Crankbaits...am I Wasting My Time?

[logan9209]

As I've said in other posts, the lake that I fish at has a no boat restriction and a majority of the accessible areas are covered in nasty moss (not sure what the technical term for it is). I know the center of the lake isn't deeper than 18ft. I can cast the crankbait within two blocks of it. The problem begins when it's within 15-0 feet of the bank. The average area however is no deeper than 4-6ft deep with the moss growing fairly high in the water column. I do have about 4 "shallow" running crankbaits that average 2-4 ft diving depth. But would I be wasting my time with them considering that there doesn't seem to be any areas that allow it to kick against rocks or dirt and such?

[BamaBassChaser]

I would try them. Crankbaits don't have to be running into stuff to get strikes. I catch plenty of fish at my local lake throwing a 2.5 in 8ft of water.

[logan9209]

I do have a firetiger shallow minnow crank made by cotton cordell. 1-2ft. dive and i've caught 2 bass on it.

[Goose52]

Another option is a lipless crankbait. Cast out - count down to whatever depth you need, then when getting close to the weedline near the bank, speed up the retrieve and raise up your rod tip to clear the weeds.

[tomustang]

in those situations i cast far using a floating (non suspending or sinking) crankbait then crank deep, once i know the area where it get shallow or weedy i stop cranking and let it float to the top, hold the tip of high and reel for a bit then stop and continue to do so, so it doesn't go deep

[logan9209]

Goose, I do that sometimes too. I have a tendency of not counting those as crankbaits. I don't know why.

Tom, I wondered about that and have actually used that technique. But, would I miss out on any potential bass in that area? I've watch some pros literally get a strike within the 5 ft range of the boat if not right at the boat.

[tomustang]

doubt it'll help since youll be hitting the scum and cover the bait

[ClackerBuzz]

what kind of success are you having with other weedless baits? and with what retrieve in that area? i would keep it simple using a weedless lure like spinnerbait, jig, swimjig, tex rig etc. notice how you get hits with them (depth, angles, speed etc) and gain some knowledge about the weeds/edges/points etc. if the bite cools off on those lures... start experimenting with the cranks using the info you have. you will be off to a much better start than just blindly starting with a new lure. and you'll know where/how to retrieve and if its worth losing those treble hook buggers.

Don't think of cranks as "magic lures". Add them to the arsenal of existing success you've developed with other lures in that weeded area.

Edited May 31, 2012 by ClackerBuzz

[Sam]

Logan, like our military, we have an array of baits in our arsnel we can use in different situations. Crankbaits are just one of many weapons we can select among.

As we know, crankbaits have treble hooks that will pick up any debris, grass and slop that is in the water. It is frustrating to have to clean the hooks after each cast.

So what do you do? Here are some suggestions:

1. You know the water very well. You know if you throw a crankbait it will pick up lots of debris. You know that once it picks up the debris the bait is worthless as its action and profile have been destroyed on that cast. So find a crankbait that will minimize the debris pickup or an area where the moss is less obstructive.

2. As mentioned above, use a shallow running crankbait.

3. As mentioned above, consider a 1/4 ounce Rat-L-Trap type of lipless crankbait. Remove the rear hook. Replace the remaining hook with a large Number 2 size treble hook. Fish it around grass.

4. With all that grass consider plastics. Use a weedless hook when fishing plastics to minimize attracting the slop to your bait. But it will happen, especially if you throw a shaky head.

5. Throw topwaters. Buzzbaits (Cavitrons), poppers, Spooks, frogs, Jitterbugs, trick worms, etc. may work better than trying to get deep.

6. Don't forget your spinnerbaits. You may want to throw them without a trailer hook to minimize the debris pickup.

So take a look at your arsnel and decide which baits would be the most productive, including or excluding your crankbaits.

The fun of bass fishing is finding the pattern for that day or time of day and using that information to catch the fish.

Let us know what you do and the results.

[logan9209]

Sam and ClackerBuzz, within the last few weeks I have been working with topwater (Spook and poppers). Strangely, due to the heat, my window is much bigger in the morning (6-11) than the evening (8-9). I am fairly proficient with texposed rigged soft plastics, but I feel that to be a better fisherman I really need to start delving into jigs, spinnerbaits, crankbaits, and whatever else is out there. My baitcaster is broken at the moment (everything works but the spool won't wind in) so I think spinnerbaits are out at the moment.

From what I've seen personally and heard from others, this lake pretty much breaks the mold. For example, the bass will hit a black worm no matter what the conditions or seasons are. They will also hit a chartreuse soft plastic on a sunny clear water day. So, I figure that if I can catch with spinnerbaits, cranks, and jigs on a consistent basis, then I should have a much easier time on other lakes when I finally get a chance to. Simply put, this lake is my training lake. LOL! I am really trying not to get stuck in a rut like some fishermen do by being chained to a small selection of "trusty" lures. The more I learn other lures and the more proficient I can get then the better fisherman I will be.

Oh, and right now we've had some unusually hot weather so I was looking for different ways to get to the midday deeper suspended bass. So, I guess in that regard lipless would probably be the better choice since it is far easier to raise my rod to get over the weeds in the closer range.

[roadwarrior]

Doesn't seem like the right situation for crankbaits to me.

I think you will have much better luck with soft plastics and

swimming jigs if you preference is for "moving" baits. The

Rage Shad is another option I would recommend.

Otherwise, right now the best bite around here is on bottom

baits, soft plastics and jigs. I have caught a couple of monsters

recently on the Rage Tail Lobster.

[logan9209]

LOL! Roadwarrior, I was afraid of that. It's what I'm better at anyways. I actually got a hit on a dropshot a few days ago. I'm gonna keep tinkering with that (weight needs to be further from the hook) and also the usual texas rig weighted and unweighted. I wanna mess with jigs but at the moment my stoutest spinning rod has a really really fast tip.

[Vinny Chase]

I encounter this conditions all the time here in MN and I go right for my jig rod in heavy vegetaion. If there is a lot of scum on top, concentrate on those areas, especially on hot summer days. Try throwing frogs or use a punching setup.

[logan9209]

Vinny, trust me if there was scum up top then I would be a happy camper. I have a top water frog and a slew of soft plastics that I fish weightless across them. The problem is the junk growing on the bottom of the water. Worse case scenario I can wait on the lip crankbaits till fall or winter when that stuff dies off and isn't all that tall except for a couple of places.

[craww]

Just a few ideas Ive used. Chances are these fish arent seeing many cranks, so they could be dynamite in that area.

-Thicker diameter line.

-Longer rod, held high.

-Determine which hook will hang in the "middle" or straight down on your trebles and cut it. You can upsize the hook if you like.

-I've played with a few crank's bills to make them run shallower. Turned the Bagley monster shad into a wicked wake bait. You can heat the bill and bend downward more, or even shorten it by cutting some off. Obviously this can effect the action of the bait. Good, bad, or simply different. Thats up to you. Get a bass pro catalog out and referance the bills on other cranks.

[logan9209]

I have a Bomber Model A Square Bill (foxy shad) that's supposed to run 3' deep. I'm lucky if I can get it to go below surface. Would that be a good one to throw in the areas that are 4-6' deep?

[Marty]

I've been catching fish on crankbaits for 40+ years and seldom am able to bounce them off anything.

I have a Bomber Model A Square Bill (foxy shad) that's supposed to run 3' deep. I'm lucky if I can get it to go below surface. Would that be a good one to throw in the areas that are 4-6' deep?

Fish are known to come up good distances to hit a topwater or shallow lure. It's definitely something worth trying and doesn't cost you anything but a few minutes.