BWCA Crawler Harnesses - Hot spinner colors? Boundary Waters Fishing Forum
Chat Rooms (0 Chatting)  |  Search  |   Login/Join
* For the benefit of the community, commercial posting is not allowed.
Boundary Waters Quetico Forum
   Fishing Forum
      Crawler Harnesses - Hot spinner colors?     
 Forum Sponsor

Author

Text

PapaBear1975
distinguished member (116)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
08/19/2017 07:06PM   (Thread Older Than 3 Years)
I am building up a few crawler harnesses for walleyes for my trip. Are there any particular spinner blade/colors I should key in on? I am definitely making some with gold blades, some with orange, some with fire tiger, and some with chartreuse- all colorado style blades with colored floats/beads, etc. Jann's Netcraft has probably gotten to know me well these last few weeks with all my tackle building purchases I've made, haha. The area I am fishing, nightcrawlers on lindy rigs/worm harnesses have been the ticket. Hope this holds up until the middle of September.
 
      Print Top Bottom Previous Next
08/19/2017 10:27PM  
Papa bear 1975,

I have been an avid crawler harness/Lindy Rig user for Quetico walleye for almost 38 years.

I like your Colorado blade choice and the variety of colors you listed. But my 2 favorite colors are Blue and White Blades and Floats and Pink and White Blades and Floats. I prefer "Glow" Blades and Floats and Beads on stained lakes too. I like larger sized red hooks size 2 for big eyes. Many prerigged harnesses you buy have smaller #4 and #6's.

Cabela's used to sell a great double hook floating worm harness in glow (pink, blue, chartreuse and orange) colors but they stopped production a couple of years ago. I really liked those harnesses. I have begun making my own worm harnesses that imitate what I used to get from Cabela's.

Harnesses work for walleye all year round. Depending on water temperture when you go in September you may find walleyes fairly deep (25-30 feet) or they can be shallow or at mid depths. So bring a variety of Lindy Rig Slip Sinkers ... 1/2 oz. and 3/4 oz. will cover 10 to 30 feet depths.

In early September of 2014, I was on Badwater Lake in Quetico and most of what I brought was deep running crankbairs, heavy jigs and deep Lindy Slip sinkers. I thought Fall walleye would be deep. And of course most of the walleye I caught were not 20-30 feet but were in 10 to 15 ft.

Another tip: some days walleyes can be right on the bottom and a shorter snell length will be the ticket (24 inches) I may use a harness Rig without floats too when walleye are right on the bottom. But some days I go to a 4 ft snell when walleye are hovering a couple of feet off the bottom. I need to get the harness at or just above where walleyes are located. Use your fish finder to help determine how close walleye are to the bottom.

 
08/19/2017 11:03PM  
Some crawler harness guys use bottom bouncers instead of Lindy Slip Sinkers. I use 1 1/2 oz. bottom bouncers when fishing 10 to 20 ft and a 2 oz. bouncer when pulling harnesses > 20 feet to 30 feet. I feel a bottom bouncer will put the crawler harness a little higher off the bottom vs. a Lindy Slip Sinker. Let the fish tell you what they prefer ... so I bring both Lindy Rig Slip Sinkers and Bottom Bouncers ... although I use Lindy Slip Sinkers 75% of the time.

Wish I could bring in my flat of 500 worms into Quetico but the live bait ban has put the kabosh on that. I much prefer a live night crawler over artificial Gulp or Powerbait.
 
mutz
distinguished member(1267)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
08/20/2017 10:29AM  
I tied up enough crawler harnesses last fall for four guys on our Canada trip, those with purple blades outfished every other color hands down. Luckily it was a boat in trip so I had extra blades, beads hooks etc to tie up more harnesses, because by the the fourth day the only color we had in the water was purple
 
08/20/2017 04:30PM  
Mutz,

yes sir ... I really like purple too. heck I jus like crawler harnesses period. I don't hear many folks on this website using them.

Hard to believe one color will outperform others on a trip. One year Blue is the hot color and the next year it may be Pink or Chartreuse.

Mutz, do use bottom bouncers or Lindy Rig them using slip sinkers ... or some other way?
 
PapaBear1975
distinguished member (116)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
08/20/2017 06:42PM  
While we are on this topic- what size slow death hooks is everyone using? I very seldom ever get to use them. The lake I walleye fish mostly is a shallow mudhole out in NW Iowa. We fish for walleyes mostly like you would for bass...but we do drag crawler harnesses from time to time behind the boat with planer boards in shallow (less than 10 feet) of water. I may throw in a pack or two of GULP crawlers just to see what the hype is all about also (i'm a bit old fashioned this way).
 
mutz
distinguished member(1267)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
08/20/2017 08:13PM  
quote Wally13: "Mutz,


yes sir ... I really like purple too. heck I jus like crawler harnesses period. I don't hear many folks on this website using them.


Hard to believe one color will outperform others on a trip. One year Blue is the hot color and the next year it may be Pink or Chartreuse.


Mutz, do use bottom bouncers or Lindy Rig them using slip sinkers ... or some other way?"



Almost always use slip sinkers, but when I fish the lake I live on and they seem to be right on the bottom, I will go to a bottom bouncer because it is a sand bottom and that puff of sand seems to fire them up.
 
08/20/2017 08:21PM  
Have been using size 2 slow death hooks since they came out but have now gone to larger size 1 the past 2 springs
 
08/20/2017 08:23PM  

I have only begun to search for eyes on sand flats up in Quetico the past 3 years. I have always concentrated on rock reefs, sunken islands, weed edges and mud flats.

But like you Mutz I have many times found lots of walleye roaming sand bottoms near rock and deep water. I will have to try your method of pulling a bottom bouncer when I pulling Crawler Harnesses over sand bottoms. Good idea. Thanks for the tip.
 
Savage Voyageur
distinguished member(14416)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished membermaster membermaster member
  
08/20/2017 08:40PM  
Try my favorite two colors up there, a chartreuse/orange blade and the other is a light blue with 3 white dots. These will work great.
 
08/20/2017 10:26PM  
I haven't tried a ton of different colors but I've always had my best luck with a silver blade and chartreuse floats and beads. I'm also in the camp that likes to use bottom bouncers. I use a few different sizes depending on the depth but I feel it helps me stay very close to the bottom without a lot of snagging.
 
GoSpursGo
distinguished member (267)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
08/21/2017 11:46AM  
I had luck on Orange and Chartreuse this spring
 
Bigbriwi
distinguished member (106)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
08/21/2017 02:19PM  
So do you guys use a whole night crawler on these rigs or half?

 
08/21/2017 11:53PM  
Usually 1/2 a night crawler on Slow death and if I have a large supply of worms I will use a whole one on a Spinner Crawler Harness. But many times when walleyes are biting "short" I will go to 1/2 a crawler when spinner rigging. But usually a 1/2 night crawler will be the ticket.
 
ATDoel
member (44)member
  
08/23/2017 02:19PM  
What size lindy rig slip sinker are you guys using out of the canoe? What type of action on the rod? Is the gulp crawler the best artificial option for these crawler harnesses? Can't use bait up in the Q.

I'm assuming everyone is trolling these rigs, or do some cast and reel them in? Walleye fishing is so much different than what I'm used to down here in the south...
 
08/23/2017 11:08PM  
ATDoel,

I mainly use 1/2 oz Cabela's Walking unpainted Slip Sinkers to 20 ft deep and 3/4 oz 20 to 30 feet.

Cabela's Walking Sinker unpainted |/pc/104793480/c/104779980/sc/104231880/cabelas-walking-sinkers-unpainted/702210.uts?slotId=4

I use a Lindy Swivei Clip to attach my worm harnesses.


Lindy Swivel Clips

When no live nightcrawlers can be used I do use Gulp or Impulse Crawlers.
 
08/23/2017 11:22PM  
Cabela's Walking Sinkers|/pc/104793480/c/104779980/sc/104231880/cabelas-walking-sinkers-unpainted/702210.uts?slotId=4
 
ATDoel
member (44)member
  
08/30/2017 11:06AM  
Thanks, are you trolling these in the canoe?
 
08/30/2017 11:19AM  

Yes, I troll these in my canoe.
 
      Print Top Bottom Previous Next
Fishing Sponsor:
PackSack