[Norm M]

 The closest I come to the Ned Rig is a Fat Ika on a weighted keeper hook . I can do the same thing with that and it's stuff I have been carrying for many years .

 

[Mitch f]

You have my wheels turning Norm, are you talking DD22 type stuff?