Crankbaits

[captaininsaneo]

Never in my life have I caught a fish on a crankbait.  I have read all the articles i could stand to read on this site, and old posts, magazines and everything, and still have never caught anything on one.  I actually limited myself to only crankbaits for about 5 or six hours one day and caught nothing, only to switch to a culrpit worm and catch a decent 1 1/2 lber on the 4th cast.  Maybe that just wasnt a "crankbait day," but i really dont think so.  Anyone have any general suggestions or techniques?  

[Frank19]

I'm very new to crankbaits myself but towards the end of last season I was able to have some luck with the Rapala DT series cranks.  

http://www.rapala.com/products/luresdetail.cfm?modelName=dives-to_series&freshorsalt=Fresh

[Bass XL]

main rule: Think deflection.

Use a square billed crankbait, and deflect it off of any cover around (mainly wood).

[cjensen]

Throw crankbaits around cover (trees, stumps, rock piles...)  I would use a crankbait where I would normally throw a spinnerbait.  Like the previous post you want to deflect the crankbait off of the cover.  Cast out, start youre retreive, once you feel the crankbait hit the cover pause for a moment and resume youre retreive.  If you dont get a bite when you hit the cover, pausing momentarily will help the lure clear whatever cover you just hit.  

Another tactic I use is say youre fishing water that is 8 ft deep.   Tie on a crankbait that runs 10-12 ft.  Basically running the crank right into the bottom to stir things up.  I'll use a crawdad colored crank when I do this.

When I was learning how the fish crankbaits I would  take one rod/reel and an assortment of cranks, forcing myself to fish only crankbaits.  I had plenty of days where I caught nothing but water.  Eventually I figured things out and now I fish them all the time.  

[.ghoti.]

I foyu caught a fish on the fourth cast, using a worm, you must have thought a bit about where to throw it. Do the same thing with your crankbaits. You have to consider depth of the location, and choose a bait that will get there. As BassXL suggested, you need to think deflection. Bang the bait into anything and everything you can. If you can't hit anything with it, then do something with your rod and reel to make it change. Jerk it and pause, twitch it while reeling, change rod position in the midle of a pause, etc. The idea is to make it do something different than just cruise along in a straight line and wiggle at the same rate. You'll occasionally catch a fish just chucking and winding, but the percentages are not with you. Depth and speed are the other important factors. Keep in mind that lighter line will allow the bait to run deeper. If you're paralleling a bank or breakline, a longer cast will have the bait at the running depth for a longer period of time and distance. Don't worry too much about colors. Use something natural looking in clear water and something bright in dirty water. Have some fun with it, it ain't rocket science.

Cheers,

GK

[=Matt 5.0=]

Lots of good advice there! I have zero confidence in cranks, I can't remember the last time I caught a bass on one. This year it's on my list of goals to learn how!

[Stringjam]

I have read all the articles i could stand to read on this site, and old posts, magazines and everything

I doubt there is anything I can add, if this is the case - - with all the good articles out there I'm sure you have a good understanding of lure selection and techniques.

Now that you have that, becoming proficient with them (and in turn becoming confident) will be a matter of practice.....and more practice, and then more....  The all-important aspects of "feel" will only come with time.  

Of all the techniques I've tried to learn, I feel that crankbaiting is among the most specialized.  Obviously there are times and waters where other techniques will work better, but there are times when crankbaits will dominate - and those who are proficient with them will bring in the big sacks.      

[Redlinerobert]

My all time favorite is a 1/4 oz Speed Trap in the red craw finish.  Deflect it off branches and your good as gold.

[Shad_Master]

If you ain't hittin something you ain't fishin 'em right -- you've got to be hitting the cover (or the bottom) in some way.  Also, don't get caught in the trap of just chunkin 'n windin --make 'em dance -- stop and start. etc.  Feeling a strike on a CB is a great experience - do'nt give up on 'em.

[BASS fisherman]

Great tip- you gotta make em' dance.  I like that one.

[captaininsaneo]

thanks for the tips, maybe its just a matter of keeping a crankbait wet.  I guess whats most frustrating is usaully if I want to learn how to fish something I can get on here, read the boards and some articles and it only takes a couple trips to start catching fish.  just hasnt been that way with a crankbait at all.

[Black Bass]

In one of last years Bass Times the results of a survey "Whats your fish finder bait?" The results were:

Fish finder bait

Crankbait            24 (35.8)

Spinnerbait      19 (28.3)

Texas rig              8 (11.9)

Finess jig              6 (8.9)

Carolina rig       4 (5.9)

Drop shot              3 (4.4)

Top water              3 (4.4)

Guess I'd better practice with crankbaits.

[Pa Angler]

Get some Rapala Shad Raps in both shallow and deep versions cast and then retrieve the Raps catch everything and I mean everything. They are as they say idiot proof no offense to anyone anywhere.

[Cephkiller]

Never in my life have I caught a fish on a crankbait.  I have read all the articles i could stand to read on this site, and old posts, magazines and everything, and still have never caught anything on one.  I actually limited myself to only crankbaits for about 5 or six hours one day and caught nothing, only to switch to a culrpit worm and catch a decent 1 1/2 lber on the 4th cast.  Maybe that just wasnt a "crankbait day," but i really dont think so.  Anyone have any general suggestions or techniques?  

Replace "Culprit" with "Power Worm" and this could have been me as little as three years ago.  I, too read all the articles and kept trying until it worked for me.  I was throwing one of the Storm soft body cranks at an island and swimming it down the contour of the weedline and a big girl loaded on.  It would have been a PB at the time, but it shook loose at the boat (only one treble on those darn things).  I estimate it was 7+.  Shortly thereafter I was fishing a similar situation at another location with a Norman Deep Little N and the same thing happened, only this time I landed her - 7lb 2 oz.  That was my PB for over a year and made me a true believer.  As a famous fishing philosopher once said, "Never give up!".

[bassboy1]

How do you slam a lipless crank into cover?  And also, if I were to buy a couple (of any cranks, not just lipless) which should I buy?  I was thinking some Manns minuses and norman flat A's or B's and rattletraps.  What colors?  I heard one natural and one shocker.  I hear for naturals go with crawfish or shad.  For shockers go with chartruese or firetiger.  I have never caught anything on a crank, but then again I only have 4.  2 of which I bought real recently.  Am I missing anything?

[Shakes]

I just recently got into crankbaits. I think I've mastered the spinnerbait presentation, but have a lot to learn when it comes to crankbaits.

GET A RAPALA DT! If you fish from the bank, go with a 4 ft diver, boat, take your pick.

I got curious one day about crankbaits. How come every pro has a number of tackle boxes full of crankbaits? Bought my first one. A Norman somethin, Purple Back, Chartruese body. Anyway, I hated it. It ran wierd in the water, and I fished it forever and never hooked into one fish. Now everybody says the best technique is deflection. Banging your crankbait into anything around, primarily wood. I'm thinkin, "how crazy is that, its gonna hook into the wood and I'll lose my lure." No you wont.

I saw on a fishing show that featured Rick Clunn, and he showed how to un-snag your crankbait. He just pulled the line back like a bow and popped the line. Sent a shockwave down the line, and the crankbait popped right out. I tried it yesterday, and it works. Just buy the crank of your choice (recommend the Rapala DT) and just don't worry about losing it. If it hangs up, who cares... shoot the bow on it. Bang it into everything. Make sure to cast beyond the cover. You'll catch something.

As for lipless cranks, I'll only run one in open water just about weeds and beds. Wood is the enemy with these things. No bill on the front to deflect, just my razor sharp hooks.

[J_pontius]

Ahh my favorite!  Crankbaits!  If you want to become really efficient at crankbaits, my suggestion would be to join a club and find the member who is a cranker.  They will show you how it's done.  That or find a buddy that is good at it.  I fortunately had an awsome crankbait teacher and it took me a while to learn to finess fish because of this.  We had a tournement this weekend at a local lake and all the crankbaiters were the only ones to weigh in!  56 to 59 degree water temps.  I did ended up loosing a rather nice 6lb largemouth that I am still a little sore about, but it happens.

Anyway, crankbaits can be soooooo productive once you find your confidance lures.  It is a great way to find actively feeding bass.  One of the biggest problems I think people have is not wanting to cast into the crap!  If you look at a spot and think "I ain't casting in there", think again!  You will get hung a lot, but you can cover soooooo much more water and put patterns together much much faster.  Plus if you think about the odds of how many more cast you get then a strict finess fisherman.  I am not saying either is better because that is an inconclusive bag of worms I am not opening.  

This time of year in cooler water try lipless cranks.  Cut the front hook off the front treble hook and put a sure set on the rear.  This helps short strikes and this time of year you will get a lot of short strikes due to slower metabolism.  

Bang them lipped lures accross all kinds of riprap.  This will pay off bigtime!  

Square bills are nice for bouncing over cover, but don't exclude the rounded bills.  Square bills give wobble when sometimes they want a tight wiggle.  If you are looking for a good all around crankbait to start with, get some brown and silver rattle traps, and some shad colored fat free shad.  The DT 10's and 16's are good too.  You won't be upset once you learn to use them.

Feel free to pm me if you want any other suggestions.

[Shad_Master]

Crankbaits can't be collector's items and fish catchers -- the bait monkey has decreed that you must bounce 'em off rocks, grass, brush piles, etc. if you are going to catch fish consistently -- this means you are gonna lose some.  There are some things that you can do to cut down on the losses, the bow & arrow technique described above works (sometimes) and cutting the front of the treble off also works (sometimes).  But for the money, some of my best bites (and consistent bites) have come from crank baits -- If you can't afford to lose 'em -- don't use 'em.

[grid]

I'm new to the crankbait world and my problem is that here in Middle of Indiana most bottoms are muddy and have this type of grass that feels like snot.  I usually get a crank full of snot grass! ;D

Any suggestions?

[Shad_Master]

You may want to try a CB that runs a little shallower or try using a higher pound test or even mono.  This will keep the bait up and avoid the gorilla snot.  If there is not much cover in your lake (brush piles, grass, etc.) CB's may not be your best bet.

[J_pontius]

I am in Indianapolis as well and it is tough when you have to fish lakes that are full of that grass.  Sometimes that grass just runs along the banks though and you can run the crank right along the outside of that grass.  This time of year a lipless can be pulled through pretty easy without getting a bunch with you.  

I was fishing sylvan lake last year in a club tourney and that lake is loaded with coontail.  I was throwing a fat free shallow fingerling right above the coon tail and caught more bass then I ever had in a tourney.  I had to hold my pole high at times to keep it out of the coontail but I was successful.  I was successful in this tourney because that lake has seen every soft plastic on the market and the lake hadn't seen much pressure from us crank baiters.  Granted I did pull a lot of weeds off, but that is just part of it.  

Indiana has it's share of weeds yes, but the bass are not always in the weeds.  I would get out to some lakes that are not choked out with weeds.  

[Grey Wolf]

WELCOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love grass myself.

[LONGEARS]

I have used cranks for years and there is as many effective presentations as there fish.These lures work through the whole water table,top to bottom and anything in between so when you hear that you must do this or that (banging into cover is only one option) just listen to the bass.They will tell you what needs to be done.

I have carried my worm box and spinners in the Skeeter for years and never had to resort to using them.There is a crankbait solution for every bass situation.

[J_pontius]

Amen brother!  Amen!  Best advice I have heard yet.  "Let the bass tell ya"!