Answer:

Often when fishing open water with cranks, I put a small chunk of crawler on the middle treble hook. This chunk of crawler can be live or about 1/3 of a Gulp 6 inch Night Crawler.

I typically only add crawlers to diving baits and typically only to ones that are fairly short bodies. I think the crawler not only adds scent to the presentation, but actually gives the bait a bigger profile. Because the crawler will add drag to the crank, only cranks that run very true can handle a crawler.

When putting the crawler on the treble, I look at the treble to determine which of the 3 hooks points straight forward or straight back and then just pluck the very end of the crawler on that hook – leaving the cut end of the crawler to dangle under the crank. By picking this hook, the crawler will not throw the action of the bait off to the side.

Keith