Ultimate Fishing Rigs #1: The crawler harness

This is the first of a many part series aimed at providing guidance to beginner level fishermen and fisherwomen who are looking for advice on how to get their tacklebox outfitted, rig up their rods and catch more fish!

#1: The Crawler Harness

Target species: Walleye, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, northern pike

Line weight: 6-10 lb test

The Rig: This is my all-time favorite way to fish walleyes, but I also often catch northern pike and bass on these rigs depending on where and how you're fishing. While you could, of course, buy the premade variety such as the Lindy Little Joe Colorado Blade Crawler Harness, I think it's much more fun to tie your own. My favorite harnesses for walleye are usually tied on 6-8lb monofilament such as Berkley Trilene.

First, prepare your main line by tying on a 1/8-1/4 ounce egg sinker such as these egg sinkers followed by a snap swivel for easily changing lures.

To tie this rig, start by cutting a 3-4 foot section of monofilament line and on one end, tie a loop knot such as the perfection loop. This is how you'll connect your harness to your main line. Once you've tied your loop knot, you'll want to add a spinner blade such as these Berkely Spinner Blades for added flash and vibration. To connect the blade, I prefer to use a Lindy X-Change clevises which allows you to quickly change blade size and color to fine-tune your rig.

Next, I like to add some brightly colored beads such as these fishing beads. I've also tried rattling beads like these Sonar Ballz, glow in the dark beads such as these and various other sizes and varieties. This is where you get to use your creativity and have a little fun. As a side note, these make a great hand-made gift for your fishing family and friends. Have a friend who's a huge sports fan? Try tying them a few crawler harnesses with their favorite team colors.

Sometimes, when fish are feeding off the bottom, or if you're trying to avoid snagging rocks and weeds, I'll add a few floats such as these Lindy Snell Floats to keep my crawler suspended a bit off the bottom.

Finally, add some snell style hooks such as these Gamakatsu Hooks. The first hook should be 6-8inches from the free (none-looped) end of the line and tied on using a snell knot. Be sure to check your regulations booklet to determine how many hooks you can legally fish with. Where I fish, I usually tie two on the line. One hook will hook through the "nose" of the worm and the second is closer to the "tail" to catch light biting fish that might otherwise steal half of your worm.

I like to tie up a dozen of these rigs before a fishing trip and store them on a Lindy X-treme Rigger.

For more ideas and examples check these out:
Berkley Walleye Colorado 5 Fluorocarbon Flicker Rig
Lindy Little Joe Floating Worm Harness


How to fish it: If you have a boat, slow trolling these rigs over structure or along weed lines is deadly-effective. I've also had success drifting when there is enough wind to keep your blade moving. These will also work well fishing a river from shore if there is enough of a current to keep your blade moving. Just add a nice juicy crawler and wet a line!

READ NEXT: Ultimate Low Cost Portable Fish Locator

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Tips for Getting a Newbie Interested in Fishing

Growing up in an outdoors orientated family means fishing is in my blood. Open water and bent rods fill me with joy. But how do you convince a non-fishing person that they should spend their Saturday on the water with you? Whether it's a new girlfriend/boyfriend, work pal, or even your son or daughter who you're introducing to fishing for the first time, here are three tips to improve your odds of a repeat fishing buddy:

1. Comfort is key

If you're a hardcore fisher person, a hard canoe seat, hot sun and hours of boredom between bites is a price you're will to pay in your quest for the next lunker. If you're just starting out, these make fishing miserable. In order to make things more pleasant for a newbie I suggest cold drinks, snacks, good tunes and a comfy seat.

If you already own a nice boat with comfortable seats and a stereo, all you really need is this Yeti cooler filled up with something good to drink and tasty snacks. For my budget setup, which usually consists an aluminum fishing boat or canoe, I like to add a few relatively inexpensive items that will go a long way in adding comfort.

Firstly, if you've got a smartphone with music on it, you'll want to pick up a speaker for between bite entertainment. This water resistant bluetooth speaker is designed for the shower (which makes it a nice multi-function speaker)  but the suction cup sticks just as well to the inside wall of an aluminum fishing boat.

A more budget-friendly cooler such as this Igloo Profile will do just fine for keeping drinks cold and you can still harness the power of Yeti technology while minding your budget with this Yeti ice pack. The one I have keeps cold plenty long for the average afternoon on the water.

A final key item for keeping your fishing partner comfy is a nice boat seat. If you're boat or canoe doesn't have padded seats with a back support, I highly recommend a strap-in seat such as this GCI Outdoor SitBacker.

2. Action Jackson!

I'm a walleye fisherman myself. The pursuit of this favored game-fish species has taught me many lessons in patience. But for a first-timer, you'll want to go after something that provides more consistent action. In my neck of the woods, that means panfish such as bluegills and crappie. High bag limits, fast action, and good eating make panfish a huge hit with the uninitiated. I've had great success using small jigs such as the Northland Forage minnow. Tipping the jig with wax worms is probably your best bet for finicky, light biting fish, but warm weather panfish are often pretty aggressive. I've found that soft plastics, for example, these Gulp maggots outfish live bait, not necessarily because fish prefer them to the real thing, but because they often survive 2-3 strikes before they require re-baiting. This saves you time (as you'll likely be baiting your hook and your newbie's hook) and keeps your line in the water longer, which ultimately leads to more fish in the boat.

3. Enjoying the fruits of your labor

I'm a huge believer in catch-and-release when it comes to large spawning females or when you're just fishing for fun. That being said, when you have newcomer to the sport, correlating your success on the water to a delicious meal is key to creating a lifelong fishing partner.

As I alluded to in step two, panfish are called panfish for a reason, they are delicious. Of course, filleting a couple walleye is a whole lot easier than filleting 30 or so panfish for the same amount of edible fish, but when it comes to flavor, a mess of bluegill is hard to beat. Whether your scaling them whole or filleting them out, this is usually the point where I ask the newbie to work on unloading the boat or preparing a side dish. The "reality of life" discussion can happen later, for now, you do the dirty work of filleting and cleaning the fish.

For making quick work of a limit of bluegills, I prefer a smaller more flexible bladed fillet knife than what I'd use on an eating size walleye or the like. This Rapala fillet knife fits the bill nicely. It's a classic and is very similar to the knife my no-bull, depression era, iron-working grandfather had in his tackle box.  

Once you've got your fish cleaned and the boat unloaded, all you need is some hot frying oil and cold drinks. Be sure to congratulate your fishing buddy on a job well done, and enjoy the freshly caught fish together!

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