3/4Oz Lipless Crank

[mikey5string]

Why can I catch plenty of fish on a 1/2oz but they wont touch a 3/4?

It can't be that its too big. I have caught plenty of 3lb fish from this lake on a 6" swim bait, 8" fish on a 10" worm etc...

Maybe the alewife they are changing are exactly the size of the 1/2 oz? Maybe they chose the smaller, weaker ones?

Anyone have luck with a 3/4 oz rattling lipless crank? The vast majority of the ones I see being fished are the 1/2oz variety.

thanks

[roadwarrior]

I have had pretty good luck with a 3/4 oz Red Eye Shad, Chrome Blue

[mikey5string]

I have had pretty good luck with a 3/4 oz Red Eye Shad, Chrome Blue

I actually have that one. And the sexy shad, and another color Im not sure of. I havent caught a single fish on any of them. I have caught plenty on the 1/2oz red eye shad as well as the 1/2oz cordells in chrome/black, chrome/chartreuse, sexy shad.....

Odd. I guess they just like the 1/2oz in this lake.

[J Francho]

It probably has more to do with retrieve speed and depth more than the actual bait. A 3/4 oz. trap has to be retrieved faster to run the same depth as a 1/2 oz. If retrieve them the same speed, the heavier bait will be running deeper.

[mikey5string]

I fish them around submerged weeds where a creek enters the lake. Its a pretty big area and the water ranges from 4-15'

I fish them in the weeds. Throwing the bait, letting them fall and ripping them out. The fish almost always hit it on the initial fall or when I pause and let the bait settle back into the weeds.

I had thought about your point but with the hits coming when the lure is stopped, I thought that the retrieve speed wasnt as important, as long as it wasnt drastically different. Maybe thats it though, the larger baits fall faster, dont rip through the weeds as well and move quicker. Sometimes a little thing can make a huge difference.

I will try some different retrieves and see what happens.

thanks

[Megastink]

I had a stellar day on the Potomac River in may fishing a Red Eye Shad in a weedbed. I caught two limits before cutting off my bait (1/2 oz Red craw color) and giving it to my partner for him to catch his limit.

I switched to a 3/4 oz in the sexy sunfish. I made the size/color change because I had just caught a larger than average bass with a bluegill tail in his throat. I slayed them. However, I don't think it was the size or color, but the retrieve that made the difference...

I was strait up violent with my retrieve. I would slow roll it from the moment it hit the water, then when I felt resistance from it being caught in the grass, I would give it three rips in a row HARD out of the weeds, reeling in the whole time. It was literally as fast as I could fish. They clobbered the hell out of it.

Go to Bass Master * and watch the tournament on the Kissimmee Chain from around Spring of 2009. KVD won it fishing exactly like I was. In fact, that tournament was my inspiration!

[deep]

Mikey, maybe the 3/4 oz trap sinks faster?

EDIT: Oops, J covered that I see.

[papajoe222]

That's what I love about the forums here. You guys are always asking questions. Mikey could have just gone back to throwing the 1/2oz. and catching fish and left it at that.

I don't have a definitive answer for you either, just speculation that it's likely a combination of size and weight difference. I know you said those fish will hit a swim bait or big worm, but I'd bet that if they are hitting a six inch swimbait and you upped the size to eight inches you'd likely experience something very similar.

Just as color sometimes makes all the difference in the world, so does size and as a couple of guys mentioned, fall rate. If I were in that situation, I'd try a 1/4oz. and see if I didn't up my percentages or if they'd also drop.

[Primus]

Not sure why you are not getting bit on the heavier lipless cranks. The 1 oz Xcalibur 1 knocker has been productive for me at times slow rolling them in deeper water, violent strikes ! Expierimenting with 2 oz Sebile Flatt Shads, haven't used them enough to draw any conclusions as I recently acquired them.

[Bluebasser86]

I've had good success with a 1oz Super Spot and 3/4oz Xcalibur XR75

[TNBassin']

I was gonna pick up an XRK75 yesterday at Bass Pro, but chickened out because because I've never used anything bigger in our lake than a 1/2oz. They had them on clearance for $4.88 too. Guess I will stop by before work and give them a shot.

[tennsopher]

I fish lipless a lot here in central Fla and one of my favorites is the Lucky Craft lvr d10 in american shad.With you are fishing a larger bait size,you need to pay more attention to colors.The more natural the better. Fish can see detail more on large baits than smaller ones.Thats the reason you don't see swimbaits(large models) in firetiger patterns.

[TNBassin']

Good advice. Never thought of that.

[Hooligan]

I fish lipless a lot here in central Fla and one of my favorites is the Lucky Craft lvr d10 in american shad.With you are fishing a larger bait size,you need to pay more attention to colors.The more natural the better. Fish can see detail more on large baits than smaller ones.Thats the reason you don't see swimbaits(large models) in firetiger patterns.

I disagree with that theory. Many companies have Fire Tiger and "as close to firetiger as you're going to get without calling it firetiger" swimbaits. Bettencourt, 22nd, Jackall, Caro.

99% of what, I am sure the issue is, is that the bait falls faster and isn't in the strike zone for the majority of the time that a half ounce bait is. It could also amount to fish not keying on the larger profile of a 3/4. I catch tons of fish every year on 3/4 and 1 ounce traps and 3/4 Aruku shads in colors that aren't anything close to a natural pattern. If color were that much an issue in those cases, there is almost no chance they'd eat the 1/2 ounce size, as they can see it well enough to define the difference. You give the fish far too much credit on that one.

[tennsopher]

Hooligan,I think what the op said was that he was killng the bait on the retrieve and not getting bit.I merely stated something I thought might solve his problem.As i am not there to see the water clarity, I cannot tell if your statement is right or if mine is.Are you stating that all bait in this lake are the same size and moving at the same swim rate?

[Hooligan]

In general the vast majority of the baitfish in any given body of water, that fish are most likely to be feeding on, are young of the year. In most instances, yes, they are of a very uniform size and most often a very uniform behavior. Most often falling and rising in the water column at the same rate as the surrounding baitfish. If it is, indeed, a situation in. which fish are actively feeding on schooled bait, those that seem injured or those that fall from the school from being attacked are going to be very similar to one another. Fish are far more likely to recognize a difference in size before discerning color differences between, say American shad and sexy shad, or fire tiger and bluegill.

[Hooligan]

Furthermore, it was directed more toward your statement of color, specifically the lack of large swim baits patterned in fire tiger. We're that the case, you would never see Southern fish eating trout patterned baits, either. It doesn't look natural to them, because they've never seen a trout. That's blown out the window, because trout pattern swimbait a catch largemouth from Canada to Florida, that alone blows the color theory out the door.

[bass1980]

One of my favorite lure is a Rapala rippin rap in 7/8 oz in gold chrome. This one has been out fishing my 1/2 once rapalas and 1/2 oz red eye shads. I even took this to the river and caught smallies, sheephead, and a tree. Yeah don't ask but it got caught up on a tree and now I have to go but another one.

[BASSHUNTER1961]

I get bit on a 1/2 oz Rat-L-Trap mare than any other CB.......