Using the Three-way Rig for Deep-Down Winter Fishing - Part I
By Chuck Bailey
Whether you are chasing bass, walleye, trout, or perch... there is a deep-water technique that allows anglers to use crankbaits throughout the winter months.
Most anglers put their crankbaits away for the winter. Northern anglers have no choice because their lakes freeze over. Whereas a few savvy Southern anglers (who are lucky enough to live on a shallow basin lake) are still able to probe the deepest portions of the water column by casting their crankbaits in the usual ways. Even then, most don’t.
If an angler is the hardy year-round fishing type and lucky enough to live near a deeper reservoir that stays ice free, chances are they will switch over to vertical “finesse” presentations in the deeper water. These techniques generally require them to patiently and methodically inch a tiny soft plastic bait around the bottom in hopes of persuading a few inactive fish to bite.
If barely moving the boat or lure for hours at a time is an angler’s idea of winter fun, they need to read no further. However, there is an alternative that allows anglers to reach the deeper winter haunts of fish, explore acres of lake bottom, and seek out the “active” bass, perch, walleye and trout in their lake using… crankbaits.
If actively pursuing a favorite fish with hardbaits during the colder months is more appealing, then an introduction to the three-way rig is in order.
Cold Water Myths and Misunderstandings
However, before jumping into the rigging details, a few winter myths and cold water misunderstandings must be addressed. Sadly there has been a lot written in recent years suggesting the fish’s metabolism slows down dramatically in the winter, leaving our aquatic targets lethargic and incapable of chasing the faster moving presentations.
The resulting “anti-crankbait-in-the-winter” conclusion is one of the most regrettable and yet most common errors in our fishing culture. This is just plain wrong.
While it is true that cold-blooded fish do slow down during the winter, and they eat far less, they still do eat. Likewise, the speed at which cold-blooded fish can pursue forage is completely underestimated. Fact is, it’s a rare fisherman who can crank or troll a bait so fast (through the strike zone of a cold-blooded but active and hungry fish) that a determined predator can’t catch the imitation forage.
The key word in that last sentence is “active.” And those are the fish that a fast moving crankbait on a three-way rig is ideally targeting.
Looking for that Active 10 Percent!
When the finned predators that angler pursue move into deeper water for the winter, they do so because the forage they consume has led them there. But where is “there”?
Among the thousands of acres of deep water in some lakes and reservoirs, the task of locating those active fish is initially daunting for anglers used to hugging shorelines. Many fishermen winterize their boat and stay home because they equate locating winter fish with finding a needle-in-the-haystack. (But if ice-fishermen can do it, certainly those with boats can too!) What is needed is a presentation that can cover some territory in a relatively short time.
Let’s say there are 100 walleyes or a 100 bass in a particular part of the lake; odds are - only 10 of them are hungry and on the move, (searching for or waiting on a meal). Those active fish are the 10 percent of the fish population that an angler has the greatest chance of catching – but chances are they are spread out over a great area.
There is another possibility, that those active fish are congregated together. If that is the case, it’s most likely around an isolated piece of cover on a particular piece of structure surrounded by hundreds of acres of empty water.
A slow vertical presentation that covers very little water isn’t going to help locate them. An angler may spend hours dissecting a small piece of the lake bottom, but in reality not even come close to any of the active fish they need to be targeting. Quite often a lot of time is wasted fishing a single point or rock pile to reach that conclusion.
And even if the angler’s finesse bait should miraculously find itself sitting among a few fish, the odds are that they belong to the 90% that are tight-jawed inactive fish. And the chances of persuading one of them to bite is slim at most.
The great advantage of the three-way rig is its ability to cover a lot of water fast in order to locate and trigger active fish into striking. Whether an angler is following a specific depth contour, crisscrossing a large flat, or climbing up and over a submerged hump – the chance of finding active members of the fish population is greatly increased. And this includes bass, walleye, perch, trout, and more.
The Three-Way Rig
There is no great mystery or secret to three-way rigs; they have been around for decades and are simple in basic design. The main line is tied to the first post of a three-way swivel. One of the remaining posts has a leader tied to it that goes to a lead weight (sinker). Naturally it’s purpose is to take the rig quickly down into the lower depths of the water column.
The remaining post has a leader attached to it whose free end is joined to a crankbait. While the boat moves forward, the sinker bumps the bottom, (or keeps it close to the bottom), and the artificial hardbait trails directly out from the three-way swivel.
The weights, crankbaits, line type/diameter/length, and the speed of presentation will vary greatly depending on what species the angler is targeting, (and is also influenced by a host of minor factors like weather conditions, water clarity, etc…). Variations abound on the basic design, but the principals are the same.
The Effects of Speed
At the slowest speed, the main line and the sinker leader align almost vertically in the water column, while the leader of the crankbait trails horizontally, (perpendicular to the other lines). Naturally as the speed or the boat increases, so does the water resistance on the line and components causing the rig to swing further back behind the boat. This means the angle of the main line and sinker leader increases as the speed increases, while the crankbait’s leader angle remains relatively constant.
Speeding up results in the whole rig rising further off the bottom. Slowing down allows the rig to settle deeper. As the speed increases or decreases, the angler must therefore continually adjust the amount of line let out, (or size of weights used), to keep the bait close to or bouncing along the bottom. This means that faster speeds require more line to be released to maintain the same depth. Slowing up may require the angler to reel in some of the extra line to prevent dragging the bottom.
Understand, this is not exactly trolling. An angler won’t be using their large motor, (chances are the idle speed is way too fast for three-way rigs). The best option is to rely upon an electric trolling motor. Or if the angler prefers - using a small canoe or paddle boat, the oars will suffice.
How Fast?
If an angler does not have a GPS that tells them how fast their boat is moving, they need to relax and use a little common sense. Begin by imagining winter-time forage (shad, small perch, minnows, etc..) moving through the water. Then, as an angler lifts their three-way rig over the side of the boat and into the water, they need to spend a moment or two watching the action of the crankbait while it is still near the surface. The electric trolling motor speed should be adjusted until the bait is moving through the water as they imagined the forage would. This is the speed to start at.
But remember; it doesn’t matter what season it is, the fish always make the final determination, and an angler will inevitably have to experiment throughout the day until the ultimate speed is discovered.
Here in the Northwest, the author has logged countless hours fishing for winter-time smallmouth bass, large perch, and the occasional trout. After acquiring a GPS I discovered the initial starting speed (when three-way rigging a Rapala Jointed Minnow) was around .8 to 1.2 miles per hour.
In the beginning, (still under the illusion that bass would not chase a fast moving bait), my partner and I moved incredibly slow. But over time we discovered faster speeds would often trigger strikes. Sometimes it is a mistake to give a fish a lot of time to study the bait. When a crankbait enters the bass’s strike zone, faster speeds leave the fish with only seconds to decide if this is the meal they seek.
Some underwater work with an Aqua-Vu camera revealed that crankbaits going extremely slow might “attract” bass after bass, but not elicit a strike. Some of those bass trailed the bait, leisurely inspecting it for as much as a hundred yards before pealing off and disappearing. Apparently they concluded that something didn’t look quite right.
However, faster speeds robbed the smallies of their ability to carefully and effortlessly inspect the potential dinner. And more often than not, the smallies hit first, and skipped the inspection.
Think about it; even in winter conditions the forage flee an approaching predator – usually doing so with maximum effort. A faster moving crankbait that appears to be running for its life certainly imitates the natural world in the game of survival. And what looks natural, has a greater chance of getting eaten.
How Much Weight?
The amount of weight used on a three-way rig is naturally determined by the depth and speed requirements that best produce strikes. For instance, most of the larger smallmouth in Lake Washington, (near Seattle), can be found between 35 and 60 feet in the winter months. At the shallower end of that depth range a two ounce cannonball sinker will work fine, but drop below 45 feet deep and a three ounce lead weight is definitely needed to keep the crankbait down near the bottom.
Round cannonball weights have proven to work well, though anglers have experimented with keel shaped and even salmon weights. As long as it doesn’t spin, the most economically priced sinkers will work. But buy a number of them; an angler will hang and lose a fair share of them over time.
Adding a Smartlink to the Weight
Recently Crankbait Central discovered the Nickel Titanium “Ultimate Smartlinks” system. (See article entitled “Crankbait Insurance…”) These tiny pieces of teardrop shaped wire are primarily used as split-ring replacements. Specific sizes are designed to open up at predetermined pressures, releasing snagged hooks and freeing the crankbait.
Obviously the three-way rig would surely benefit by attaching a Smartlink to the eye of the lead sinker. When the weight hangs, a #8 Smartlink would open after 8 pounds of pressure was applied and the weight would be freed. With the rest of the rig intact, all that is required by the angler is to snap another sinker on and return to fishing. (No retying broken leaders with frozen fingers, and the chances of losing the whole rig is dramatically reduced).
The Main Line
When reeling fish up from deep water, the trick for catch-n-release anglers is to get their fish up and back in the water as fast as possible so as not to kill it. If a lot of time is wasted “playing” the fish, the extra delay allows the pressure changes to cause the swim bladder to begin to expand. Eventually this preventing the fish from returning to the bottom. Some experts claim it may even damage vital organs and even the brain. (We’ll discuss this in greater detail momentarily). But for now, it is important to recognize how this need to catch and release fish quickly affects line choice.
Normally monofilament fills the needs of most summer time crankbaiting, and the characteristic “stretch” it provides is often necessary when combating hard fighting lunkers so as not to strip the crankbait from the fish’s mouth. But in winter time the fish do not fight as hard, and "braided lines" are preferred. Why? For several reasons…
First, these non-stretch lines are super sensitive which is beneficial when trying to read the bottom while bouncing the sinker. Even in 60 feet of water, the sensitive line ables an angler to detect a transition from mud to rock. Certain species prefer a particular type of bottom, and many like to hang out along the transitions.
The sensitivity of braid also helps detect when the rig is not running properly. Should a tiny perch lodge itself on the point of a hook of a larger crankbait, (often dragged undetected while spinning the bait), or a piece of debris or weed wraps around the sinker or line – an angler is much more able to sense this with braid than with monofilament.
Secondly, braided line’s thinner diameter allows it to cut through the water easier which keeps the rig from rising up as much at the faster speeds.
Thirdly, it’s thinner diameter allows for larger pound tests to be used to assist the angler in getting the fish up and released as quickly as possible.
The Leader Lines
But the leader that ties to the sinker should always be slightly weaker than the mainline. The reason for this becomes evident after the lead weight snags in rocks or in a submerged tree. If the main line snaps first, the angler will lose the whole rig. If the sinker leader breaks first, only the weight is lost.
So if 10 pound braid is used for the mainline, 8 or 6 pound mono can be used to purposefully create a “weak link” that intentionally preserves the rest of the rig.
Monofilament can also be used for the leader attached to the crankbait, but many anglers believe that if fluorocarbon line is available, it is the preferred choice. Why? Because it is far less visible in clear water.
But to be perfectly frank, the lower light conditions at these greater depths make fluorocarbon far less important. Besides, the typical speeds that crankbaits are presented at rarely gives the fish time to focus on the line, therefore monofilament, fluorocarbon, or even braid leaders will work down deep.
The crankbait leader’s line rating should match or be slightly less than the main line. If Smartlinks are used the leader should match the main line, because the link will release a snagged treble hook before the line breaks. But if regular split-rings are used to hold the trebles to the crankbait body, the angler may choose to go with the next smaller line rating to make sure that at least some of the rig comes back should a lure knocker be unable to free the crankbait from a snag.
Leader Length
A good way to start an argument among anglers using three-way rigs is to bring up leader length. Naturally, any leader longer than the rod makes it hard to handle the fish at the boat. Because the three-way swivel is unable to get past the tip of the rod, a long leader must be hand-lined the last foot or two – a less than satisfactory situation, (especially when a partner is not available to assist).
A shorter leader keeps the rod’s flexibility in play and makes netting a walleye or lipping a bass much easier.
The length of the sinker leader will determine how far off the bottom an angler wants the bait to run. Most of the species the author chases during the winter prefer to stay close to the bottom so a 2-3 foot leader is quite adequate.
The crankbait leader lengths tend to vary greatly among fishermen. Some anglers want the crankbait as far away from the swivel and sinker as possible, fearing the rest fo the rig will distract their quarry from focusing on the bait.
This author, however, has experienced nothing that substantiates the theory that fish are turned off by the rest of the three-way rig. In fact there are times when the cannonball sinker is purposely allowed to make constant contact on a rocky bottom (deliberately making noise), or methodically bounced on a muddy bottom to stir up sediment to bring curious fish closer.
Which Leader is Longer?
A place to start is to make the crankbait leader just a bit shorter than the sinker leader. Why? Should the rig encounter an underwater log or branch, both leaders are forced to follow the swivel as it rises toward the top of the obstacle. After the swivel passes over the branch or tree, the sinker's leader has no choice but to continue to slide against the object.
As the sinker and crankbait leaders continue to be drawn over the top, the distance between the the two components is being reduced because both leaders are being forced to follow the same path. (If the two leaders were equal in length they would collide at the top of the obstacle.)
Note: if the cannonball sinker’s leader is the shorter of the two, it pops over the obstacle and immediately heads for the bottom again, attempting to drag the crankbait leader with it.
The crankbait, however, with its longer leader has not yet reached the obstacle when suddenly its slow rise upward is countered with the sinker’s new downward change in direction, assuring that the crankbait will be driven into the wood. This dramatically increases the chance of the crankbait’s treble hooks snagging the piece of cover.
However, if the leader going to the sinker is slightly longer, the crankbait arrives first and continues its rise for short time until the sinker arrives. (If the obstacle is not too tall, the crankbait will often pass over the obstacle without touching it). Once the longer leader attached to the sinker gets over the top of the obstacle and heads downward again, the crankbait, (which has already passed over), is free to follow the sinker back to the bottom.
In other words, when the crankbait's leader is just a bit shorter than the sinker's leader, there is less chance of the crankbait hanging up.
Leader Length and Lure Retrieval Success
Another reason for keeping the crankbait leader slightly shorter becomes clear when the crankbait does become snagged. Typically a lure retriever or “plug knocker” is attached to the main line and allowed to slide down its length until it makes contact with the first object it encounters. The lure knocker’s weight is raised and allowed to fall repeatedly until it knocks the snagged object loose.
When casting crankbaits in the summer, a lure knocker will make contact with the only object tied to the angler’s line; the crankbait.
But there are two lines attached to a three-way rig. Naturally the shortest leader on the rig will determine what object is encountered first. If the sinker’s leader is the shortest, the first thing the lure retriever comes into contact with is the heavy piece of lead, often preventing the lure knocker from reaching the crankbait. If an angler wants to get the crankbait back, they need to give the crankbait the shorter leader.
Obviously, if the bottom of a lake is barren of snags, or suspended fish are the target, all this “leader length” consideration is irrelevant. But in the majority of lakes, the angler’s quarry will be hanging near some form of cover and hence the chance of snagging is greatly increased. Understand; if an angler is following the fish, unhooking three-way rigs will be a common occurrence in with this winter technique.
<to be continued....>
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In Part II we'll explore crankbait selection, alternatives to using a three-way swivel, the stop-n-go approach to triggering strikes, where to fish, how to "scout" for fish using the boat's electronics, and how to assure fish survival when fish are taken from deep water. The final step is to go out and try it.
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