Bassin' USA - Bass Fishing Forum Archives

This summer I got my first taste of success with crankbaits at a clear water lake near my house. Now I want to include them in my arsenal this fall. I know all the basics, how important contact is with this bait, and what seasons it works best in, stuff like that, but I would like to know a little more about retrive speeds during this time of year and how to know when to allow the bait to maintain bottom contact, because although a crankbait almost always has to be ramming into things there are exceptions, especially in the fall where the fish are shallow. What type of retrieve works best in fall? Which is better to locate fish during a cold front, a slow rolled spinnerbait, or a suspending crankbait?
Can crankbaits cover docks as well as spinnerbaits and tubes in the fall?
Is white always the best color in the fall or does bluegill and firetiger give the bass something different to key in on?
Which is better for fall cranking, stained (4ft. visibility) or clear water (6ft. visibility)?
I have little to no experience with crankbaits and would like to know more.

dcfisherman9,
In early fall fish could still be in a transitional stage where you still have some in summer patterns and a few that are starting to move up shallow. If you dont catch em shallow pull out and fish points, humps and other deep structure. The key here is finding the fish and making contact with whatever cover is available. As far as retrieval speed let the fish tell you what they want. Generally when you get one good cold spell thats enough to drive the bass into shallow water to fatten up for winter, this is when I pull out the Flatsided Crankbaits that have a nice tight action and start covering water, shallow flats or anything else in 6 ft. or less. When fishing Flatsides I like using a fast retrieve, but this is my personal preference. As far as spinner baits verse crankbaits in a cold front throw them both and see what happens, you have to let fish tell you what they want, dont try to force a crankbait bite when they dont want it or vice versa with a spinnerbait. About dock fishing with crankbaits, that depends on your casting skills. You can put a crankbait anywhere you can put a spinnerbait or a jig, you just have to take your time and work it back out and let me tell ya this, if you can put a small crankbait where other fella's are throwing jigs and spinnerbaits, docks, super heavy brush piles or any kind of heavy cover, I will guarantee you will put more bass in the boat, thats a fact. Hope this information was helpful to ya. If you have any questions about crankbaits feel free to email me, I make them I can help ya out!!
Good Luck Fishing!!
Speedfish

Thanks,
DC