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Posts: 3242
Location: Racine, Wi | So it seems now a days, every bait out there has to be twitched or jerked or glided. I know that I LOVE twitching minnow baits and cranks, and it definitely works. When are times that you would just straight crank a minnow bait, or a crank bait? In SE Wisconsin, we get a ton of fish trolling. Usually that is nothing more than a long straight trail of a crank. Granted when trolling, we will put turns which make the lures speed up, or slow down, which in turn makes them a bit more erratic. We also get fish just running fast and straght.
For casting, I tend to do a little of each during the cast. Ripping at times, and straight cranking at others to see which they prefer. Or if I'm fishing a weedline, I crank into the weedline, let it float out, crank back in, maybe a snap to clear weeds and repeat, so even in this approach, it can be pretty erratic. When do you straight crank vs twitch? In cooler water, I have noticed that a straight retreive tends to get hit more, unless I'm ripping with as long of a pause as possible.
I would think (I have to say think as I'm throwing more hair and topwater at this time) that you could use a shallow running minnowbait and burn it in during the summer just like a bucktail and get good reactions. It may even be easier to burn in than a bucktail.
(can you tell I have drank too much coffee this morning, and can't hit the water for these post spawn, off and on rain fish today) 
Edited by tuffy1 4/22/2006 6:42 AM
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Posts: 425
Location: Elkhart, IN | I've often wondered the same thing. I've caught both straight cranking and twitching, but had the same thought about trolling being similar to straight cranking. Good topic. |
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Posts: 696
Location: Northern Illinois | I think you kinda have to go with your gut feeling on this topic. See what works and keep using that. I've talked to people who reel their crankbait in at the slowest possible speed just to keep in under water. This gives a great wobble for the crankbait and I know this person has boated a lot of fish. Also, some cranks are easier to twitch and have good movement when they are twitched. I guess I kinda do what I'm in the mood for. If I've drank a lot of coffee I'd probably be twitching and vice versa if I didn't drink any! LOL |
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| Ealy in the season when there are a lot of dying shad or baitfish from winter kill I will twitch my cranks. This also allows them to be worked a little slower in the colder water, same late in the fall. During the summer or warm water periods....speed kills. Burning the cranks can be very effective. I choose my retrieve based on water temps, time of year and the fishes attitude, but like all things in musky fishing there are no rules only suggestions. |
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Posts: 3926
| One of my muskie books has a chapter on Pete Mania and Jakes. If I recall correctly, he straight retrieves Jakes in cold front conditions. Otherwise, he's a twitcher.
I almost always do better trolling when I pull the bait forward a couple feet and then let it stall as I drop the rod tip back. |
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Posts: 32958
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | I almost can't make myself NOT twitch a crank at least a little, but I'm sure a straight retrieve with a good 8 at the end would catch plenty of fish. |
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Posts: 3242
Location: Racine, Wi | I'm right there with you Steve. I find it tough not to be twitching and pulling the baits. I have gotten fish on a straight retrieve, but it just seems wierd to straight retrieve a crank.
Ranger, when we troll, by making turns and speeding up for short bursts it definitely makes our baits more erratic, especially when you troll with real bouyant cranks. The inside bait backs up and rises pretty quickly. Also banging into the bottom gets them bouncing all over the place for sure. |
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Posts: 3518
Location: north central wisconsin | I know I am missing alot of opportunity, as the set of 'rules' we seem to have come up with over the years as to when to do which type of retreive is meant to be broken..(springtime, nighttime, weeds, open water, structure contact, higfhly pressured waters, very dark dirty waters..etc. sometimes require a different type of retrieve, not that we hit on the right one all the time...LOL...). Interesting you inquired about working a minnowbait like a bucktail. Over the years, there have been some absolutely outstanding pieces written by the boys at In Fish(Stange, Lindner-Jim- etal), regarding this very topic. Now, they consider a minnow bait a lure like Rapala, Top Gun, Red Head, Bomber Long A, Husky Jerk, Musky Snack etc.., buit they work these things as bucktails and absolutely burn them in summer and fall with great success. I wish I kept better track of my back issues that I intended to retreive at some point, as I learned alot from them. I'll try to dig some up. I don't hear about it as much anymore, but am sure it is still one of their go to tactics over in MN as well as Canada. I know it never caught on in WI here like it did over there, but no real reason it shouldn't have. I know I have come to like the Musky Snacks, though I, again, find myself twitching them after a few fishless burned retreives.....
Edited by Reef Hawg 4/24/2006 8:11 AM
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| some food for thought. On one of the Canadian Muskie site, in a discussion about Canada only allowing one rod per person even when trolling, One of the seasoned veterans expounded that allowing two rods would be a good thing since it would reduce the number of muskies caught. His reasoning was that with two rods people tend to just toll. But with one they hold the rod and jerk it from time to time and in his opinion that elicited strikes. So even trolling it might be a good thing to twitch |
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