deep diving cranks vs leadcore and stickbaits or both?

[Benzie Rover]

My buddies and I are going to come up Nov 12th for some night time trolling action on little and possibly big bay and I was hoping you guys could provide some opinions on tackle for the mid-late fall trolling bite. Do you prefer to use stickbaits with leadcore that time of year? By stickbaits I mean smithwick rattlin rogues, husky jerks, AJ series Purple prizim thundersticks, etc...

Or can you still stick with deep diving crankbaits (RR 800 series, deep diving Husky jerks, walleye divers, deep diving thunderstick jrs) on braided line (8/20 Power pro) and not bother with the leadcore?

Or do you usually run both in your spread that time of year? Seems like more guys go with stickbaits and leadcore, but not sure. I am afraid that deep cranks may be too much action/too fast for fish that time of year?

I have 4 trolling rod/reel set ups. Just wondering if I should have all of them rigged with 2 or 3 colors or just a couple of them or possible don't even need that stuff if I can get by with deep cranks?

Any thoughts on that decision and your own preferences are much appreciated!

[Frank S]

During the fall bite, the main variables are water temp and weather conditions. Cold temps, below mid 40's tend to favor the stickbait action in my experience, but if the weather gets just right, decent chop, but fishable, the fish will tend to get more active and may favor the deep divers. Regardless, I usually start out with a mixed spread (unless I've been on a good bite already) couple deep diving Reef Runners and Deep Husky's, couple stickbaits (Husky's, Rogues, Bombers and #18 Rapalas) off leadcore. Snapweights are also an option. Unless the water is real cold, harnesses continue to work well during the daylight hours. No secret around here that purples, prisms, blues, black/silver and other natural colors seem to work best, but that is what everybody is running, so the odds go up. Don't be afraid to experiment, and also to try out smaller baits as well, Deep Little Rippers and Deep Junior T-Sticks put a lot of fish in the boat. Crowds will get the fish spooky, and they may set up over deep water. Both baitshops will gladly share good info, we are lucky to have them in the neighborhood. Good Luck

[DooFighter]

One disadvantage of core vs diving cranks is having it stall out and sink to bottom on inside of turns; and the problems that go along with that.

[jtourangeau]

last fish i caught was on a dp dver on 12# mono

[Frank S]

I like to use 2 and 3 color segmented leadcore set-ups. I splice either a 2 or 3 color piece onto my main line, put on a 50' leader. These will put a stickbait down 30' easy, depending on speed and amount of backing you let out. You can also run a diver off these rigs (2-color and Deep Junior is a good one) and get them right on the bottom in 35' if you want to. Leadcore can be a pain, but I think it will produce well in cold water where subtle action and slow speeds often work best.

[Benzie Rover]

thanks for the input fellas, much appreciated.


for the deep cranks, are you guys mostly using Precision Trolling for your depth charts or just going from past success to know how far out to run them?

[DooFighter]

I use the PT book. Depending on where and what fish you're fishing for, though ...I don't usually try to run DD cranks real deep. For instance, if you're fishing over 25-30fow you may only want your baits down 12-18ft, maybe even less.