I stood watching customers from a distance in a big sportshop near our office in Brainerd, Minnesota, as they worked the crankbait aisle, just after the traditional walleye fishing opener in May. Fascination is in the eye of the beholder—a wife, apparently not an angler, her nose in a magazine, dutifully followed her husband down the vast row of offerings.

The husband was excited at the prospect of shopping for just the right choices. He took his time, coolly and calmly comparing this with that, reading descriptions on the boxes, sometimes opening them to more closely scrutinize, considering size and unknown other factors before dropping his choices into the cart. He was convinced. All hail conquering Caesar.

Farther down the aisle, checking still more options, he began to hesitate, reconsidering previous choices and walking back down the aisle to put former contenders back on the rack. He was moving more quickly now, becoming a bit frustrated—and a sales clerk further fueled the moment by pointing out that the hottest options last weekend had been this, this, and that, none of which were in our angler’s cart.

Our angler looked into his basket and back at the rack. His head slumped. Again, he reconsidered his choices. A few more of this and that went into the basket while others went back onto the rack. By now he was so lit up by what was becoming a traumatic event that his wife had stopped reading to watch her husband. He was starting to move up and down the isle like a fan in the front row at an AC/DC concert.

He went into a feeding frenzy, stalking back up the aisle, retrieving the baits he’d put back on the rack and several more. He picked up the “this, this, and that” recommended by the sales clerk in what looked like every available color, adding even more color patterns to the lure choices that had caught his eye in first place.

Suddenly, spent, he stopped, looked at his heap of choices, then at his wife. She shook her head. Hooked, her look said, in every way, just like the fish you hope to catch.

There but for grace and many previously blown fuses of my own go I, I thought, as they headed for the checkout.

Fundamental Choices—Depth

Choosing potential crankbaits for the situations we face doesn’t have to be difficult, even though there are myriad choices. The steps are these: The crankbait must work at the right depth, travel at the right speed and retrieve (or trolling) cadence, and offer the right wobble (action), plus exhibit proper profile and color-pattern combination. Then it’s up to the fish, given their feeding disposition and other factors—some of which are beyond our control. But control begins the process—right depth, speed and retrieve cadence, first and foremost. Nothing, though, is more important than depth.

The #12 Rapala Husky Jerk and the Smithwick Suspending Super Rogue, classic walleye crankbaits, are versatile plugs because on a straight retrieve they run 2, 3, or 4 feet down, depending on line diameter. On a short cast they run shallower than on a long cast. By holding your rod tip high you can affect depth slightly shallower. Trolling the plugs on a longline gets them slightly deeper. We can add split shot to the line to get them deeper. By adding a snapweight we can make them run at just about any depth. The use of leadcore line is another option for depth control.