Trolling Crankbaits for Walleye

Trolling crankbaits is the most efficient way to cover open water and locate active walleye, especially when fish are scattered along deep structure or suspended over basins during summer and fall. It lets you present multiple baits at different depths and speeds simultaneously, turning a search process into a systematic one. This technique shines on large reservoirs, natural lakes, and river systems where walleye relate to depth breaks, mid-lake humps, or long tapering flats rather than tight cover.

Key takeaways

What Trolling Crankbaits Does for Walleye and When to Use It

Walleye are opportunistic predators that relate heavily to structure, thermoclines, and baitfish location rather than staying put in one spot. Trolling crankbaits solves the problem of finding these mobile fish because it allows an angler to pull baits through a large volume of water at a controlled depth, testing multiple zones until a pattern emerges. Once a few fish are caught at a specific depth, speed, or breakline, that information can be repeated across the rest of the lake.

This method is most effective from late spring through fall, once walleye have moved off spawning areas and onto main lake structure. It excels on wind-blown flats, long points, submerged humps, and river current seams where casting would be inefficient. In early season on natural lakes, trolling shallow-diving crankbaits along the edges of rocky shorelines can also produce fish before the deep bite sets up.

Gear Setup for Trolling Walleye

Proper gear matters more in trolling than in almost any other walleye technique because rod action and line choice directly control bait depth, action, and hook-up ratio.

• Rod: 7 to 8 foot medium or medium-light action trolling rods with a soft tip. The forgiving tip absorbs a walleye's initial strike and prevents the fish from throwing the bait, since walleye have soft mouths and often just clamp down rather than crush a lure.
• Reel: Line counter reels are essential. Precise, repeatable line-out measurements let you replicate a productive depth on every rod in the spread.
• Line: 10 to 14 pound monofilament for standard trolling, or lead-core and copper line when targeting depths beyond 25 feet, since these dense lines get baits down without needing excessive amounts of line out.
• Leader: A 4 to 6 foot fluorocarbon leader ahead of lead-core or copper reduces visibility near the bait, which matters in clear water.

Choosing the Right Crankbait

Depth control is the single most important factor in matching a crankbait to the water you are fishing. Every bait has a rated diving depth on a given line diameter, and that depth changes with line size, line length, and trolling speed.

• Shallow water (6 to 12 feet): Standard shallow to mid-diving crankbaits work well, particularly early and late in the day when walleye push up onto flats to feed.
• Mid-depth (12 to 20 feet): This is the most common walleye zone through summer. Deep diving crankbaits designed to reach this range without excessive line let-out are the workhorse choice.
• Deep water (20 feet plus): Combine deep-diving baits with lead-core or copper line, or run them behind a diving planer, to reach fish holding on deep structure or suspended over the thermocline.

Bait size should roughly match the size of the dominant forage, usually 2.5 to 4 inches for typical walleye prey like shad, perch, or smelt.

Rigging and Setting the Spread

1. Attach the crankbait directly to your leader or line with a small snap, which allows quick lure changes without retying and does not meaningfully affect action on most walleye crankbaits.
2. Set your line counter reel to zero once the bait is in the water at the boat.
3. Let line out to the target depth based on the bait's diving chart, counting the exact footage so it can be repeated on other rods.
4. Stagger depths and distances across the spread. Run some baits close and shallow, others farther back and deeper, to cover the water column until a pattern shows itself.
5. Use planer boards or in-line boards to spread lines away from the boat's path, which covers more water and reduces spooking fish directly under the hull, especially important in clear water.

Trolling Speed and Presentation

Speed governs both the action of the bait and the aggressiveness of the presentation, and walleye can be surprisingly speed-sensitive on a given day.

1. Start in the 1.5 to 2.0 mph range, which is a safe baseline for most crankbait designs and water temperatures.
2. Watch your first few strikes closely. If fish are short-striking or missing the bait, slow down slightly. If bites are solid but sparse, try speeding up toward 2.5 mph to trigger a reaction bite.
3. Use S-turns while trolling. Turning the boat speeds up the outside lines and slows the inside lines momentarily, often triggering strikes from fish that have been following but not committing.
4. Pay attention to wind and current. Trolling with the wind or current typically increases speed and requires throttle adjustment to stay in the productive range.

Where and When to Troll

• Structure: Long points, submerged humps, rock-to-sand transitions, and river current breaks concentrate baitfish and walleye. Troll parallel to these edges rather than straight across them.
• Suspended fish: In summer, walleye often suspend over deep basins near baitfish schools. Watch your electronics for the depth fish are marking and adjust lines accordingly rather than assuming they are tight to bottom.
• Low light and overcast: Walleye feed more aggressively in low light, so dawn, dusk, and cloudy days are prime trolling windows. On bright days, fish tend to hold deeper and tighter to structure.
• Wind: A moderate wind that stirs the surface and pushes baitfish against a shoreline or point often triggers an active bite. Dead calm, bright conditions are typically tougher.

Color and Size Selection

Water clarity should drive your color choice more than personal preference. In clear lakes, natural perch, shad, and silver-blue patterns closely mimic real forage and avoid spooking wary fish. In stained or murky water, brighter chartreuse, orange, and firetiger patterns create a stronger silhouette and are easier for walleye to locate by vibration and contrast. Keep a mixed selection of crankbaits rigged across the spread so you can compare colors side by side under identical trolling conditions, which is the fastest way to identify what the fish want that day.

Common Mistakes That Cost Anglers Fish

• Running one depth for too long. If a spread has not produced within 15 to 20 minutes, change depths or speed before assuming the area is empty.
• Ignoring line let-out precision. Sloppy counting on a line counter reel means you cannot reliably repeat a productive depth once you find fish.
• Overlooking speed changes from turns and wind. Trolling speed at the kicker motor does not equal actual bait speed once wind and current are factored in, so watch your GPS speed over ground.
• Using tackle that is too heavy. Oversized rods and stiff tips pull hooks out of a walleye's soft mouth on the strike or during the fight.
• Neglecting to check baits. Weeds, debris, or a bent hook can kill a crankbait's action without any visible sign at the boat, so check lines periodically even when nothing seems wrong.

For more species-specific tactics, browse all bass fishing guides or explore the full range of tackle to build out a complete trolling spread.

Quick answers

What is the best trolling speed for walleye crankbaits?

Most days fall between 1.5 and 2.5 mph, with 1.8 to 2.0 mph being a reliable starting point. Let the fish's response, not a fixed number, dictate the final speed, since short strikes usually mean too fast and lazy bites usually mean too slow.

How deep do I need to run my crankbait?

Depth depends on where the fish are holding, which your electronics should show clearly. Use the bait's diving chart along with your line diameter and amount let out to dial in that exact depth, adjusting as fish move throughout the day.

Do I need planer boards to troll crankbaits for walleye?

They are not mandatory but they significantly improve results in clear water or when fishing shallow flats, since they spread lines away from the boat's disturbance and let you cover more water per pass. On stained water or deeper structure, straight-back trolling without boards is often sufficient.

What size crankbait works best for walleye?

Baits in the 2.5 to 4 inch range match the size of common walleye forage like perch, shad, and smelt most closely. Sizing up slightly can be worth trying in fall when baitfish have grown and walleye are feeding heavily ahead of winter.

More in Walleye Fishing

• How to Catch WalleyeLow-light feeders that reward the right presentation.
• Best Lures for WalleyeJigs, crankbaits, and jerkbaits that trigger walleye.
• Jigging for WalleyeThe most reliable way to put walleye in the boat.
• Seasonal Walleye PatternsWhere walleye hold from ice-out to winter.
• Where to Find WalleyeStructure, current, and light that hold fish.

See all walleye fishing or browse all bass fishing guides.