Crawler Harness Water Temps

I saw a recent post about spoons and when to use them in your program. That prompted me to ask this similar question about crawler harnesses. What water temp do you start to make the switch? From what I've gathered in reading posts here it seems the early spring season with cold water temps (maybe below 52 degrees) the program is primarily pulling crankbaits (reef runners, husky jerks, bandits). I've always thought that once you got above the mid-50's you made the switch to spoons and crawler harnesses. I only make it out a couple times in the spring and it has always been the later part of May, so we have always used spoons and crawler harnesses. I was looking at my fishing journal from last year and the water temps were in the low 60's and we had good success with the spoon/crawler program. This year we're coming out about two weeks earlier then normal and i'm wondering if I need to invest in more crankbaits. Thanks for the help.

Hi motownhound, i watched a DVD of a fellow fishing around the the islands area,actually nw of north bass in late May trolling cranks, but smaller ones, bomber 24a, storm deep jr's, and it looked like he was doing well, 2 fish over 11. I'm going to be out there in the beginning of June, trying to hit it at the dark of the moon and I'm going to run cranks and spoons,and meat. And let the fish tell me what they want. I will be keeping a very close eye on this site till then. Awesome people on this forum! Good luck! Tight lines

We have using crawler harnesses this week but the fishing for us has been slow and u can have a decent day but we have talked to a bunch of ppl that have been using them as well and doing ok with crawler harnesses....best of luck!

For me, 48 deg's up I will start to pull meat on one side, cranks on the other. Sometimes 48 is the number, more often the low 50's is the temp where catch rates change for me. You can run spoons all season, or cranks all season or meat. But if you want to up the catch rate, letting the fish tell you is the required option. Sure there are days where everyone is catching great no matter what they run, but the tough days are what really point to what is working best. If you have some cranks that have worked for you, bring those. But a lot of folks will be pulling meat by the start of next week as quite a few folks have done very well with meat the past few weeks.

Thanks for the replies. I'll keep an eye on the reports and then mix up the presentation to dial in on what they like. Tight lines!

The water temp was 50.1 degrees at Niagara today. Definitely time to start pulling harnesses if you want. I prefer to keep the mess out of the boat as long as the cranks are working. lol

But, I do have the crawlers in the boat every trip now...just in case. ;)

Trolled between A and B can on 5-3, water temp was 55 when we quit at 3. Tried a harness but no takers. Caught 4 on huskys and bandits, 65 to 95 back.

If you notice, the reports of catches, the speed for pulling cranks has increased. Typically, when I start pulling meat and cranks. Meat usually is from .6 mph to 1.2 mph till around June. So when starting with both baits. I start at .8 mph and do "S" turns to find the best speed. Since the crankbait speed is increasing while meat speed is slower IMHO. Can make a night n day difference in catch rates.

Honestly you can catch on a crawler in 32degree water. Why would a walleye care about water temp in relation to a worm? It is about speed and action. I am in no hurry to break out the worms and spinners. cranks usually catch the biggest anyways. Worms can sometimes catch the most but not always. If I can catch on cranks I will not bother with the expense, mess, hassle, trash fish issues etc with the spinners.

Why such a huge differance in speed from harness to cranks,

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Originally Posted by branhamautomotive

Why such a huge differance in speed from harness to cranks,

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Ask the walleye. All I know is from all my experiences. I use what works for me. I learned a lot fishing tourney's. Team mates and I would spend a week prior to each tourney prefishing and learning. Having quite a few boats out trying different things and everyone working to dial in programs thru the week set a lot of what I know and do now.
All the walleye over 12lbs that I have caught have been on meat, spawned out and usually in May. My wife, friends and I have caught plenty of 11lbers on cranks in early spring and late fall, but usually the weather or work got in the way of being able to get out and fish what few decent days there are.
Not everything works for everyone. Most times is comes down to the little details that can change a ho hum day into a banner day.