Need Some Advice For Squarebill

[hzzhangc]

Just need some advice for the crankbait fishing. The river I fish is very shallow (some holes may have 5-7 ft) so I picked up some good quality squarebills(like KVD, Square A, Norman thin N) with different colors (Chartreuse, shad, craw, baby bass) but comes up with nothing. When I switched to plastics its kind like immediately I will got a bit. I used 6.6 M rod and 6.4 ratio reel (the ratio may be a little bit fast but I tried to reel it slower) and the line was 12 lb fluro. Thanks for any help!

[rockchalk06]

How fast were you fishing your plastics? Slow? off the bottom?

http://www.bassmaster.com/tips/fall-square-bills

I baised by Squarebill fishing off what Rick Clunn does. Fall or cooler weather has been the best for me. I usually run Squarebills fast. Hot weather I have better luck going slow.

[ww2farmer]

They weren't biting your cranks because they are not good baits..........those are all decent baits. It just wasn't a square bill kind of day. I can fish down the bank tossing a square bill into every bassy looking area on some days and haul water. Turn around and pitch a jig into those same spots and load the boat and some times vice versa. Time and place man. It's up to you to figure out what they want, when they want it. 6.somethng:1 is my preferred speed for shallow cranking. There's no such thing as too fast, when they want it you can't reel it fast enough. If they want it slower.........reel slower. Most square bills don't pull hard like deep cranks, many people use lower geared reels for power, not speed. Cranking a hard pulling bait all day with a high speed reel will wear you out.

[smalljaw67]

The square bill is made to fish fast and deflect off of cover, they are fished that way to produce a reaction strike and sometimes the fish are tight to cover and won't venture to hit a fast moving bait. I have tried slow rolling a square bill but truth be told, if you are fishing it like that then a different bait is called for such as a jig or soft plastic. If you get hit on the slow moving stuff, try to remember or keep track of how the fish are taking the bait, are they grabbing it and running? Are they just picking up very subtle? You also need to keep an eye on where they are hitting it, is it on the Fall? Is it while on the bottom? Was it hit when paused? Was it hit while it was moving? All of those things are clues as to what bait you want to use. If I'm using a shaky head to start out thinking it may be slow and I start getting hit on the fall, I may try a moving bait, perhaps a swim jig, it depends on the location, and it works when trying to dial in a size of jig or worm too. Keep your mind open and follow the clues, it more often than not, leads to catching more and bigger fish and lets you know what lure is best for the conditions you currently face.

[hzzhangc]

They weren't biting your cranks because they are not good baits..........those are all decent baits. It just wasn't a square bill kind of day. I can fish down the bank tossing a square bill into every bassy looking area on some days and haul water. Turn around and pitch a jig into those same spots and load the boat and some times vice versa. Time and place man. It's up to you to figure out what they want, when they want it. 6.somethng:1 is my preferred speed for shallow cranking. There's no such thing as too fast, when they want it you can't reel it fast enough. If they want it slower.........reel slower. Most square bills don't pull hard like deep cranks, many people use lower geared reels for power, not speed. Cranking a hard pulling bait all day with a high speed reel will wear you out.

So color and presentation, which one is more important? I know they are all critical but i'm just wondering if I cant get a bite I should change the presentation or I just move to another bait? Thanks!

[papajoe222]

Of the two, I'd say presentation is more important. The other thing I observed in your first post was the line size, if you have 10lb, or even 8lb. you might want to give them a try.