Crank-Crawler rigs on Willard 6-11-24 (With Video)

[TubeDude]

Feels like a lot of wipers being caught or maybe just more reported than last year. If I ever sit still this summer I need to run over and pick up some stuff we talked about but I am sure having fun wandering a bit more than the last couple years. Are you planning a Utah Lake run soon?

Probably not in the foreseeable future.  Got a wife home recovering from surgery and I gotta go back in for a followup session on my left eye next week.  But you would be welcome to visit anytime.  Be sure to give me some advance notice so I can put together a bunch of "downloads" stuff for your fishing club too.

And yes, there are a lot more wipers showing up than in recent years.  DWR did some heavier planting and the newbies are showing up.  Pesky when small but wunnerful when they grow a couple of years.

---

What size are those  crankbait  that you use to make them hybrids  with?

Most of them are 2.5" - 3".   I had boxes of different sizes, shapes and colors of small crankbaits I used in the past but not now...or that I bought on fisherman's whim and speculation and they never produced.  So I "repurposed" them and repainted them in my fave Willard colors.

Because I have had such good success by adding crawler rigs to my ever-expanding line of fligs I figured why not try them on some small cranks.  Almost any crankbait will wiggle more if you remove the tail hook...kinda like flatfish.  Some anglers in the Midwest have been adding crawler rigs to Flatfish for years.  And adding the crawler rig to the middle/bottom hook does not bother the action at all.  Lots more wiggle.

I always run my new creations beside my tube or close behind before I fish them.  I change up the speeds to see where they run best...with a wider swing or a tighter wiggle.  Then I fish them according to how deep and how fast I want to go...and keep changing up the drop back and speeds to give them every opportunity to get bit.  It's been fun experimenting.

Here are some pics of the first models.  Have added some new shapes and colors since.  And I will be trying some single hook models on short wire leaders...with minnows...on my next venture.