Help Trolling Crank Bait Depth

[top_dollar]

6 hours ago, Big Keene said:

most baits tend to hit their max depth with about 180ft of line out. we have been using depth hunter metered braid line, and it makes it easy to repeat what depth you are at. Dan Hufferd is right about the #7 blue tiger flicker shad, and the lure retriever. a 2 mph boat ride should put you on fish!

good luck!

 

6 hours ago, Big Keene said:

look into precission trolling. it has loads of info regarding depth and line out.

This totally.  Long line troll  9ft down rigger rods (okuma classic pro are great for 30 bucks a pop) and metered braid.   We also upgrade trebles on ours to daiichi death trap round bend.  Actual downriggers and snapweights ect are more hassle than they are worth with all the structure on stockton, at least i have never had a need for them. 

Get the boat moving at speed, let out a few feet of line, watch your lure to make sure it is running correctly.   If so let out about 150-180 feet of line, strart trolling (2-2.5mph).  Zig zag your pattern and pump your rod, if the outside rod is consistently getting bit speed up, and vice versa.  Occasionally pumping the rod can also tell you if you need to speed up, slow down, or just simply tje speed change will trigger a stike. Its important to methodically work different types areas to develop a pattern.  Main lake and secondary points flats, islands and such  for walleye, and middle of spawning coves for crappie. 

Never tried leadcore, but i haven't found a use for it yet.  Long line cranks can hit 30 feet or more.

Flicker  shad 7, shad rap 7 and bandit 200s = about 15 feet at 180ft

Flicker shad 5 = about 10 feet at 180ft back

Flicker minnows, hot n tots, bandit 300s and most deep stick baits will hit mid 20s.  

Reef runner 800s at 210 i can tick bottom at 31 feet.  The cabeleas walleye runners are also 25 or more.

[Brad N Steph]

I read somewhere about a cheap easy lure retriever you can make from home.  It works mainly only with treble hooks.  Gets 3 or 4 lengths of chain,  about 4 links each.  Hook them into a clip.  Tie on a long spool of sturdy rope.  Clip to line lures hung up on.  Lower it to lure,  give it a few shakes till you feel chains hook onto lure,  pull your lure out of whatever it's hung up on

[LoweSTX175]

Personally I have counter reels so I can replicate same depths.  I simply got some driftmasters from Cabelas.  Also consider using lead core line.  That will drop you down as well.

[zarraspook]

18 minutes ago, LoweSTX175 said:

Personally I have counter reels so I can replicate same depths.  I simply got some driftmasters from Cabelas.  Also consider using lead core line.  That will drop you down as well.

Being from the good old days ( if you couldn’t make or fix it, you did with out )..

I walk out 100 foot of line and mark the line with about a two foot section with a felt tip pen..

Then I backed the reel off one turn of the handle and measured how much more line came out; it was 21 inches ( about 2 foot ) so if I am catching fish at 120 foot of line out – I let the line out to my mark plus 10 turns of the handle… I can buy 700 felt pens for the price of “line counter reel”…

[Rob P]

Absolutely make sure your lures run true before using leadcore. 
We've had mega foulups when a lure slowly crossed over another line.
That stuff is expensive and an absolute pain to untangle..

Only downside is the weight of rod/reel and lots of leadcore reeling in a fish or resetting.
It gets tiring on the hands.

I now use line counter reels, thin 6/30 powerpro, (clip weights if needed) and depth charts for each bait.

*

We also estimate line from reel-first guide as 2 ft, then pull out 25 lengths.
That's also a good method for the non counter reels.

 

[mpark]

   That's what is so great about this forum.  Tons of valuable experience and a willingness to help others.  Thanks,  I can't wait to try these ideas.

[dan hufferd]

I just bought some cheap clip on line counters from ebay. They have good reviews about $6 each measures in meters. I use the black marker technique. I will let you all know how they work.

I am still going to keep my black marker though.

[top_dollar]

Metered braid alleviates all of those problems.  No need for markers or line counters.  Power pro depth hunter changes color every 25 feet, repeats the 4 color pattern every 100 feet and has black marks every 5 feet.  It's fairly cheap. I spool the reel with mono then put on 12 colors (300 feet) of depth hunter connected to the mono with an alberto knot.

[Big Keene]

my issue with the marker method is that the length changes any time you have a break off or have to re-tie. and the metered braid is super durable, we just dont have to change it out very often. when we are long line trolling, its easier and faster for me to just count out 9 colors and click it in gear. 

 

but like everything else...what catches you fish and is something that your comfortable with is the "right" way.

[eagle1584]

If I'm looking for extra depth I'll use snap weights.  I like the the version made by off shore tackle.  They work the same as the inline weight but clip on  your line with a clip like you would find on a planer board.  Its a good way to clip on weight for depth but not have to tie anything inline.  They have good charts and plenty of video on their website but you can really customize the weight and length of line you put out to get to the desired depth. 

The precision trolling guys are great too.  They have an app for lure depths.  I think the flickr shad chart is free but you can buy the data for any of your favorite lures.  I learned a ton on how distance from the boat and diameter of line affects the depth.  They claim speed has little to do with max depth which I found interesting.  A little work on Google and you can sometimes find someone who has posted the chart for your favorite lure on a message board somewhere.

Lastly, as Dan said, go buy yourself a lure retriever.  Mine has paid for itself over and over.  If you want to catch more fish you'll need to be down in or near the cover.   It can be challenging to retrieve a lure at Stockton sometimes if it's windy but I rarely break one off anymore.  I just have the cheap EZ lure retriever which you can buy at Bass Pro for around $15.  Honestly one of the best purchases I've ever made for fishing.