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September 1, 2024

Video trolling crankbaits for walleye

I have written many articles on how to catch walleye over the years. Most of those articles focused on ways to catch a nice feed of eater sized walleye. However, if catching a walleye with an eye the size of a silver dollar interests you, I have a recipe to make that happen. It involves trolling oversized, diving crankbaits with heavy trolling gear and some patience. You will also need to be on a water body in northern Ontario that can deliver a giant walleye. The folks at Wilderness North have already got that part covered. So you just need to put the other ingredients together and you’ll have a real opportunity of catching the walleye of a lifetime.

I first got onto the big crankbait trolling game for walleye years ago on the Winnipeg River, in Manitoba. Although most anglers were jigging, my angling partner had us on a different program. We were trolling a variety of deep diving baits that could dive down to 20 feet or more. We used large, long rods and bait cast reels with line counters. Using a line counter reel allowed you to know exactly how far back the lure was behind the boat. The bites were few, but when they came, it was almost always a large fish. At one point, we had a double header of 30-inch fish, the kind of walleye most anglers dream about. Both fish had nailed the deep diving crankbaits.

I never forgot how effective that technique was, and have used it many times since, in the lakes and large rivers of northern Ontario. Let’s look a couple of the best deep diving crankbaits for walleye and where to fish them.

Deep Diving Crankbaits

There are quite a few deep diving crankbaits on the market these days and most of them will work when you are targeting trophy walleye. I’ve found the Rapala Deep Tail Dancer 11 to be effective for big walleye just about everywhere. It is my go-to crankbait when I want to try for a giant. The Tail Dancer 11 will get you down deep to 15 feet or more, even with heavier line, and has the large wobble and profile that giant walleye like. If the TD 11 seems too big, a TD 9 will work well. Have a selection of sizes. I’ve also found the jointed Rapala Deep Diving Husky Jerk to be a great trophy walleye lure. The jointed lure has greater wiggle and is a thinner profile, which can be good where walleye are feeding on smelt and shiners.

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Trolling speeds can be on the fast side, but they don’t need to be breakneck. I find a speed of 2.3 to 2.6 mph gets the crank moving well and will trigger more strikes. Don’t be afraid to play with your speeds a bit, slowing down or speeding up as you see fit. The fish will tell you what they want. If the rod tip stops wobbling, there is likely weed or debris on the lure. A dirty lure won’t catch fish.

I often run the rods in holders as a crankbait does not need to be worked by an angler. If anything, constantly pumping on a fishing rod may turn fish off. Put your reel clicker on and set your drag so it will slip if there is a strike. A big walleye won’t always pull line if the drag is tight. Play a big walleye carefully, and don’t horse it in. You are not in a race.

Trolling Crankbaits Location

Much of the crankbait trolling I do for big walleye is on large flats of 10 to 20 feet. Flats are prime crankbait locations, especially if there are areas of cabbage weed and structure. The walleye may be deeper than that, but often the most active fish are in slightly shallower water or holding off the bottom a little bit. If there is a main lake point that sticks out onto a flat, it’s going to be a fish magnet. There are loads of reason why points attract fish, but you can assume that if there is a point, walleye will be holding somewhere near by. The larger fish may be a bit deeper, but they will be around. Trolling passes by a point should come at a variety of angles, so that fish get a look at the crankbait in different ways. If a wind is blowing in on a point, so much the better.

See also 7mm-08 Remington for Black Bear Hunting? Best Ammo (Round, Load, Cartridge) for a Successful Black Bear Hunt Hunting Calibers 04 Apr, 2020 Posted By: Foundry Outdoors Is the 7mm-08 Remington a viable caliber/load/round/cartridge for black bear hunting? The accurate answer is “it depends”. However, the goal of this article is simply to address the question of whether the 7mm-08 Remington is within the ideal range of suitable calibers to harvest black bear. As with anything, the devil is in the details. To answer the question completely, we would need to evaluate the downrange distance to the black bear, the bullet type, the grain weight of the bullet, the physical condition of the firearm, the size of the black bear in question, the shot placement, the local wind conditions, the expected accuracy of the shooter, the ethics of the ideal maximum number of shots – the list goes on. [Click Here to Shop 7mm-08 Remington Ammo]What we can do is provide a framework to understand what average conditions might look like, and whether those are reasonably viable for a shot from the average shooter to harvest a black bear in the fewest number of shots possible, i.e., ethically. Let’s dive right in. In the question of “Is the 7mm-08 Remington within the ideal range of suitable calibers for black bear hunting?” our answer is: Yes, the 7mm-08 Remington is A GOOD CHOICE for black bear hunting, under average conditions, from a mid-range distance, with a medium grain expanding bullet, and with correct shot placement.Let’s look at those assumptions a bit closer in the following table. Assumption Value Caliber 7mm-08 Remington Animal Species Black Bear Muzzle Energy 2450 foot-pounds Animal Weight 340 lbs Shot Distance 150 yardsWhat is the average muzzle energy for a 7mm-08 Remington? In this case, we have assumed the average muzzle energy for a 7mm-08 Remington round is approximately 2450 foot-pounds. What is the average weight of an adult male black bear? Here we have leaned conservative by taking the average weight of a male individual of the species, since females generally weigh less and require less stopping power. In this case, the average weight of an adult male black bear is approximately 340 lbs. [Click Here to Shop 7mm-08 Remington Ammo]What is the distance this species is typically hunted from? Distance, of course, plays an important role in the viability of a given caliber in black bear hunting. The kinetic energy of the projectile drops dramatically the further downrange it travels primarily due to energy lost in the form of heat generated by friction against the air itself. This phenonemon is known as drag or air resistance. Thus, a caliber that is effective from 50 yards may not have enough stopping power from 200 yards. With that said, we have assumed the average hunting distance for black bear to be approximately 150 yards. What about the other assumptions? We have three other primary assumptions being made here. First, the average bullet weight is encapsulated in the average muzzle energy for the 7mm-08 Remington. The second important assumption is ‘slightly-suboptimal’ to ‘optimal’ shot placement. That is to say, we assume the black bear being harvested is shot directly or nearly directly in the vitals (heart and/or lungs). The third assumption is that a projectile with appropriate terminal ballistics is being used, which for hunting usually means an expanding bullet.Various calibersA common thread you may encounter in online forums is anecdote after anecdote of large animals being brought down by small caliber bullets, or small animals surviving large caliber bullets. Of course those stories exist, and they are not disputed here. A 22LR cartridge can fell a bull elephant under the right conditions, and a newborn squirrel can survive a 50 BMG round under other specific conditions. Again, the goal of this article is simply to address the question of whether 7mm-08 Remington is within the ideal range of suitable calibers to harvest black bear - and to this question, the response again is yes, the 7mm-08 Remington is A GOOD CHOICE for black bear hunting. [Click Here to Shop 7mm-08 Remington Ammo]This article does not serve as the final say, but simply as a starting point for beginner hunters, as well as a venue for further discussion. Please feel free to agree, disagree, and share stories from your own experience in the comments section below. Disclaimer: the information above is purely for illustrative purposes and should not be taken as permission to use a particular caliber, a statement of the legality or safety of using certain calibers, or legal advice in any way. You must read and understand your own local laws before hunting black bear to know whether your caliber of choice is a legal option.Foundry Outdoors is your trusted home for buying archery, camping, fishing, hunting, shooting sports, and outdoor gear online.We offer cheap ammo and bulk ammo deals on the most popular ammo calibers. We have a variety of deals on Rifle Ammo, Handgun Ammo, Shotgun Ammo & Rimfire Ammo, as well as ammo for target practice, plinking, hunting, or shooting competitions. Our website lists special deals on 9mm Ammo, 10mm Ammo, 45-70 Ammo, 6.5 Creedmoor ammo, 300 Blackout Ammo, 10mm Ammo, 5.56 Ammo, Underwood Ammo, Buffalo Bore Ammo and more special deals on bulk ammo.We offer a 100% Authenticity Guarantee on all products sold on our website. Please email us if you have questions about any of our product listings. Leave a commentComments have to be approved before showing up Your Name * Your Email * Your Comment * Post Comment

If you have the ability to mark reefs and rockpiles on electronics with GPS, it will help you map out trolling routes. Make passes around the reefs and along the edges of them. Unless the reef is deeper than 10 feet or more, you may not want to troll right over it however. Deep diving crankbaits have the nasty habit of digging into rocks and cracks and that can mean lost lures. You will lose lures trolling, but the modern deep diving crankbait is not a cheap lure, so you won’t want to leave them all over the bottom. Using heavier line will help your retrieve more lures from snags, but it will also impact how deep you can get.

Give trolling with a mega crankbait a shot this season, you might catch the largest walleye of your life.

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