Targeting Walleyes with a Crawler Harness

[T-Bone]

Alright...alright...never let it be said you can't teach an 'ol T-Bone new tricks. I've adopted trolling to some degree, I've had some success with slip bobbering, and of course I am rarely disappointed with jig fishing. I guess it's time to add another tool to the arsenal....working a crawler harness.

I've fished with a crawler harness before...but not in a looooong time. Never had that much success with it to be honest...always seemed like there was a lot of water to cover for very sporadic success. Then there is the constant reel in / let out line game. More than anything, that dang thing gets snagged up on every stick, rock, and miscellaneous parts car or sunken boat below the surface. Too frustrating for the negligible results. But...I'm willing to try again given how some of you seem to do pretty well on the tactic.

So...I know how to rig them, but I'm interested in a few details...

Is "dragging the bottom" with either a Lindy No-Snagg or standard bottom bouncer the way to go? Again...can't imagine every pass of any type of structure NOT ending up in a snag.

Trolling or drifting? Or either?

Preferred structure? I know the only hassle free option for that is "sand", but there just isn't that much around our area...not like the huge flats of sand up around TBL.

Preferred colors? I saw a blue and chrome, I think (never saw anything like that before)...any other go-to combinations of color, blade size, etc. you may suggest?

That's enough for now...I don't want to over-complicate it as once that happens it's a reminder to me to get back to basics, shut-up and fish.

~5,500 minutes.... 

[Greg]

Worm harnesses are a great tool to have in your arsenal... the buddy who introduced me to Kipawa years ago... that is all he ever brings for trolling - no crank baits, just harnesses...

If you want to avoid the bottom bouncing snag up game... just put a rubber twist weights on the line about 4 or 6 feet up from the harness - it will sink about 4 feet.  If you want to troll deeper, put two weights and let out some more line.

Colour?  endless debate here... what are your favourite jig head colours?   chartruse, red-devil like colours, yes chrome and blue is always hot up there, purple and pink ones are very good also.

You will most definitely catch fish trolling with worm harnesses in 10 feet of water with one weight tied on so it runs about 4 feet deep - cruise past Sunnyside, sandbanks, or the back of Dead Bear bay or any wind-blown shore...

Greg

[Ozzy30]

Greg covered most everything you need to know.  I have used bottom bouncers with luck and just flat lining with split shots.  The one thing I do that not to many others will try is open water trolling.  I learned this at a lake closer to home and concentrate on suspended walleye chasing bait.  I will get out in 80 ftw put on 2 big split shots and troll back to Alwaki from the spots up by Corbeau.  But color, weights, bottom bouncers all work.  I do like a green holographic blade and 2 hook setup myself.

[crackers42]

T-Bone,

All we have ever used is worm harness and trolling (only time we jig is the opener) and in the fall.

Rubber core sinker above the swivel, 3 foot swivel (longer lead will float higher off bottom preventing snags), fluro carbon leader.

Spinner colors : solid red, solid brown, black/white, gold, silver (red and black white with red beads, rest with pale yellow beads).

3/8 ounce sinker (1/2 if you are down below 20 feet).  We don't fish anything below 20 feet even in middle of Aug. all the fish are still up into 15 feet or less depending on time of day.

Thread the worm on so it doesn't spin in the water and create line twist.

Good luck

[puckster_guy]

 I have never used one but am interested in giving them a try. Do they need to be close to the bottom or just close orrr anywhere in the water column. I bought all the weights and bottom bouncers a while ago and they're just collecting dust, Time to dust them off and try something new. I've been a creature of habit far too long. I tried erie dearies on Georgian bay a long time ago and couldn't keep the pike and musky off them, will they work on Kipawa?

[Greg]

My 2 cents...  worm harnesses are for any depth you want them to be, but what is key, is where are you intending to use them?

If you are planning on trolling a shore with ever changing bottom structure (like I was last week) - I would not use a bottom bouncer as it would be endless snags and break-offs - in this case, I would put a rubber twister weight 4 feet in front of the harness and troll - the weight and harness would probably never sink below 4 to 6 feet.

If you are planning on trolling a central part of the lake with a constant bottom surface (even sandy or flat) at more than 20 or 25 feet (even 30 feet), then that is where a bottom bouncer comes in.  Put a harness on a 2 or 3 foot leader behind the bottom bouncer and watch for big hits.

So... it depends.... they can be used in many applications/techniques/presentations - it is how do you want to fish that day.

Greg

[puckster_guy]

Good enuff,Greg thanks. I got some experimenting to do. I'll give'em a try next week and report back, gonna give those dearies a shot too, laced with a worm they should work well.

[Greg]

Good luck puckster! 

[crackers42]

Puckster,

All we have ever used is a worm harness with a rubber core sinker 3/8 ounce up above the swivel (worm harness lead longer the better)

In terms of depth trolling with a 15 hp down to a troll a 3/8 ounce will go down fine to about 25 feet after that it will float a bit.   Past 25 feet put a 1/2 ounce on.

There is no need for bottom bouncers when trolling in Kipawa.  Just let it out to bottom one / two cranks and leave it be.

You will find (especially up around you area) trolling worm harness 10 feet or less in Aug. will vastly outproduce anything else for larger fish and #'s.

[smitty55]

To me a worm harness is those short 3 hook spinners used for straight trolling as opposed to those long single blade spinner rigs with one or two hooks. While I'm also a fan of worm harnesses for trolling, I'm also a big fan of those spinner rigs for drifting and back trolling with bottom bouncers. They have the added benefit of staying in constant contact with the bottom which creates sound and stirs up sediment. Plus you can use them as floating rigs too to avoid any snags.

Puckster on that one trip I had down your end the best results we had were after a real windy day where we couldn't even get out. Finally late afternoon the wind died down enough and we were able to get out for a drift. The wind direction was perfect and we were able to drift sideways down the shoreline while using the electric to move us in and out from the shore to adjust depth. Both of us were using bottom bouncers and 4 ft spinner rigs my buddy had tied. We got a couple of three pounders and one beauty 7lb. The best thing was that the bouncers kept in constant contact with bottom even as we changed depths, which would have been hard to do straight trolling with a worm harness. I marked that run we did on the map for you. Cheers

[puckster_guy]

 Thanks Smitty and Crackers a lot of useful info. I have a couple of each a hook with a single blade and the 3 hook style, I'll pick up some more on the way up next week. I know that run Smitty I've got a few fish in that area. Those points to the east got me tons of walleyes and a monster pike that took a walleye as I was reeling it in. All I saw of it was alligator jaws and a ton weight before it quickly snapped my line. Those narrows between the lakes works well too.
I know what you mean about the wind. A NW wind really kicks up the waves there. A troll up the middle of the lake with some deep divers during a chop works well for both pike and wallys.

[wvmedic]

@T-Bone and those interested.
I know I'm a day late and a dollar short. Haven't been on here in a long time. Johnny walleye is who taught me and is due the credit.

I typically troll in 6 to 20 FOW with changing contour of the shore line and different bottom structure. I troll as slow as possible and use a 1/2 ounce walking sinker on the main line with a snap swivel bellow that to attach the crawler harness, I tie my crawler harness at about 3 foot long If slow trolling doesn't seem to be producing, I speed it up a bit.

This was a hot combo and normally produces very good results. I've used a number of color combinations and most work.

[JMB]

I have used worm harnesses for walleye fishing for many years and they often saved the day when conditions were tuff.

I either used a bottom bouncer with a wire antenna to hop over rocks or a three way swivel rig with about a 12" dropper line on the third eyelet so you could add or subtract a number of split shot to adjust for trolling speed and depth on less snaggy bottom substrates. These days I would use a fluorocarbon leader material for tying spinner rigs because it is less visible and lasts much longer than mono.  Buying your own beads, blades, clevises, and hooks gives you an unlimited number of combinations when you DYI and I would use a reverse snell if you want to add a stinger hook. I would not hook the stinger hook in the crawler because crawler stretch when you troll them and you end up with a looped crawler that is often bitten in half. I have also found that a free swinging stinger hook gets a higher hooking percentage when the walleye nips at the crawler. I don't like the commercial rigs because they use heavy mono that is more visible, oversized poor quality hooks, and they have less movement. I use small salmon egg beak style hooks on all my rigs and only nose hook the crawler. I prefer a subtle swim movement instead of the stiff presentation of the commercial meat hook rigs.


You generally need an antenna weight set up for trolling or back trolling with an outboard to prevent snags.  If you can back troll or slow troll with a variable speed electric motor it does a number things for you. You can be more stealthy in covering shallower water and you can slow down and use lighter weights and thee-way rigs to tightly follow contour lines, weed lines, and drop offs once you figure out what depth produces the most fish. Generally you can look for similar structure, conditions, and depths around the lake and consistently catch fish.


A variation on the finesse three-way dropper rig is to only go with a small sliding inline float with a single hook and a leech. I have caught a ton of big walleyes and smallmouths on this rig and the perch tend to leave leeches alone. The other advantage of this rig with the lighter weight is when the walleyes are nipping the crawler you can give them a short drop back so they engulf the crawler or leech. One other advantage is you typically lose the split shot when you snag, not the rig.


I learned two things when I fished Kipawa for the first time; the small Kipawa perch are big worm stealers and you folks leave a ton of commercial worm harnesses and weights on the points around the lake and its passages. I dredged up a bunch of them fishing those kind of spots.

As far as location I would say deep flats and bluffs are the best places for crawler and leech rigs.  Rocky points not so much unless you like buying and retying worm harnesses.

[JMB]

Duplicate sorry.

[crackers42]

One thing to add and very important is snagging bottom

I know most will try to prevent this or use a bottom bouncer.

But if I had $0.10 for every time I got a fish after coming off bottom.  Or more importantly someone else snagged and boat goes in the other direction.

famous saying if you aren't on bottom you wont get the fish.