Helpful Hints Page

Helpful hints from Travis, 2007

Marc just made a post about crankbait colors so I’m going to take the opportunity to throw my two cents worth in.  As Marc stated, and it can’t be stated enough, color is low on my list of concerns.  I know, I know, color names are quirky and we talk about the color names like they’re our friends, but remember that they are primarily targeted at catching you.  Put the right bait at the right depth and don’t obsess over color.  If you’re caught up worrying about lure color instead of studying your sonar/gps you’ll not get the results that you want.  I would rather have an unpainted lure in front of a fish than a $20 custom paint job aimlessly swimming through fishless water.

All that being said, colors are a lot of fun.  For me collecting crankbaits has replaced my baseball card collecting hobby from my childhood years.  Sure, I justify each new crankbait with some specific situation in mind, but let’s be realistic.  If I forced myself to I could survive with about 25% of the crankbaits that get loaded onto the boat each trip.  After doing all of your homework and finding the right fish I believe that the whole color issue boils down to one key point.  Make sure that your crankbait is visible with the conditions that you’re fishing, and make sure that it’s in the “ballpark” of something that they might eat.  It sounds simple, but if you let color choice psych you out you’ll forget to pay attention to the important details.

For clear to stained water I’ve switched to running primarily white based color patters with an occasional chrome/shad based pattern.  For Reef Runner lures the white based patterns include: gray ghost, white-purple hot tiger, eriedescent, all three wonderbreads, mooneye minnow, Barbie, pink lemonade, emerald shiner, pink squirrel, and trick-or-treat.  Out of that group I run white-purple hot tiger and pink lemonade the most.  Neither of those two look much like anything walleye eat, but I believe that they have enough white to almost look like something natural.  What they do have are color accents that make them stick out without being overwhelming.  The chrome based patterns include: monkey puke, blue Hawaiian, gold watermelon, gold clown, silver/blue, the old version of purple prism, trailer trash and fruit loops.  Out of that group blue Hawaiian and gold clown get a lot of water time.  Bare naked has received a lot of hype and I plan to give it a fair shot this season.

For dirtier water dark or bright baits are the ticket.  Reef Runner colors that I use include: blueberry muffin, purple demon, sunspot (or spotted sunset, whichever one is like firetiger, I’ve seen the same bait with two different names and I’m not sure which one is correct),  cat-dog, bubblegum, and hot tiger.

As far as Rapala colors for both shallow and deep husky jerks I use the following: clown, Tennessee shad, glass purple perch, glass pink clown, silver/black, and gold/orange/black.  On the deep tail dancers don’t go without purpledescent and blue flash.

I’m still learning what colors work best in what conditions.  I listed the Reef Runners as clear water vs. dirty water colors, but of course I’ve had “clear” colors work in dirty water and vice versa.  It all goes back to finding feeding fish and putting the right style lure in front of their face at the right speed for their mood.

Travis 

During the near blizzard that we’re going through right now it’s hard to imagine that we’re so close to spring fishing, but we are.  Depending on when the ice breaks up good spring trolling can start any time from early March on.  Some years there are still icebergs floating around in early April.  Regardless of when the ice comes off some of the best early spring trophy fishing is on crankbaits.  It’s similar to fall fishing, but spring fishing locations and tactics deserve their own “helpful hint” article.  Peak pre-spawn trophy time usually runs mid March through early to mid April.  Beyond mid April you can still catch plenty of big fish, but they will usually be post-spawn and will weigh less.

In my mind the biggest difference between spring and fall is that the fish are in a completely different activity pattern.  Fall fish seem to travel in loose “packs” and at times are probably herding baitfish and feeding heavily over short periods of time.  In fall you’re usually looking for baitfish, finding the tightest schooled “balls” of bait on your depthfinder, and then working the area over especially if you catch even one active fish.  Spring is different.  Fish have one thing on their mind.  They are programmed to spawn and eating is secondary.  Not only that, but the best areas may not have any bait, or at least very little bait.  The western basin and islands are stacked with big adult spawners and they don’t care how much food is around.  It’s the one time of year that specific areas have more predators than the local prey base should support.  That’s not to say that there isn’t enough to eat, it’s just that the fish are seeking spawning areas out, not foraging areas.  I focus on two types of areas, migration routes to and from the spawning reefs of the Camp Perry firing range and also staging areas where fish are holding before spawning.  Most of the areas that I fish are west of a line between Catawba and South Bass and as far west as Toussaint Reef.  Check out the sonar screen capture below from late March.  Notice the lack of any bait with a lot of big fish.  This was in 28' of water between Green Island and "F" can of the Camp Perry range.

(click on the picture for a larger version)

Generally what I’ll do is hit one of my favorite pre-spawn spots and if there are fish there I will roughly mark the bounds of the area that holds the most fish with waypoints.  The areas can be large at times and it is important to get new waypoints in each time you get even just a hit, and then also get waypoints in where you come out of the fish.  You can usually get the best area narrowed down within a few hours based on your own on-the-fly waypoint mapping.  When you hit the right areas your screen will light up with big hooks better than any other time of the year.  You’ll see screens that make your knees weak.  You’ll notice that 95% percent of the fish that you mark are in the bottom half of the water column.  PLEASE don’t put your lures down there!  I know that it’s counter-intuitive, but you’ll miss the most active fish and most likely will end up frustrated and confused.  I almost never run a crankbait deeper than 15’ below the surface in the spring with most being from 6 to 12’ feet down.  I’m not talking about feet of line out; I’m talking about how deep the bait is running.  Most of my line-out amounts end up being something like ripsticks 60’ or less back, reef runners and deep husky jerks less than 40’ back, and rogues or husky jerks from 20 to at most 100’ back.  If you look up the dive curves stay shallower than 15’ of running depth.  Don’t let the deep marks tempt you.  They are inactive.  I have caught fish within one foot of the surface while free-spooling a rogue to let it out.  You can’t go too high until you narrow down the magic depth of the day.

Generally for speed I’m running from 0.8 to 1.5 mph on my GPS.  Spring is a prime time to vary speed.  Run at a consistent 1.2 or so, and then come to a complete stop.  Put your motor in neutral for as long as 30 seconds (time it on a watch, it’s longer than you would think).  Then after your planer boards have sat there for a while hammer the throttle to jump forward and then pull back to around 1 mph again.  The hits will usually come as the boards stop or when they surge forward.  If that doesn’t work try exaggerated S-turns.  Many times the hits will come on the stalled planer boards on the inside of the turn.  You will definitely miss some fish that don’t hook up because the bait is motionless, but if you increase your number of hits compared to a straight troll it will produce more fish (I promise).

Also pay attention to temperature in the spring.  Spring is the only time of the year that I stomach fishing in stained to dirty water if it means that you gain a few degrees.  Many times the warmer water will be the muddy areas.  I guess that the sediment absorbs heat, or maybe it’s just a function of warmer Portage River input.  Either way the most active fish will be in water that may be as little as one degree warmer than the water around it.  If you find distinct transition zones between clean and dirty water fish both sides of the transition and see what works.  Sometimes you’ll mark the most fish in muddy water, but the few takers that you find are just into the clear water outside of where most of the fish are holding.

As far as specific areas I really like the contour line that runs off of the tip of Catawba, dips south towards Port Clinton, and then turns back north over near the firing zone.  I believe that it is a major migration route.  You’ll also usually find fish staging in open water between Green Island and Toussaint Reef, with “D” can of the range being a good area.  Open water east of Niagara Reef and the water just north of “A” through “C” cans are other productive areas.  There are a lot of places to check and the open water fish can move a long way each day.  That’s why I mentioned that waypoints are so critical to keep track of where they are from hour to hour.

I already mentioned the crankbaits that I like to use.  Colors are pretty straight forward.  In clear water tend towards whites or naturals like wonderbread, mooneye minnow, white purple hot tiger, bare naked, pink lemonade and blue Hawaiian.  In stained to dirty water try clowns, firetigers, dark purples (like purple demon or glass purple perch), Tennessee shad and texas red.  Just remember to keep them in the top half of the water column.  Don’t overlook running deep divers up high.  Sometimes the wider more erratic wobble of a deep diver is what they want, but if they are up high you need to keep the lure above the fish.  One other trick is to clip a one ounce snap weight 20’ in front of the crankbait.  That gives the bait vertical swim when your speed changes and will get you a few extra hits.

Travis

After our extended session on planer board basics at the fishing college last month I realized that plenty of people have basic questions on how to use inline boards and there aren’t many answers available without asking someone that has used them.  I’ve spent a lot of hours using inline boards and thought that it might be worth putting some tips here on the helpful hints page.  I also received an e-mail from Dean last season saying that he was still getting some questions on inline boards.

I use Offshore Tackle OR-12 side planers.  They come in “left” and “right” models so make sure that you buy the right ones when you are buying them (one for each rod on the right side of your boat and one for each rod on the left side of your boat).  A normal spread for me with one other person in the boat is two right side rods and two left side rods, each with their own planer board.  Each planer board comes standard with a front release and a back release, both OR-14 pinch-pad releases.  Regardless of whether you are running superline or monofilament I would suggest immediately replacing the front release with an OR-18 snapper adjustable tension release.  It’s an expensive upgrade at around $13 compared to the $24 or so that you’ll pay for the board, but you’ll be disappointed if you don’t.  The main reason is that even with monofilament line on a hard hit the line will pop out of the OR-14 releases.  It’s a lot of hassle to circle back around and pick up a planer board that has come off.  With the OR-18 snapper release you can set the tension so that the line won’t come out.  There is an additional pin on the end of the snapper release that holds the line even if it would slip out of the pad.  With superlines you will constantly have boards pop off if you don’t upgrade to the snapper release on the front.  I do not change the back release as it’s not a problem if the line comes out of the back release.  The front snapper release absorbs most of the shock and pressure, and line tends to only come out of the back release on a hard hit, which isn’t a problem with the line securely held by the front snapper release.

(click picture for larger view)

I do make a few other modifications to my boards as you can see in the picture above.  First of all I take the back release from the back position (on the split ring attached to a screw eye right at the back of the board) and I remove it.  I take the split ring off of the screw eye and I unscrew the screw eye and remove it from the board, leaving nothing but the threaded hole where the screw eye was.  I then take the OR-14 pinch pad release and attach it to the hole right behind the snapper release on the black plastic arm near the front of the board (see the pictures).  The snapper release and the back OR-14 release end up right beside each other with the snapper pointing out at a 90 degree angle perpendicular to the planer board and the OR-14 release running parallel to the board pointing straight back towards the back of the board (nearly against the planer board itself).  You can use the extra screw and cap nut included with the board to make this modification.  Why do I do this?  I’ve found that the board doesn’t run much differently with the back release moved up to the front, and it gets rid of the split ring and screw eye.  I had problems with line (especially superline) getting wrapped or caught on the additional hardware and found a way to get rid of the problem.  Not only was it annoying to get the line untangled when it happened, but it can also fray the line.  This positioning of the releases would not allow you to install the tattle flag upgrade, but as far as I’m concerned the tattle flag is not really necessary on Erie.  I’m not saying that they aren’t useful, but I get along fine without them.

(click picture for larger view)

One other modification that I make is to drill a small hole on the top edge of the planer board near the position of the flag when it’s upright.  This is where I insert a Thill brand bobber light for night fishing.  The lights are small, but you’ll be amazed how far away you can see them at night.  They also are easy on your eyes (compared to strobe lights) and weigh so little that they don’t affect how the board runs at all.   I can’t remember the drill bit size of the hole, but it’s barely big enough for the diameter of the light’s battery stick and creates a good snug fit.  The light and battery stick are about the size of a matchstick.  The link above is to the Thill product page.  I have bought them at Wal-Mart as cheap as $2.37 each.  They come in red or green.

(click picture for larger view)

As far as actually using the boards it’s pretty simple.  On a four rod spread I’ll usually put the outside boards an additional 100’ out (after letting out the lure to the desired length and attaching the board) and I’ll put the inside boards an additional 60’ out.  So, for example, if I put a ripstick 50’ back on the outside the total length of line out, including the distance from the board to the rod would be 150’.  If I had a reef runner 50’ back on the inside rod the total line out would be 110’ including the 60’ from the board to the rod.  In general you will want to run your shallowest lures on the outside and your deepest lures on the inside.  That way if you get a big fish on the outside and it pulls the board towards the center of the boat the inside line will be below it and not tangle with the hooked fish.  With two rods per side I will generally clear the inside line in, take the board off and put the rod in a rod holder on the opposite side back corner and allow it to flatline as we land the fish on the outside line.  I definitely get the inside rod out of the way with when a big fish jerks the outside board back.  It’s not worth the risk of tangling.  However, you can easily work the outside board around the inside board with some practice if you don’t want to mess with pulling the inside board in.  That is when it is important to have the inside line running a deeper lure than the outside line.  You’ll find if you turn the boat opposite of the rod with the fish (for example a good hit on the outside starboard side rod would require a turn to the port side) it will help to pull the board with the fish past the inside board towards the center of the boat.  Once the outside board is past the inside board you can let out more line to make it the outside board when you re-set, or you can leave it right where it is.  If you do leave the inside board in place, once you’ve landed the fish you can let the lure back out behind the motor, clip on the board, continue to freespool and let the board out the additional 100’, and then engage the reel and the outside board will pull itself back into place outside of the inside board much like when you speed set a dipsy back into the middle of a dipsy spread.  In the picture below you can see three boards on the port (left) side of my boat.  In this case the farthest outside board is 120' out from the rod tip to the board, the middle board is 80' out and the inside board is 40' out.

(click picture for larger view)

I use inline planer board up to 2 or 2.5 mph.  I run crankbaits, inline weights with spinners, snap weights with spinner or cranks, and jet divers with planer boards.  The faster you go the less the boards will spread horizontally, and harder pulling lures also reduce horizontal spread.  You could run big jon mini-discs or size zero dipsys off of boards, but if I’m running dipsys I normally run size one’s and you can’t run them off of boards.  The dipsys have side planing capabilities of their own and don’t require boards.

The most fun that you’ll have with inline boards is fishing cranks in late fall or early spring catching big fish.  They are also fun with inline weights and spinners up around Pelee, West Reef, and Gull Island shoal in May.  I personally like fishing slow with short leads and watching the board bury to the point of near submersion knowing that there is a ten pound class fish on the end of the line.  The biggest fish will nearly sink the board and the board will stay buried during the entire fight to the boat.  Once you get the board off it’s just you versus the fish compared to pulling a dipsy in.  With enough hours of watching the boards and dealing with them you’ll get the hang of it.  You’ll hit the point where you can notice even a small piece of weed on your lure just based on how the board acts.  I’ve found you can really read the boards against each other if you keep similar lures on one side.  For example run two ripsticks on one side and two reef runners on the other side.  Then you’ll really start to notice a slight difference in how the board is running compared to the other board near it.

Travis

Helpful hints from Travis, 2006

If you haven’t noticed by now I really like fishing crankbaits.  I try to be versatile and catch fish with the most practical technique, but if I had my choice I would fish crankbaits 365 days a year.  Absolutely nothing beats a big fish grabbing a crankbait and stopping an inline board dead in its tracks.  Personally I feel like March and most of April is the single best time to catch potentially huge fish on crankbaits.  Next to early spring the late fall season is a close second for catching big fish by trolling crankbaits.

I primarily fish from Cedar Point to Vermilion in October through December, but the islands and plenty of other areas can also be fall hotspots.  Depending on the weather both day and night fishing can be great.  The name of the daytime fishing game is not just finding fish, because the Huron area will usually be littered with great marks in the fall.  The real key is to find the right combination of good marks and the right amount of baitfish, and then figuring out where the most active fish are in the water column.  I would argue that the best time for cranks is with water temps in the mid 50’s all the way down to just above freezing, with the mid to lower 40’s being exceptional.

We all know about a “walleye chop” and how wind can fuel fantastic bites.  However, in the fall I’ll take a near glass calm day over anything else.  It might mean moving the boards farther from the boat than you’re used to (I’ve run the outside boards as far as 200’ away from the boat), but the payoff can be substantial.  Some of my best fall days have been extremely calm and the best bite came later in the afternoon after the water had warmed up because of above average air temperatures and sunlight.  It seems like the fish really get active in the top ten feet when shad are concentrated in the slightly warmer surface water.  As I mentioned earlier the trick is to find active fish within the water column after you’ve found the right amount of bait with hooks under them.

I’ll usually start by looking for a decent amount of bait.  I try to avoid thick layers of bait.  If you’re getting false bottom readings because the shad are so thick you should probably keep looking.  One of the keys is looking for bait schooled into tight balls.  This will usually happen towards the edges of bigger bait schools, or even well away from the biggest schools.  You will most likely see lots of big hooks (the walleye) in the bottom half of the water column and the baitfish will be in almost perfectly round balls in the top 10 feet.  You can run your crankbaits deep just above the big marks, but you might go the entire day with a few hits or none at all.  The best feeding activity will normally be in the top ten feet, at the bottom edge of the bait clouds.  I let the shad depth determine my crankbait depth, not the depth of the big hooks.  If the baitfish is scattered or the marks are inconsistent either look for a different area or spread your crankbaits out across the water column to figure out what depth is best.

If you find a great area you will usually see hooks literally diving into the bait balls, or you might see tight bait balls that are too high to mark the walleye diving into them.  Either way, if you find the tightly schooled shad don’t even mess with running your cranks deep, put them all up in the top ten feet making sure to cover the depth at the bottom of the bait marks.  It will usually mean running ripsticks 20 to 100’ back or deep reef runners from 10 to 20’ back.  Rogues and husky jerks can be great, but they are usually best with the water temp in the 30’s.  If you’re used to fishing deep it can really be hard to switch your mentality to running so shallow, especially when you are still over 30 to 45’ of water.  At the very least you should always one bait up high with others running deeper.  If the high bait gets hit start running the other lines shallower.  You will by far catch the most and biggest fish up high when conditions are right.

As far as color I don’t worry about it too much.  The fish are mostly eating shad so I will usually start with colors like blue Hawaiian, purple prism, or gold clown to mimic the shad.  I also have good luck in the fall with white-based baits such as the wonderbreads, mooneye minnow, white-purple hot tiger, or emerald shiner.  I put most of my effort and thought into location, speed and depth, though, compared to color.  If you get the baits in front of the right fish color is secondary.  For speed I’ll usually start out from 1.5 to 1.9 and I’ll try s-curves or turns to vary speed.  If outside boards get hit (the ones speeding up) I’ll start running faster, or if inside boards consistently get hit (the ones slowing down) I’ll reduce my speed.  Sometimes a simple change in speed alone is more important than your actual speed.  1.7-1.8 mph (gps speed over ground) seems to be a fall sweet spot for speed.

If the water color is stained you might want to try darker baits like purple demon or bright baits like firetiger.  Generally I’ll look for clearer water, but fall blows can limit clarity.  When you can’t find water clear enough to see your lower unit try dark or bright colors.  If you can see your lower unit and even your prop on the big motor, make sure to start with natural color crankbaits.  My favorite conditions are when the water is clear enough to see my prop, but with a green tint that isn’t gin clear.  When my crankbait disappears in mud as soon as it goes under the surface my confidence drops.

As a general rule run your shallowest baits on the outside lines and your deeper baits on inside lines.  Since I usually only run 4, or at the most 6 rods, I prefer to clear the inside line(s) when an outside line gets hit and have a clear path to fight the fish.  If you do get a fall trophy on it’s best to not let it foul with an inside line.  At times, though, if you get a good solid pull back on an outside rod it can be easy enough to get it past the inside line and then release the inside line farther out to become the outside line.  This lets you keep fishing while you fight the fish that you have on.

In an area with active walleye up high it’s not unusual to have 2 or 3 fish on at once even when you only have 4 rods out.  If you find an area like that immediately double back on it and stay on them.  I put waypoints in immediately on each hit so that it’s easier to identify the best spot within an area.  This time of year it’s almost 100% walleye and the waypoints are easy enough to erase if it does end up being a drum or something else.  In open water waypoints are your only landmark compared to nearshore trolling where you might not need them.  I will usually slow down to fight a fish, and if you feel the need you can come to a complete stop if you’re running all crankbaits (since they won’t sink and snag).  You’ll be amazed at how many additional hits you’ll get when you take back off from being stopped to fight a fish.

Travis

The set-up is actually very simple.  When we talk about an "inline" weight it is a little different than a snap weight.  In-line weights look like a snap weight, but have they have an attachment point at each end instead of just on one end.  I tie a cross-lock snap on the end of my line, attach the snap to the in-line weight, and then simply attach my 5' harness to the other end of the in-line weight.  I use a snap-swivel on my harness to reduce twisting.  When I say that I was running in-lines 20' back there is only a total of 25' from the board to the back hook of the harness since my harness is 5' long.  It is a very simple system.  I don't run any more line out than the water depth.  That way you won't snag up if you slow down to net a fish.  A normal program in 30' of water would be to start out with a 1 ounce 30' back on one outside board, a 2 ounce 30' back on the other outside board, a 3 ounce 30' back on one inside board and finally a 4 ounce 30' back on the other inside board.  If you run a consistent speed (usually from 1.2 to 1.5) you can narrow down what weight (and resulting depth) is working best.  I will usually narrow it down to one weight size and distance out, and then play with speed a little to help trigger bites.

Travis

(updated on 3/26/2007)

I use 20 pound fluorcarbon (Seaguar Carbon Pro) and tie 5 ft long harnesses with size 1/0 red wide gap Gamakatsu hooks on the front and 1/0 Gamakatsu octopus hooks on the back.  The two hooks are about 3 inches apart from point to point.  If I'm not sure what blades I'll be using I use plastic quick change clevises so that I can quickly change blades, but if there is a "hot" blade I switch to the old standard metal clevices to reduce the number of blades that would have been thrown off of the quick change clevis by thrashing walleye at boat side.  Most of my harnesses have chartuese, red, or purple beads to space the spinner from the first hook (I don't mix bead colors very often, I just use one color on each harness).  Size 5 colorado blades are the smallest that I use, with size 8 colorados being the largest.  Most of my harnesses have a single blade, either colorado or magnum willow.  For central basin trolling I run willow blades because they pull better at higher speeds, and sometimes I will use harnesses with two willows.

I always use a ball bearing swivel and a cross lock snap at the terminal end.  That way I can attach the harnesses directly to an inline weight, bottom bouncer, jet diver, or dipsy.  With a dipsy I will sometimes use a snubber, but I'm not convinced that they are necessary for walleye.

Some commercially available harnesses have at least one treble hook, but in my experience the trebles just snag more often when fished near the bottom, compared to octopus style hooks.  I rarely lose fish when I get hits and that makes me believe that the 1/0 octopus hooks are sufficient.

Travis

I use my  8' crankbait/inline planer board rods to pull jets.  Unlike dipsys you can pull jets with the same equipment that you pull cranks or spinners with.  I am currently using 15 pound test, 4 pound diameter Cabela's Ripcord Si braided line.  I attach the jets to the main line using a ball bearing snap swivel.  That allows the jet to roll more easily when a fish strikes.  If the jet rolls with a fish on it you can fight the fish easier.  They are designed to do that because if the jet rolls it no longer dives or adds resistance, you are just fighting the fish.  For a leader behind the jet I use 20 pound fluorocarbon.  It is a little harder than mono and is a little more abrasion resistant, not to mention the supposed advantage of being less visible than mono.  My leaders are 6' or 8' long behind the jet.  I use shorter leaders in shallower water when I'm fishing near the bottom and 8' when I'm fishing open water suspended fish.  With jets you DO NOT use snubbers.  It's not necessary.  I generally pull my jets behind inline planer boards, even up to the large Jet40 size.  They pull fine behind the boards even though they pull a little harder than most cranks.  If you run a spread with jets and spoons and also cranks or something else, just make sure that you put the jets on one side and the cranks on the other.  Don't put one jet and one crank on each side, the boards run differently and you shouldn't mix jets and cranks on the same side.  Jets also work well with a mast and big board system.  I rarely use a mast and big boards, but if I'm pulling strictly jets all day I will consider using the big boards instead of inlines.
 
Keep in mind that the jets are technically supposed to dive to the depth of their size rating.  For example a Jet30 is supposed to dive 30' down at 100' of line out.  What I've found, at least with my line (15 pound braid), is that all of the jets tend towards 30'.  A jet 20 will dive closer to 30' than 20' at 100' out.  A jet 40 will dive closer to 30' than 40' at 100' out.  A Jet30 will dive right around 30' at 100' out.  If I'm fishing less than 30' deep (even as shallow as 16' or so feet), I will run the jet 20's because they pull a little less than the jet30's and still acheive depth quickly.  Just don't run a jet20 100' out in 20' of water.  You'll lose it quickly.  Start at 30 to 40' out and slowly let more out until you hit something.  A little trial and error and you'll figure out how deep you're diving.  For anything 30' or over I usually run a jet30.  You really don't gain enough extra depth to justify the extra pull of the jet 40.  Usually in 40 feet of water I'll put four jet30's out.  The four would be something like 80, 100, 120 and 140' back, and then I adjust to the one that catches fish.  As far as color I'm covinced that clear is better than painted.  I would rather the fish be attracted to my lure, not a flashy jet diver.  Sure, there might be times that the jet would attract fish that would then see the spoon and hit it, but I'm more concerned about a flashy jet spooking neutral or inactive fish.  I want them to see the lure, not the diver.  Also, don't be afraid to run worm harnesses behind jets.  I've had some great days fishing harnesses over rocks in 15 to 20' of water with jet20's.  The advantage is that the jets will start to float up if you slow down or stop, compared to a lead inline or snap weight that would fall and hang up.  I think most people ignore how versatile jets are and simply go to open water and pull spoons.  You can do a lot of damage around structure with them if you know how deep they are diving with your equipment.

Travis

One suggestion is that you should tune the reef runners at a higher speed than what you will troll them.  By "tuning" I mean very slightly bending the metal attachment point on the lip.  You should always bend the wire towards the way that you want it to run.  If it's running away from the boat, bend the wire towards the boat, and if it's running towards the boat bend the wire away from the boat.  This can be done with small needelnose pliers or Reef Runner's "Tune-a-fish", a small tool made for tuning crankbaits.  I don't usually troll crankbaits more than 2 to 2.5 mph.  I tune them around 2.5 mph and they seem to run well at any lower speed.  Keep in mind that you need to have a good 8 to 10 feet of line out to really tune them.  I struggle to tune them in dirty water because I lose sight of them.  If you tune them with too little line out it isn't very indicative of how they will run with more line out.  Tune them early and often and you'll be much happier with their performance.

One final trick.  If they won't run after tuning give them a solid rap against something hard (compartment lid, etc.).  They are known for getting their internal rattle bb's stuck.  When you hit them against something the bb's usually break loose.  When they are stuck they can throw off the balance of the bait and cause them to roll out of tune.

Travis

To start off, I primarily fish from Toledo to Lorain and I exclusively troll.  Early and late in the season I fish a lot of crankbaits and am very comfortable with them.  After cranks I fish harnesses quite a bit with inline weights, snap weights, jet divers or bottom bouncers.  I do fish spoons, but I would put dipsys and spoons lower on my confidence list, just becuase I haven't fished them as much as a lot of you.

I fish out of a 21' boat and mostly use inline boards for trolling multiple rods.  I use offshore boards with the "snapper" front clip to better grip superlines.  Other than when I fish dipsys I primarily run 8' fiberglass rods.  I have used a few different brands, but my favorite is Cabela's Whuppin sticks.  They have a lot of backbone but are still fairly sensitive.  They have a cork handle and come with a 10 year warranty, but are still only $25.  There are better rods out there, but these are the best I've found for the price, especially with the warranty.  For reels I am now running Okuma Catalinas (Size 20).  They have metal frames, infinite anti-reverse, and a very smooth drag.  They generally are in the $90 range, but compare favorably with reels that cost well over $100.  As far as line I have switched over to Cabela's RipCord Si braid.  On my crankbait rods I use the 15 pound test, 4 pound diameter.  For dipsys I run 30 pound test.  I used to run all Fireline, which worked fine for me, but I got tired of how it starts splitting into its individual fibers the longer you run it.  It seemed like I was always cutting a few feet off to get to good line.  The ripcord lasts longer and handles very well for a braid.

Towards the end of last year I started experimenting with leaders.  I used to always use leaders, then I quit using them at all, now I'm back to using them again.  I generally run 8 to 10' fluorocarbon leaders when I'm fishing crankbaits.  I use 20 pound test and tie directly to my braid using a double uni-knot.  It took me a while to muster up the confidence to tie line directly to line (instead of using a barrel swivel), but the double uni-knot really does work.  The advantage is that you can reel the knot right through your guides, allowing longer leader lengths.  With a barrel swivel you are stuck with the entire leader length below your rod tip, which can be limiting if you want long leaders.  I'm not sure if I buy the fact the fluorocarbon is invisible.  If it is, then great, but I really like the fluorocarbon for how hard it is.  It seems to be more fray resistant than standard mono, but still gives you a built in shock absorber even with leaders as short as 8'.  It may not seem like it would matter, but with no stretch braid you can use any small amount of give that you can get.

That pretty well describes my rod-reel-line set-ups.  For rod holders I use Scotty power locks with their 8.5" extensions.  The extensions help get your rods up high and make the whole process of setting rods and picking them up easier.  I have the rod holders mounted in Pursuit metal tracks.  The holder bases are mounted on metal plates that slide in the track allowing you to remove the bases or change their location.  I'm very happy with both the holders and the tracks.

As far as crankbaits I primarily run Reef Runner, Rapala and Smithwick products.  Reef Runners are my favorites.  I run their Reef Runners (the deep diver), Ripsticks, Little Rippers (shallow and deep models), and the new Rip Shad.  The 400 series rip shad looks promising.  I think that it will be a great bait this summer.  The rapala models that I run are Husky Jerks, deep husky jerks, deep tail dancers and shad raps.  Deep huskys caught a lot of my fish last year and a deep tail dancer landed the biggest fish from last season.  The two Smithwick models that I run are the rogue and deep rogue.

As addicted as I am to crankbait color schemes I honestly don't believe that color is a life and death situation.  I would rather be running the right model and size at the right depth with the wrong color, compared to having the right color at the wrong depth.  That being said, of course of I have my favorites that I have confidence in.  In the spring I tend towards white color schemes like wonderbread, eriedescent, mooneye minnow and other similar colors (for reef runners).  During the summer a few others that I won't leave the dock without include (but of course aren't limited to) tennessee shad, purple demon, monkey puke, fluorescent pink, clown, and gold clown.  In the fall shad colors such as blue hawaiian, purple prism, blue/silver, and black/silver usually do well.

Take all of the above information for what it is worth.  That's the equipment that I use and should only be used as a guideline if you're looking for suggestions.

Travis

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