It's the beginning of a new year, and as in the past I'm going to learn to fish another kind of bait. It took two years for me to become proficient at fishing skirted jigs. Now I'd like to learn crankbaiting.
Do you think you could list a basic set of cranks for a beginner? When and why you would use a particular bait? Colors?
Type of line you use?
Like most, I've got a hodgepodge of baits that I have collected over the years, mostly from sale bins, but this year I want to make an investment in a collection of baits. Any help you and others could provide would, as always, be appreciated.
Thanks, Carl
Johnnie/crankbaits
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wgbassgirl
- Posts: 524
- Joined: Tue Sep 04, 2007 3:11 am
Johnnie/crankbaits
I have not had experience with the crankbait, but I have found a few articles that may help. Although this article is on Lipless Crankbaits, I think it is a pretty good read.
Catch Bass on Lipless Crankbaits
By Don Wirth
BASSMASTER Magazine
Catch Bass on Lipless Crankbaits
Lipless crankbaits are versatile lures that will catch big bass nearly year-round. They're extremely popular with BASS pros because they'll catch both keeper bass and lunkers while quickly combing large expanses of water. Their loud rattling noise and intense vibrations will trigger reaction strikes from bass, even in cold, muddy water. Popular examples include the Lewis Rat-L-Trap, Strike King Diamond Shad, Lucky Craft LVR, Bass Pro Shops Rattle Shad, Rattlin' Rapala, Berkley Frenzy, Cordell Super Spot and Yo-Zuri Rattlin' Vibe. Lipless crankbaits come in sizes ranging from 1/8 ounce to over 1 ounce, with 1/4 ounce and 1/2 ounce being the most popular among experienced anglers. Here's how pros use these baits in a variety of situations.
Anatomy of a Lipless Crankbait
Pointed nose and no lip keep the lure shallow and help it deflect off hard objects
Hard plastic body transmits sound and vibrations effectively
Rattle chamber containing metal balls causes the bait to chatter loudly on retrieve
Flat sides create an extremely tight wobble and intense vibrations
Colors to Try
Lipless crankbaits come in a staggering array of color patterns, but you only need a few colors to consistently score strikes. Here are the top three to try, and the optimum conditions for fishing each.
Color: chrome w/black or blue back - slightly stained water - sunny
Color: red or red craw - stained to muddy - sunny or cloudy
Color: firetiger or chartreuse - stained to muddy - cloudy
Recommended Tackle
Most pros fish lipless crankbaits on a 7-foot baitcasting rod with a medium (m) to medium-heavy (mh) action. Specialty crankbait rods are ideal for this application; these have a soft tip and mid-section, providing the added shock absorption needed when fighting lightly hooked bass. A baitcasting reel with a 6:1 or higher retrieve ratio spooled with 14- to 20- pound monofilament or heavier braided line is recommended.
Seasonal Patterns for Lipless Crankbaits
Spring— Once the lake warms to around 50 degrees, bass will move into shallow coves and pockets and onto mud flats and points. Fan-casting a lipless crankbait around these structures can produce a quick limit of keepers as well as a big fish. Don't let muddy water caused by runoff from spring rains deter you from fishing these baits — bass will home in on their heavy vibrations.
Summer— Lipless crankbaits are arguably the best hard baits to use in and around submerged grass. Where matted grass such as milfoil or hydrilla grows just beneath the surface, "burn" the lure through the narrow band of open water above the grass. When bass are in taller submerged grass, cast, then let the lipless crankbait drop on a tight line. As soon as you feel it contact the cover, jerk the rod tip back hard to rip the bait out of the weeds and into open water.
Late winter— In the Sun Belt, two or three unseasonably mild days in mid- to late February can prompt bass to move extremely shallow to sun themselves around large rocks, which may hold heat. Casting a lipless crankbait in the extreme back ends of rocky coves and tributary arms can trigger a strike from a lunker largemouth, even in 45-degree water. This pattern is usually strongest in the afternoon on calm, sunny days, when solar penetration warms the water a few degrees.
Fall— Bass prey heavily on baitfish schools in fall, and lipless crankbaits are effective baitfish mimics. Bass will actively chase down their prey now, so use a fast retrieve and cover lots of water. If you spot bass schooling on the surface, cast the lipless crank just past the surface activity, hold your rod high, immediately wind the reel handle very quickly six to 10 times, then "kill" the lure so it drops straight down through the school — often the biggest bass in the pack are lurking beneath the smaller fish to prey on injured baitfish, and will grab the lure as it's sinking.
Catch Bass on Lipless Crankbaits
By Don Wirth
BASSMASTER Magazine
Catch Bass on Lipless Crankbaits
Lipless crankbaits are versatile lures that will catch big bass nearly year-round. They're extremely popular with BASS pros because they'll catch both keeper bass and lunkers while quickly combing large expanses of water. Their loud rattling noise and intense vibrations will trigger reaction strikes from bass, even in cold, muddy water. Popular examples include the Lewis Rat-L-Trap, Strike King Diamond Shad, Lucky Craft LVR, Bass Pro Shops Rattle Shad, Rattlin' Rapala, Berkley Frenzy, Cordell Super Spot and Yo-Zuri Rattlin' Vibe. Lipless crankbaits come in sizes ranging from 1/8 ounce to over 1 ounce, with 1/4 ounce and 1/2 ounce being the most popular among experienced anglers. Here's how pros use these baits in a variety of situations.
Anatomy of a Lipless Crankbait
Pointed nose and no lip keep the lure shallow and help it deflect off hard objects
Hard plastic body transmits sound and vibrations effectively
Rattle chamber containing metal balls causes the bait to chatter loudly on retrieve
Flat sides create an extremely tight wobble and intense vibrations
Colors to Try
Lipless crankbaits come in a staggering array of color patterns, but you only need a few colors to consistently score strikes. Here are the top three to try, and the optimum conditions for fishing each.
Color: chrome w/black or blue back - slightly stained water - sunny
Color: red or red craw - stained to muddy - sunny or cloudy
Color: firetiger or chartreuse - stained to muddy - cloudy
Recommended Tackle
Most pros fish lipless crankbaits on a 7-foot baitcasting rod with a medium (m) to medium-heavy (mh) action. Specialty crankbait rods are ideal for this application; these have a soft tip and mid-section, providing the added shock absorption needed when fighting lightly hooked bass. A baitcasting reel with a 6:1 or higher retrieve ratio spooled with 14- to 20- pound monofilament or heavier braided line is recommended.
Seasonal Patterns for Lipless Crankbaits
Spring— Once the lake warms to around 50 degrees, bass will move into shallow coves and pockets and onto mud flats and points. Fan-casting a lipless crankbait around these structures can produce a quick limit of keepers as well as a big fish. Don't let muddy water caused by runoff from spring rains deter you from fishing these baits — bass will home in on their heavy vibrations.
Summer— Lipless crankbaits are arguably the best hard baits to use in and around submerged grass. Where matted grass such as milfoil or hydrilla grows just beneath the surface, "burn" the lure through the narrow band of open water above the grass. When bass are in taller submerged grass, cast, then let the lipless crankbait drop on a tight line. As soon as you feel it contact the cover, jerk the rod tip back hard to rip the bait out of the weeds and into open water.
Late winter— In the Sun Belt, two or three unseasonably mild days in mid- to late February can prompt bass to move extremely shallow to sun themselves around large rocks, which may hold heat. Casting a lipless crankbait in the extreme back ends of rocky coves and tributary arms can trigger a strike from a lunker largemouth, even in 45-degree water. This pattern is usually strongest in the afternoon on calm, sunny days, when solar penetration warms the water a few degrees.
Fall— Bass prey heavily on baitfish schools in fall, and lipless crankbaits are effective baitfish mimics. Bass will actively chase down their prey now, so use a fast retrieve and cover lots of water. If you spot bass schooling on the surface, cast the lipless crank just past the surface activity, hold your rod high, immediately wind the reel handle very quickly six to 10 times, then "kill" the lure so it drops straight down through the school — often the biggest bass in the pack are lurking beneath the smaller fish to prey on injured baitfish, and will grab the lure as it's sinking.
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wgbassgirl
- Posts: 524
- Joined: Tue Sep 04, 2007 3:11 am
Johnnie/crankbaits
One of our very own ProStaff members, Charles Stuart, wrote an article about using crankbaits.
Crankbait Fishing
If you never tried or have had little success using crankbait to catch bass, walleye or any of the pike family; read on, I may convince you to give it a try.
To begin, let’s focus on bass, the largest member of the sunfish family. During certain times of day, bass like to move into deeper water. There are many reasons why this “transition” from shallow to deep water occurs. One reason is to get away from fishermen who pound the shoreline with a variety of lures that bass see week in and week out! When you cannot find the fish from shore, look for deep-water structure. This structure includes large rocks, areas of sunken forest, abandoned cars or building ruins that were flooded by the Corp of Engineers when constructing a new watershed or reservoir. Often this information can be obtained from survey maps of a lake or reservoir prior to impounding.
Once you have established the depth you want to fish, select your crankbait according to its capabilities. Most of you know that the larger the plastic “bill” on the nose of the bait, the deeper it will dive. I like to paint the number of feet a lure will dive on the belly of the lure. This helps when it comes to selection time. If I am fishing in 20 feet of water, I like to start with any two brightly colored crankbaits. The reason for brightness rather than color selection is to find a lure that will reflect light in the darkness of deep water. The first crankbait should run between 15 and 18 feet. With this approach, I will determine if the fish are looking upward in a feeding pattern from the bottom. If the first choice fails, the second choice should be a crankbait intended to imitate frantic baitfish bumping into structure. To achieve this, I choose a lure that dives deeper than the depth I am fishing. It will make small thumping sounds as it hits solid objects. Also, if the lure strikes the lake bottom it will cause clouds of silt, gravel or sand to billow up in the water. This noise and vibration may attract fish and provoke a strike. If I cannot reach the fish because they are in 30 or 40 feet of water, I attach a crankbait to a one-ounce Carolina rig. I then exchange the worm hook with a crankbait. In a shallow situation, crankbait color becomes vital as the lure can be seen more clearly. Try to match the size and color of the baitfish to the size of your lure. As with any crankbait presentation, always start moving the lure quickly. If no strikes occur, change your retrieval to “stop and go” or slow it down to a ”crawl.” Once the fish indicate how they want the bait, you have found the correct fishing pattern and, as a result, will increase your catch.
Walleye and pike are two fish that strike a crankbait in a variety of situations. Walleye like really deep water so, once again, you must find a way to get your bait down to the fish. Trolling lures behind a boat with a Plano board at depths of 30, 40, or 50 feet is the most productive way to catch walleye. For our shore-bound anglers, use heavy weights attached to the line in a similar fashion to the Carolina rig mentioned previously. Try various speeds of retrieval until you find the speed they like. Color is not as important to a walleye while scent or fish paste on the crankbait can be an additional incentive for them to strike at the lure.
Northern pike and pickerel will hit crankbaits at any level. Remembering that the pike family prefers cold water, the best pike fishing is during the fall and winter. At that time, the fish get closer to the shoreline and feed ferociously. Their teeth are sharper during the colder months so use wire leaders or you will lose your crankbait! Best crankbait color for any pike in my opinion is white and red. Muskies should be fished with a lure presentation similar to walleye. You should, however, upgrade to the largest lures you can find. Ten or twelve inches are not too small for a muskie! (NB: saltwater lures work well). If you have feather dressed treble hooks even better; muskies seem to like feathers! Lures retrieved over points and drop-offs will bring these monsters out of hiding. Just remember to carry heavy-duty gloves, long nosed pliers and a damp cloth to handle these fish. If you are under 16, I strongly suggest you take an adult with you. Muskies, like sharks, can inflict severe wounds unless they are handled firmly and quickly. Take pictures and release them promptly as muskies have a tendency to die quickly if not returned to the water.
Tight Lines!
Crankbait Fishing
If you never tried or have had little success using crankbait to catch bass, walleye or any of the pike family; read on, I may convince you to give it a try.
To begin, let’s focus on bass, the largest member of the sunfish family. During certain times of day, bass like to move into deeper water. There are many reasons why this “transition” from shallow to deep water occurs. One reason is to get away from fishermen who pound the shoreline with a variety of lures that bass see week in and week out! When you cannot find the fish from shore, look for deep-water structure. This structure includes large rocks, areas of sunken forest, abandoned cars or building ruins that were flooded by the Corp of Engineers when constructing a new watershed or reservoir. Often this information can be obtained from survey maps of a lake or reservoir prior to impounding.
Once you have established the depth you want to fish, select your crankbait according to its capabilities. Most of you know that the larger the plastic “bill” on the nose of the bait, the deeper it will dive. I like to paint the number of feet a lure will dive on the belly of the lure. This helps when it comes to selection time. If I am fishing in 20 feet of water, I like to start with any two brightly colored crankbaits. The reason for brightness rather than color selection is to find a lure that will reflect light in the darkness of deep water. The first crankbait should run between 15 and 18 feet. With this approach, I will determine if the fish are looking upward in a feeding pattern from the bottom. If the first choice fails, the second choice should be a crankbait intended to imitate frantic baitfish bumping into structure. To achieve this, I choose a lure that dives deeper than the depth I am fishing. It will make small thumping sounds as it hits solid objects. Also, if the lure strikes the lake bottom it will cause clouds of silt, gravel or sand to billow up in the water. This noise and vibration may attract fish and provoke a strike. If I cannot reach the fish because they are in 30 or 40 feet of water, I attach a crankbait to a one-ounce Carolina rig. I then exchange the worm hook with a crankbait. In a shallow situation, crankbait color becomes vital as the lure can be seen more clearly. Try to match the size and color of the baitfish to the size of your lure. As with any crankbait presentation, always start moving the lure quickly. If no strikes occur, change your retrieval to “stop and go” or slow it down to a ”crawl.” Once the fish indicate how they want the bait, you have found the correct fishing pattern and, as a result, will increase your catch.
Walleye and pike are two fish that strike a crankbait in a variety of situations. Walleye like really deep water so, once again, you must find a way to get your bait down to the fish. Trolling lures behind a boat with a Plano board at depths of 30, 40, or 50 feet is the most productive way to catch walleye. For our shore-bound anglers, use heavy weights attached to the line in a similar fashion to the Carolina rig mentioned previously. Try various speeds of retrieval until you find the speed they like. Color is not as important to a walleye while scent or fish paste on the crankbait can be an additional incentive for them to strike at the lure.
Northern pike and pickerel will hit crankbaits at any level. Remembering that the pike family prefers cold water, the best pike fishing is during the fall and winter. At that time, the fish get closer to the shoreline and feed ferociously. Their teeth are sharper during the colder months so use wire leaders or you will lose your crankbait! Best crankbait color for any pike in my opinion is white and red. Muskies should be fished with a lure presentation similar to walleye. You should, however, upgrade to the largest lures you can find. Ten or twelve inches are not too small for a muskie! (NB: saltwater lures work well). If you have feather dressed treble hooks even better; muskies seem to like feathers! Lures retrieved over points and drop-offs will bring these monsters out of hiding. Just remember to carry heavy-duty gloves, long nosed pliers and a damp cloth to handle these fish. If you are under 16, I strongly suggest you take an adult with you. Muskies, like sharks, can inflict severe wounds unless they are handled firmly and quickly. Take pictures and release them promptly as muskies have a tendency to die quickly if not returned to the water.
Tight Lines!
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brendanc
- Posts: 2720
- Joined: Thu May 03, 2001 4:00 pm
Johnnie/crankbaits
Nice find WGBG.
Hi Carl,
How did the holidays treat you? (Hopefully well) As with most lures that we have at our disposal, the crankbait is another one that comes in every size shape and color you could possibly dream up. It's great, "IF" you know what you are looking for... and therein, lays the answer to your question.
There are several things that you want to consider when choosing a crankbait: Wobble/Action, Diving Depth, Size, Color and Buoyancy
When you start to look at all of the ways that you can mix and match the above options, you can get really overwhelmed. For example, a 3.5”, Shad Colored, neutrally buoyant crankbait with a tight wobble, that can dive to a max depth of 12’. That’s just one combination that you might choose. Where would you use such a bait and why? Perhaps you are targeting bass that have been feeding on shad holding near the bottom in 10’ of water that average 3” - 4” in size. This might be the ticket.
You could also use this same bait in a situation where bass are schooled up chasing shad, however the bass are suspended 15’ down in the water column below the school of shad. You could crash this bait through the school of shad, and when it reaches its max depth, stop and allow the bait to suspend like a wounded shad below the school. Here, one lure serves two purposes… and I’m sure we could come up with a few more applications for this one.
Back to the point I was trying to make, in my example, I was trying to accommodate a known situation and therefore was able to determine a possible lure to present. How often I encounter these types of situations, would dictate how much variety I would like to have in my available crankbait choices. So if I can offer some advice for starting with crankbaits, spend some time thinking about the places you typically fish, what bait fish are in those bodies of water and what various depth situations do you encounter. Once you have that in mind, you can start choosing some lures to accommodate those situations.
So the next question is: “which brands work the best?” I’m going to leave some room hear for others to comment, but I will give you two that I believe are “must haves”… The first is Lucky Craft, they make a really consistent crainkbait. You should check out their “Moonsalt - CB” series 100, 200 & 350. Lucky Craft’s description is as follows:
“MOONSAULT incorporates the features of two different baits in one lure. It looks like a traditional lip crank bait, but contains the rattling sounds of vibration bait. The lure will crank down to 3 feet (CB-100), 6 feet (CB-200) and 12 feet (CB-350) and produce a special sound for each of its different rattles. This unique combination of rattling sounds and diving action entices bass from great distances and makes the MOONSAULT one of the most unusual baits in your tackle box.”
Here’s a look at them in my three favorite colors:
100 size in Aurora Black:
200 size in Spring Craw:
350 size in Ghost Minnow:
You can check out the full line at: Lucky Craft Moonsalt Catalog
The other is specific “Storm’s Original Wiggle Wort” (the little one)
059 - Phantom Brown Crayfish
051 - Tennessee Shad
The more you fish crankbaits, the more you will notice how a subtle change can make all the difference in the world when it comes to catching bass. Ask anyone you know that uses crankbaits if they have ever purchased more than one of an identical bait and noticed that one of the baits produced more strikes than the other. Same lure, different results… sometimes they come out of the package “just right” and other times, they don’t. If I showed you my crankbait box, you’d notice that several of the lures have black lines on their back. What I do is keep a black permanent marker in my boat and I put a line on the back of the lure if it catches two or more keeper bass. I’ll add another line if it catches two or more quality bass and a third line if it produces a lunker. The funny thing is that I can reach into my box and consistently produce the same results with the various marked lures (assuming there is a crankbait bite going on that day). The ones that have produced lunkers in the past seem to produce lunkers again and again. The lures that I have marked up always out perform the ones that are not marked up. There’s something special about the action of those crankbaits.
Anyways, I could go on for months, but I'd like to leave room for Johnnie and everyone else!
Hope you find something in this post useful...
BC
Hi Carl,
How did the holidays treat you? (Hopefully well) As with most lures that we have at our disposal, the crankbait is another one that comes in every size shape and color you could possibly dream up. It's great, "IF" you know what you are looking for... and therein, lays the answer to your question.
There are several things that you want to consider when choosing a crankbait: Wobble/Action, Diving Depth, Size, Color and Buoyancy
When you start to look at all of the ways that you can mix and match the above options, you can get really overwhelmed. For example, a 3.5”, Shad Colored, neutrally buoyant crankbait with a tight wobble, that can dive to a max depth of 12’. That’s just one combination that you might choose. Where would you use such a bait and why? Perhaps you are targeting bass that have been feeding on shad holding near the bottom in 10’ of water that average 3” - 4” in size. This might be the ticket.
You could also use this same bait in a situation where bass are schooled up chasing shad, however the bass are suspended 15’ down in the water column below the school of shad. You could crash this bait through the school of shad, and when it reaches its max depth, stop and allow the bait to suspend like a wounded shad below the school. Here, one lure serves two purposes… and I’m sure we could come up with a few more applications for this one.
Back to the point I was trying to make, in my example, I was trying to accommodate a known situation and therefore was able to determine a possible lure to present. How often I encounter these types of situations, would dictate how much variety I would like to have in my available crankbait choices. So if I can offer some advice for starting with crankbaits, spend some time thinking about the places you typically fish, what bait fish are in those bodies of water and what various depth situations do you encounter. Once you have that in mind, you can start choosing some lures to accommodate those situations.
So the next question is: “which brands work the best?” I’m going to leave some room hear for others to comment, but I will give you two that I believe are “must haves”… The first is Lucky Craft, they make a really consistent crainkbait. You should check out their “Moonsalt - CB” series 100, 200 & 350. Lucky Craft’s description is as follows:
“MOONSAULT incorporates the features of two different baits in one lure. It looks like a traditional lip crank bait, but contains the rattling sounds of vibration bait. The lure will crank down to 3 feet (CB-100), 6 feet (CB-200) and 12 feet (CB-350) and produce a special sound for each of its different rattles. This unique combination of rattling sounds and diving action entices bass from great distances and makes the MOONSAULT one of the most unusual baits in your tackle box.”
Here’s a look at them in my three favorite colors:
100 size in Aurora Black:
200 size in Spring Craw:
350 size in Ghost Minnow:
You can check out the full line at: Lucky Craft Moonsalt Catalog
The other is specific “Storm’s Original Wiggle Wort” (the little one)
059 - Phantom Brown Crayfish
051 - Tennessee Shad
The more you fish crankbaits, the more you will notice how a subtle change can make all the difference in the world when it comes to catching bass. Ask anyone you know that uses crankbaits if they have ever purchased more than one of an identical bait and noticed that one of the baits produced more strikes than the other. Same lure, different results… sometimes they come out of the package “just right” and other times, they don’t. If I showed you my crankbait box, you’d notice that several of the lures have black lines on their back. What I do is keep a black permanent marker in my boat and I put a line on the back of the lure if it catches two or more keeper bass. I’ll add another line if it catches two or more quality bass and a third line if it produces a lunker. The funny thing is that I can reach into my box and consistently produce the same results with the various marked lures (assuming there is a crankbait bite going on that day). The ones that have produced lunkers in the past seem to produce lunkers again and again. The lures that I have marked up always out perform the ones that are not marked up. There’s something special about the action of those crankbaits.
Anyways, I could go on for months, but I'd like to leave room for Johnnie and everyone else!
Hope you find something in this post useful...
BC
Brendan C.
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johnnie crain outdoors
- Posts: 1504
- Joined: Sat Apr 06, 2002 5:00 pm
Johnnie/crankbaits
Ahh, my favorite subject (almost), crankbaits. After years of using every new fangled, spangled, bedazzled crankbait that came out I've finally settled on just a small handful. Here's my list and why.
I use a special crankbait called the DREDGE'R manufactured by B&D Custom Lures for fishing in stained water in depths to fifteen feet. The DREDGE'R which I named by the way, has a steep descention, dives very quickly and rattles like crazy. The fire tiger and shad patterns are both very good.www.bandcustomlures.com
I also love a shad pattern, fire tiger and gray Wiggle Wart. Just the standard every day Wart. It dives to around ten ft. max. and as it's name implies wiggles like crazy. Great bait for largemouth, smallmouth and Kentucky spotted bass. Cast and reel that's all. http://www.stormlures.com
In clean to clear water I ALWAYS use a Poe's 300 or 400 series crankbait. These baits are made from red cedar wood which is very dense-no rattle- I don't want a rattle in clean water. These baits are also bery good in cold water since they rise up very slowly and will hold a depth of fifteen to twenty feet much longer on the retrieve than a plastic bait that is full of air. Good colors include, spook (white/gray), blood shad, shad and chartreuse. Have had great success using the brown crawfish late in the evening right into the night as well. http://www.yakimabaits.com
All crankbaits are good, some are better. I really like the deep divers with long lips, they don't snag hardly at all if you keep them moving. P.S. I never buy the expensive-over-the-top brands like some of the pricey Japanese baits, if I lost one i'd be off the rest of the day.let me take that back, don't dig out no name brands from a Mart store bin thatsell for a dollar these things simply aren't any good for anything. Good luck, Johnnie
I use a special crankbait called the DREDGE'R manufactured by B&D Custom Lures for fishing in stained water in depths to fifteen feet. The DREDGE'R which I named by the way, has a steep descention, dives very quickly and rattles like crazy. The fire tiger and shad patterns are both very good.www.bandcustomlures.com
I also love a shad pattern, fire tiger and gray Wiggle Wart. Just the standard every day Wart. It dives to around ten ft. max. and as it's name implies wiggles like crazy. Great bait for largemouth, smallmouth and Kentucky spotted bass. Cast and reel that's all. http://www.stormlures.com
In clean to clear water I ALWAYS use a Poe's 300 or 400 series crankbait. These baits are made from red cedar wood which is very dense-no rattle- I don't want a rattle in clean water. These baits are also bery good in cold water since they rise up very slowly and will hold a depth of fifteen to twenty feet much longer on the retrieve than a plastic bait that is full of air. Good colors include, spook (white/gray), blood shad, shad and chartreuse. Have had great success using the brown crawfish late in the evening right into the night as well. http://www.yakimabaits.com
All crankbaits are good, some are better. I really like the deep divers with long lips, they don't snag hardly at all if you keep them moving. P.S. I never buy the expensive-over-the-top brands like some of the pricey Japanese baits, if I lost one i'd be off the rest of the day.let me take that back, don't dig out no name brands from a Mart store bin thatsell for a dollar these things simply aren't any good for anything. Good luck, Johnnie
Johnnie Crain
-
johnnie crain outdoors
- Posts: 1504
- Joined: Sat Apr 06, 2002 5:00 pm
Johnnie/crankbaits
Forgot to mention- I use mostly 12# Stren line when crankin' with a standard baitcasting outfit. I keep it cheap and simple. I crankbait from ice out till it refreezes. I fish points, creeks, coves main lake structures, bluffs, jetteis and anywhere there isn't a lot of weeds. There are better suited lures for weeds. Johnnie
Johnnie Crain
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carl
- Posts: 436
- Joined: Fri Sep 12, 2003 4:00 pm
Johnnie/crankbaits
What fabulous posts, thank you one and all.
I do have one more question--actually quite a few--when fishing highly pressured lakes, would you go with baits without a rattle?
Once again thanx folks. Carl
I do have one more question--actually quite a few--when fishing highly pressured lakes, would you go with baits without a rattle?
Once again thanx folks. Carl
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brendanc
- Posts: 2720
- Joined: Thu May 03, 2001 4:00 pm
Johnnie/crankbaits
Carl,
Great question. Since most crankbaits come with a rattle, I would say that showing the pressured bass something that look the same as a productive bait, but is slightly different should give you an advantage. If that advantage comes in the form of sound reduction, than so be it!
Balsa crankbaits seem to shine in the fall and consistantly out perform hard plastic with rattles. Like any scenario, there will always be acceptions, but balsa baits in the fall is a pretty consistant out-performer and worth a try. Many anglers I know believe that the silence of the bait combined with the extreme buoyancy is the key.
Another tried-and-true adjustment when fishing pressured lakes is to downsize the exact bait that you have been having success with. I have experienced this with crankbaits, but the trick is making sure that the smaller lure can still reach the desired depth range. Basically you want a smaller body with a longer less angled lip. Sometimes this is hard to find, especially in the same brand, but even the size down can sometimes be effective because the difference is 1-2 feet between most models. An easy way to compensate for this problem is to go with the smaller bait, but use lighter line. The industry standard for testing crankbaits is 10 lb test. When you read a package and it says that the lure dives 10-12 feet, that is on 10lb test (unless otherwise specified).
Here's an example:
Two crankbiats "Model 1" and "Model 2".
Model 1 is 3 inches and dives 8-10 feet on 10 lb test.
Model 2 is 2.5 inches and dives 6-8 feet on 10 lb test.
If you drop to 8 lb test with Model 2, you can get that lure down into that 8-10 foot range. Althought sometimes you might need to drop as low as 6 lb test.
This is also a great trick when you just want to get "ANY" crankbait to dive a little deeper.
As always, I hope this information helps...
Have a Happy New Year!
BC
Great question. Since most crankbaits come with a rattle, I would say that showing the pressured bass something that look the same as a productive bait, but is slightly different should give you an advantage. If that advantage comes in the form of sound reduction, than so be it!
Balsa crankbaits seem to shine in the fall and consistantly out perform hard plastic with rattles. Like any scenario, there will always be acceptions, but balsa baits in the fall is a pretty consistant out-performer and worth a try. Many anglers I know believe that the silence of the bait combined with the extreme buoyancy is the key.
Another tried-and-true adjustment when fishing pressured lakes is to downsize the exact bait that you have been having success with. I have experienced this with crankbaits, but the trick is making sure that the smaller lure can still reach the desired depth range. Basically you want a smaller body with a longer less angled lip. Sometimes this is hard to find, especially in the same brand, but even the size down can sometimes be effective because the difference is 1-2 feet between most models. An easy way to compensate for this problem is to go with the smaller bait, but use lighter line. The industry standard for testing crankbaits is 10 lb test. When you read a package and it says that the lure dives 10-12 feet, that is on 10lb test (unless otherwise specified).
Here's an example:
Two crankbiats "Model 1" and "Model 2".
Model 1 is 3 inches and dives 8-10 feet on 10 lb test.
Model 2 is 2.5 inches and dives 6-8 feet on 10 lb test.
If you drop to 8 lb test with Model 2, you can get that lure down into that 8-10 foot range. Althought sometimes you might need to drop as low as 6 lb test.
This is also a great trick when you just want to get "ANY" crankbait to dive a little deeper.
As always, I hope this information helps...
Have a Happy New Year!
BC
Brendan C.
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carl
- Posts: 436
- Joined: Fri Sep 12, 2003 4:00 pm
Johnnie/crankbaits
Thanks Brendon, makes sense to me. Carl
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kspringer
Johnnie/crankbaits
This is a subject dear to my heart as well, living on Kentucky Lake and fishing ledges in the summer, you better be proficient with a crankbait, but they also play a huge role in shallow water early fishing as well. One of the very best crankbaits to fish in March/April is the Rapala SR7 Shad Rap in Crawdad color. Fish this bait on 8 to 10 pound line/6'6" rod on the Northen side of bays in 4 to 8 feet of water over rock, and it is deadly. Also during this same time, I would have a rod rigged with a lipless crankbait such as a Xcalibur Rattle Bait in a Chome/Black Back fishing the same type of structure. If the water is real cold and clear, I will fish a Xcaibur Xs4 Stickbait in sour grape or pearl shad color in 8 to 15 feet of water with a jerk, jerk, pause retreive. After the spawn and fish begin to move onto points and ledges, thats when we pull out the mack daddy's. Norman DD22's, Strike King Series 6's,Rapala DT 16's just to name a few. Colors, Hot Mustard, Chart/Blue and my favorite, Mountain Dew. We fish these on 7' rods with 6-8 pound Seaguar Flurocarbon line. I feel flurocarbon allows me to fish deeper due to the sinking nature of flurocarbon line and it is completely invisible under water with is another plus. My bet advice on crankbait fishing, start shallow and work your way to fishing deep. Fish medium running crankbaits in natural colors around riprap, chunk rock and shallow points and gain confidence in fishing the bait. Try different brands, shapes, colors until you find what works on your home body of water and gain confidence in using crankbaits. Then start moving out to deeper water and bigger baits and experiement there until you find the combination that works. Email with any specific questions and I hope this helps!