# My Crawler Harnesses



## Wannabitawerm (Apr 13, 2004)

Been killin' the 'eyes off of Lorain drifting harnesses. Simple gold have worked the best, but the ones I was using were getting destroyed by the fish. Found one that worked great but the wife lost it in the prop on a heavy drift. Bowhunter10 and I decided to make our own. Cost me about 42 cents apiece to make. Tell me what you guys think.


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## NorthSouthOhioFisherman (May 7, 2007)

where do u buy the supplies. COOL item-


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## Guest (Aug 21, 2007)

Nice harness the only thing I would say is three hooks in the net. I have a hard enough time with two hooks for my harness. Great job on the harnesses.


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## Wannabitawerm (Apr 13, 2004)

Hooks, blades, and clevis at Gander, beads come in a bulk pack from Micheals. I'm using 14 lb Trilene XT. That may change, but for now, should be good. Tubuzz, as long as their still in the fish, I'll deal with it. (But you do have a valid point!)

Good thing is, you can tie one up in about a minute and a half!


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## bkr43050 (Apr 5, 2004)

The harnesses look nice. I was wondering about the 3 hooks as well. I have tied a lot of them but I don't get to use them on Erie so folks may tie them a bit differently for there. Mine are used inland and then in Canada. So about how long is it from the top hook back? That looks quite a bit longer than the 2 hook ones that I have always tied. I haven't bothered yet trying trebles on the back but I know that seems to be the way to go. So are you tying a snell knot on the top and middle hooks? I can't tell from the picture but I noticed that the one appeared to lay sideways. If you don't have the snell knot method we can find a link to it. It is really pretty easy to snell them.

If you decide to upgrade size on the line I can say that I rigged mine with 17# flouro and that works very well. I liked the added stiffness of the heavier mono to keep from getting twists in the harness.


This may not apply to most of the Erie harnesses but I thought I would mention my recent experience with making the harnesses used in Canada. We were up there just a couple of weeks ago and caught a few eyes but the bite was rather slow. I was tired of feeding all of our worms to the pesky perch so I decided to take one of my 2 hook models and remove the bottom hook and go with a much smaller piece of worm. As it turned out we actually had more success with the single hook style at times. I am not sure if the action was altered enough to create the strikes or if they just simply wanted a smaller meal but nevertheless it seemed to work for us.

They are fun to make up and I found that the kids love to do it as well. They love to make their own combination and catch something on it. My oldest boy made up his version of a Scarlet/Gray Buckeye harness (red beads/silver blade). The next day he nailed the biggest eye and pike back to back on that harness. Then the harness blew up in the net on the pike and he had to make another one.


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## vc1111 (Apr 13, 2004)

I think your harnesses are really sharp.

I used to make them when I fished Erie a lot. 

There is a special knot used for snelling hooks. I forget what it is called but it works great. I'm sure you're probably aware of it.

Have you guys ever tried plastic worms for walleye or smallmouth on your harnesses? Just curious, because there are so many synthetically flavored baits out there these days.


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## Wannabitawerm (Apr 13, 2004)

The hook that appears to lay wrong is looped the wrong way. I figured that one out by the second harness. I like the three hook as I believe they offer for potential for a good hookset. As far as the single hook, I've seen really aggressive fish nail the front hook any way, so that makes a lot of sense. The length I go with is about 3 inches between hooks. That gives me about 6 inches below the beads. I like a longer leader, (about 14 inches) and a bigger loop at the top for the egg sinkers. So far, it seems to work very well. I'll try to get out this evening and give them a go.

vc1111, I've heard of guys using the Gulp! 6 inch crawler with some success. Some swear by them, others say nay. I haven't tried yet, but I will be soon. 

The knot I use for tying these harness is a simple down throught the eye, 4 to 6 wraps at the shank below the eye and back up through the eye. I tie them from the bottom hook up. So far so good.


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## bkr43050 (Apr 5, 2004)

Your description sounds like the same knot that I use.


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## vc1111 (Apr 13, 2004)

I was kind of curious about that Berkely Gulp stuff. I haven't used it, but they sure make it sound like it might have some potential on worm harnesses for walleye. 

I could imagine that it might hold up better than nightcrawlers and it might also keep the nuisance of smaller pest fish from stealing the bait so often.

I would be curious to hear how it works for you and anyone else that uses it.


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## Hetfieldinn (May 17, 2004)

I've been using GULP on my harnesses all year with success (trolling). I like the 4" pumpkinseed with the curly tail model.


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## Wannabitawerm (Apr 13, 2004)

I picked up a couple of packages to keep on the boat. I'll let you know how they work for me.


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