crankbait question

[Brian B]

Ok I know I'm going to sound stupid here, but it's the truth.  I know very little about crankbaits.  The people who got me involved in fishing rarely used crankbaits so in turn, I didn't really learn much about them.  That being said, my question is this.

When should you use a crankbait?

Where should you use a crankbait?

What are some basic models or colors?

[5bass]

Clcik this -----> http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/bass-fishing-articles.html#lures

Just pick one and start reading. 

[Carrington]

i use a crankbait kind of like a spinnerbait, i use them both to scout water and try to find bass.  once i find the bass i will usually switch to a finese base technique.  but you can also fish shallow diving cranks around cover.  and for  crankbait models, i love strike king and for color i like the sexy shad color alot.  for depth i use shallow diving cranks most of the time, anywhere from 5 ft to .5 feet.  hope this helps some.

[midnighthrasher]

I would suggest buying a few and trying them out. The easiest way is to figure out the following:

1- Local Bait fish

2- Water depth

If foe example your bait fish are shad and your water depth is 6 foot than a good option would be a Rapala DT6 in Shad. Or you have alot of crawfish then your option could be a rattle trap in a crawfish pattern. Here are my suggestions for a first timer. Crankbaits that are guarantees:

1-Lipless crankbait in chrome blu back- rattle trap, xr50, red eye shad

2-Rapala dt series- match the hatch on this one and match your water depth

3-Jerbait- Either a rapala xrap or LC pointer match the hatch

I fish them everywhere, anytime. There is a crankbait for every option. I have over 100 crankbaits and jerkbaits. Get that cranbait in the bass zone and match the color to local bait and you will be succesfull.

[santacruz]

The biggest advantage to cranks is the ability to cover water.Cranks can be fished year round and anywhere on the water, open water banging the bank,deep structure etc... I try to use what bass will see in that certain type of water color.The depth of structure and cover will determine which model i fish maybe shallow mid or deep diving.

[Marty]

Crankbaits are great fish attractors. I generally give them a shot just about any time and place where the cover will allow their use.

The vast array of choices available can be intimidating. Just buy a few of a known brand and make sure they run to the depths you want to cover.

[Eternal Angler]

I use crankbaits in summer time and, they are bit too fast for springtime.

I like using dark colors, I never used really bright colors before.  Freshwater minnows don't really have bright colors like chartreuse on them anyways.

I would go with a Bomber.  Choose a shad like color, I also like the bass and rainbow looking crankbait.

[bobbyc]

Some excellent advice here. I would add, when cranking cover, keep the lure in contact with the cover as much as possible.

[Brian B]

Thanks gus, this is all good stuff.