Learn the way of the crankbait, I must.

[retiredbosn]

This year is the year of the crankbait for me.  I am getting more confident with these with every outing.  Last year was supposed to be the year of the crank but health kept me off the water most of the year.  Right now I'm having a ball experimenting.  Yesterday I hooked the largest bass of my life, unfortunately she wrapped around a limb and while playing the fish, the crankbait acutally failed.  The rear hook was pulled out and the duo lock was straightened!!!  I am loving cranking the standing timber, and can't wait for the water to get above forty degrees and the fish to really turn on. 

Any advice for a crankbait newbie would be appreciated.  Thanks.

[roadwarrior]

Check out "Best Of" in the top of this section.

-Kent

[Tucson]

Do, or do not.  There is no "try".

[retiredbosn]

Finally a star wars fan that got the title.  I'm just a padawon searching for the cb master! lol

Kent,

I had read all of those before I posted.  Thanks for reminding people though.

[Raul]

Learn the way of the crankbait, I must.

Read Fish Chri 's crankbait threads you should.

[njbasser]

Learn the way of the crankbait, I must.

Read Fish Chri 's crankbait threads you should.

From the man with the Star Wars avatar  ;D

I agree, Fish Chris's threads continue to be very helpful.

[retiredbosn]

I've read and re-read them and will re-read them several more times.  They are very informative and I appreciate him taking his time to share.

[tnbassfisher]

I said a month or so back that this year was the year of the crankbait for me. It's yet to really begin to happen.

[Bass Tracker 20]

I decided that i was going to start throwing cranks this year, when i went fishing i looked at all my cranks , picked one and tryed it, after awhile if i wasnt successful, i tied on another one.  I have already seen good results just from trying this, and i caugt my personal best a couple weeks ago doing this!  so get out there and try them. (of course i took into consideration depth) one last thing is sometimes i overthink situations when i am fishing, im trying to pick the perfect color or trying to figure out what would be best, and i have found that sometimes i have done better by not overthinking things.  I have picked a bait that i wanted to throw and threw it

[BluegrassBoy]

I will second that statement.  Just pick something that looks right and throw it.  I am from a different world i guess.  I learned crankin my whole life while never touching a jig....so i have all sorts of ideas on crankin...

But remember these three things...Action, Depth, and Speed.  Get those three right and almost any color can do the job.

[Chris]

Is there something specific you needed to know about cranking? I will answer a few questions if you like.

[Raul]

Is there something specific you needed to know about cranking? I will answer a few questions if you like.

Crakbait Yoda is ready to teech, grab the opportunity you must.

[247bassin]

I have several questions...hope nobody cares that I am hijacking another thread...

My biggest problems are which crankbaits to throw in different situations.  I never know what to throw in a given area during a certain time of year.  My other problem is I do not know what crankbaits to buy.  I am going to Kentucky Lake in less than 2 weeks and I have not got a good selection of crankbaits and am planning on going to BPS this week and spend $100 on crankbaits.  Are than any tips that anyone can give me on what cranks to buy.  I would like the most detailed answer as possible, like brand, model, and color.

Thanks for any help you can give, and sorry for hijacking the thread.

[roadwarrior]

Think depth, cover, structure and wobble. Right

now, in the Mid South, lipless cranks are hot. Fished

over gravels bars; above or through grass. Most

bass are being caught in 4'-8' of water.

As the water warms, more wobble and greater

depth. Around structure and cover shallow lures

also come into play. The key is often running

into obstructions, ticking the top of vegetation

or digging the bottom.

Here are a few specific suggestions:

XCalibur Xr50 (blue chrome/ orange)

Norman Fat Boy (redear pattern)

LC Rick Clunn 2.5 & 3.5 (pick your favorite colors)

Rapala DT10, DT16 and DT20 (craw pattern)

Bomber DD22 (white and/or sexy shad)

8-)

[retiredbosn]

Is there something specific you needed to know about cranking? I will answer a few questions if you like.

Got a question about cranking standing timber.  Should I worry about the limbs that are still on the tree and under the water.  The tree is in 15 foot of water but has a limb that is only 3-5 feet under water.  Should I run a crank that designed to crank into the limb?  Or is it alright to run a deeper diving crank and hopefulliy hit the trunk before starting the vertical rise to the limb?  I can always reposition and hit the side of the tree without limbs and go deep then bounce the limbs later.  This has me fairly stumped. 

[retiredbosn]

Crankbait arsenal as of now covers the water colum from 18 feet up to the surface. I have several FF Shads and Figerlings, a couple wiggle warts, Little N's Fat Boys, Bandits 100's, 200's and 300's, bunch of lipless, Shad Raps, DT's with coffin bill, couple of unknowns in there as well. Colors are Craw (reds, browns, green and chartruse), Shad (lavender, sexy), Citruse, and firetiger. Mainly craw colors and shads. I try to have enough color on hand and different actions from wide wobble down to tight wiggle to handle most weather conditions. Is there anything that you recommend, or would it be better to list what I have individually and then recommend from there?

I also keep a chart of the type of cranks on hand and their diving level, actually taped to the inside lid of my cb box. I just print out the spec sheets from the companies. I try to do all I can to make sure I'm doing the right thing on the water. My success rate has soared this year. I'm excited that I may be starting to figure this crankbait thing out. Thanks

[Gangley]

I also keep a chart of the type of cranks on hand and their diving level, actually taped to the inside lid of my cb box.

I've done this as well, really helps keeping you on track and avoids you second guessing things.

[Chris]

To be honest I use a medium wiggle year round. I don't get caught up in the wide wiggle for summer tight wiggle for winter thing from the standpoint that I don't buy a ton of lures. I do change vibration patterns for how much color the water has. If I feel like I need less wiggle I tie directly to the pull point and sometimes use heavier line to deaden the action mostly in clear pressured water. If I feel like I need a wider action some times I change the back hook to a heavier wire or add weight to the back of the bait which changes the vibration pattern on some lures. I choose crankbaits based on the vibration I feel in my hands when I cast the bait. I say this because if you go by action it becomes misleading. It all starts with the vibrations that are transferred from the bait through the line down the guides in the rod from the reel in your hands. If you can't feel the bait vibration in your hands you have a hard time figuring out a strike at the end of your cast. You can have the greatest bait known to man with the best paint job under the sun that the bait monkey told you to buy but if you can't feel the vibration it isn't doing you much good. At times if you choose the wrong vibration pattern for how stained the water is can leave you pulling water instead of bass. In simple terms choose your lures by vibration much like you choose your spinnerbaits. The more stained the water becomes the more vibration your going to need to draw attention to your bait rattles are secondary. Some companies add loud rattles to try to make up for the fact that the lure throws off a lame vibration but loud rattles don't make up for a lack of vibration. In clear water you can get away with it because the bass are more sight feeders and color becomes more important from the standpoint of choosing bait fish looking colors. As the light becomes less because of depth or cloud cover or when the sun is low in the sky like early and late choose colors and vibration patterns as if the water has become stained. In low light watermelon, chartreuse, violate, and most of your fluorescents become easier to see for a bass. Your fluorescents reflect more light and almost glow under water when there is low light. The green watermelon is just a weird color that works well in this situation bass can see it under low light. You can get away with using the wrong color with the right vibration but it is hard to get away with the right color with the wrong vibration particularly in stained to muddy water just food for thought. I choose medium wiggle because it will work in a wider variety of water conditions and year round and if need be the vibration pattern can be changed. With crankbaits I like lures that have a low pitch lead thud rattle over high pitch BB rattles or no rattles. Over the years I have found that it draws more strikes and does tempt bigger fish. In my mind between the vibration pattern and the low pitch rattle I am presenting the bass a vibration image of a bigger bait than what I am using. I am tricking the bass to think that the lure is bigger than it actually is based on the vibration pattern and rattle.

[Chris]

I fish most of the DT's, Bandits, Norman, Bomber (Fat Free Shads), some of the Lucky Crafts (Fat CB B.D.S., and the RC series) Bagleys (most of them), and a bunch of customs (mostly wood).

Got a question about cranking standing timber. Should I worry about the limbs that are still on the tree and under the water. The tree is in 15 foot of water but has a limb that is only 3-5 feet under water. Should I run a crank that designed to crank into the limb? Or is it alright to run a deeper diving crank and hopefulliy hit the trunk before starting the vertical rise to the limb? I can always reposition and hit the side of the tree without limbs and go deep then bounce the limbs later. This has me fairly stumped.

You want to fish the trunk of the tree for lay downs and bring the bait right down the middle letting it bounce off the limbs. Fat Free Shads are good for this. With standing timber If you have any limbs on it bass will hang on the "Y" because it is the first thing different on the tree. When the fish become less active they will suspend anywhere on the truck that is a depth they feel comfortable in. Bass use the "Y" like overhead cover and you fish it like the lay down that I mentioned above. The bass will either roll on the bait or wait till it clears the limb and nail it. Your larger fish will be positioned right at the "Y" because it offers the best spot but when bass are active they can be positioned anywhere depending on bait. In clear water the bass may not even use the limb at all and will just position on the trunk because of comfort. In stained to muddy water you can almost bank that they will be at the "Y".