How Squarebills Work.

[Catch and Grease]

The squarebill crankbait is my favorite lure by far and the lure I have the most experience in, that being said I am far from an expert at fishing them. Feel free to add to this thread or disagree with anything I say!

Before you start fishing squarebills you need to know what seperates them from any other crankbait. The squarebill crankbait is designed to deflect off cover with erratic movements, it can do this because of the corners on its bill. Instead of just sliding off cover along the bill the squarebill hits cover and stays in place causing the lure to rise from its back end eventually coming over the cover, this is what makes them come through cover better than round bills because the trebles are guided away from the obstacle. Many people think that when people say they "deflect" off cover they mean the crankbait shoots off of cover and changes direction but this isnt complety true. When they deflect off cover its more of a rapid change in speed and a more minor change in direction, if they changed directions rapidly and went all over the place they would get hung up a lot more. The fact a squarebill can stay tighter to cover is why they are such a successful lure, you have to have the lure as tight to the cover as possible to get the bite because the bass doesn't go the squarebill the squarebill goes to the bass! This is why you don't see very many successful wide wobbling squarebills, because it defeats the purpose of the lure.

Another thing people think a lot is that a squarebill is supposed to be like a weedless crankbait, this isn't true! While squarebills are great at coming through cover they WILL get hung up, if you are worried about getting hung up just put the lure away because you won't be a successful squarebill user. In fact if you aren't getting hung occasionally you are fishing in the wrong places!

When fishing a squarebill I can not stress how important it is to come in contact with the cover your fishing.

Hopefully this helps someone get a picture of what a squarebill does under the water and helps them fish it properly!

[Comfortably Numb]

Good explanation.

 

And dont forget suspending squarebills especially in cold water.

[Catch and Grease]

When I say wide wobbling squarebills aren't very successful, I mean like your traditional wide wobble crankbait...

Most squarebills have a pretty wide wobble to them actually but its more controlled IMO, if that makes any sense.

[Catch and Grease]

Good explanation.

 

And dont forget suspending squarebills especially in cold water.

Ehh, I've always just stuck with floating ones. But to each his own, if it works for you thats all that matters!

[Incognito]

Ehh, I've always just stuck with floating ones. But to each his own, if it works for you thats all that matters!

     Well, if you aren't using suspending square bills then you're most definitely not an expert.... Just joshing.  That was an informative, well-written article.  Thanks!

[papajoe222]

Great observations.  If I may, the same design features are also the reason square bills do not run very deep and they give off a completely different vibration to the fish's lateral line.  The latter is a reason square bills produce in areas of no cover when worked irratically.  I'm not implying that your comment about fishing in the wrong place if you aren't getting hung up, a square bill is in heaven if it's deflecting off of cover. It can and does also produce when worked over weeds and along the edges of drop offs.

[Sam]

OK, now let's take the topic further and discuss silent square bills and how they differ from the ones with the rattles.

 

You are on stage, again, Catch and Grease.

[Catch and Grease]

OK, now let's take the topic further and discuss silent square bills and how they differ from the ones with the rattles.

You are on stage, again, Catch and Grease.

When it comes to squarebills silent and rattling both have their place, Deciding which to use has to do with conditions and can change on a day to day basis.

From my experience rattles work better when the bass are active, the lake is more active like a day with high winds for example, or the water is alittle dirtier than normal. Many people think rattles help get bass to bite when they are inactive, from my experience its quite the opposite. Rattles can negatively impact your fishing, if it didn't then rattles would always be a better choice.

Rattles don't directly help the bass find your lure, they kinda are a heads up to the bass. When the bass hears that rattle it alerts them and they start actively searching for the bait, it doesn't really help the bass pin point the baits actual location much.

So on a day that bass and bait fish are inactive wouldn't you agree that a noisy bait would put them off more than a silent bait that sneaks right up to their nose before they know it?

EDIT: And one more thing to add is the more clear the water the less prone I am to using rattles, bass in clear water are mostly sight feeders anyways and they feel less secure. So I think rattles can negativly impact clear water fishing more than dirtier water... But they still have their place in clear water.

[kikstand454]

I can't add much to this well written post on squarebills, good job catchandGrease.

I will say this to all my fellow inshore fishermen though. Throw a squarebill around oysterbars, bouncing it off the bar. ...... and then send me a dollar for every redfish and seatrout you catch.

[Catch and Grease]

I can't add much to this well written post on squarebills, good job catchandGrease.

I will say this to all my fellow inshore fishermen though. Throw a squarebill around oysterbars, bouncing it off the bar. ...... and then send me a dollar for every redfish and seatrout you catch.

Wow thats weird, a friend of mine was just telling me they were catching reds and trout on squarebills not to long ago!

[Hogsticker]

To the Op. So which square bills have you come to like the best?

[ThatZX14Fella]

I almost bought a squarebill yesterday because I don't have hardly any baits. I had to buy ear buds instead though since I always need them for something.

[Catch and Grease]

To the Op. So which square bills have you come to like the best?

My favorites are the H2O CRS, KVD 1.5, and Bomber Square A because they are all affordable and I go through squarebills like crazy...