Can You Fish A Lure To Slow?

[blongfishing]

What I am really aiming this towards is if you can crank in a crankbaits to slow? If it is too slow will they still bite it. Sounds like a dumb question but....

[pbizzle]

What I am really aiming this towards is if you can crank in a crankbaits to slow? If it is too slow will they still bite it. Sounds like a dumb question but....

Well... yes and no... with a crankbait you really probably can crank it to slow. It at least takes some speed to allow it to dive and wobble. Basically if you crank it too slowly it will look like the ugly hunk of plastic that it is. Now I'm sure somebody's going to say "I was killing them the other day on a crankbait moving at 1" every 10 seconds" or whatever, and while that may be true for the most part yes you can fish a crankbait too slowly. Now I think that jigs and plastics are another story. Dead sticking is actually a really productive technique at times, and you're not even moving it. A lot of old guys like to "stitch" worms, where you move the line with your free hand. If you're doing it right some cast can actually take up to 10 minutes. Now there are days when you can absolutely fish too slowly. Some days the fish only want to eat something that they have to chase. It really just depends on what the fish are doing.

[Jolly Green]

I'm not an expert cranker by any means, but if you're talking about a bait that floats when you stop retrieving it, then I can say that I've never had a bite on a crankbait that was just floating dead up to the surface.  So that might be too slow.  I'd say as long as you're retrieving the bait fast enough -- even in spurts -- to keep it doing what it is designed to do, and it appeals to the fish, there is a lot of room to vary your speed.

[Catch and Grease]

Of course, just like you can fish to fast.

The bass aren't always gonna want a crankbait retreiveied slow and that goes for other lures too, even jigs.

[WRB]

Lure speed is determined by the bass.

Years ago my son was bored and casting a old style Bomber that is a floater diver. He made a cast and retrieved it so slow the nose of the plug was waking on the surface and bass killed it. The bite had stopped mid day, I was getting our lunch out of the cooler and started catching bass with this sloooow retrieve.

Tom

[Angry John]

Speed is so variable.  If your working a floater to slow might be bad because it is not in the strike zone long enough. Sinking crankbaits are the same.  I have some suspenders that i use a stop and start retrieve.  It works best for me in the cold the same time of year as jerkbaits.  So yes!

[Senko lover]

I've actually caught a nice bass on a squarebill cranked on a Zebco Dock Demon (10 dollar combo, has a geat ratio of like 1:2:1). Long story, but it can be done!

[Sam]

Yes.

 

And too fast.

 

And too shallow.

 

And too deep.

[BasshunterJGH]

Lure speed is determined by the bass.

Years ago my son was bored and casting a old style Bomber that is a floater diver. He made a cast and retrieved it so slow the nose of the plug was waking on the surface and bass killed it. The bite had stopped mid day, I was getting our lunch out of the cooler and started catching bass with this sloooow retrieve.

Tom

I caught a fish "deadsticking" a KVD 1.5 squarebill accidently! I cast my lure into the wind to a point and backlashed. It sat on the top of the water barely moving in the wind as I picked out the backlash. The bass came up up and exploded on it just like a topwater and I ended up catching him, a nice little 3 lber. But yes, you can fish a crankbait too slow, you just need to let the bass tell you what they want.

[BasshunterJGH]

Yes.

 

And too fast.

 

And too shallow.

 

And too deep.

Yep.

[Catt]

Yes.

And too fast.

And too shallow.

And too deep.

X3

[ww2farmer]

Yes.

 

And too fast.

 

And too shallow.

 

And too deep.

Agree.

[F14A-B]

Yes.

And too fast.

And too shallow.

And too deep.

And.. I also Strongly agree, lol

[Paul Roberts]

Curious where your question stems from.

[SirSnookalot]

Too slow............NO !

I do believe fish, especially bass go for the easiest target.  I catch a lot of fish on the pause whether it's a jerkbait or a top water.  I've had fish hit a top water while it was at rest as I was dealing with a wind knot.  Fish hit on the drop using jigs, worms or spoons, as mentioned deadsticking and that's pretty slow.

How many fish to I catch on a fast moving lure, far fewer but at times they are more aggressive.

[shanksmare]

Lure speed is determined by the bass.

Years ago my son was bored and casting a old style Bomber that is a floater diver. He made a cast and retrieved it so slow the nose of the plug was waking on the surface and bass killed it. The bite had stopped mid day, I was getting our lunch out of the cooler and started catching bass with this sloooow retrieve.

Tom

A friend of mine, who is a former striped bass world record holder, told me of a similar technique that at times can be deadly for stripers at night. He basically deadsticks a Bomber at night in areas with a little current. It can turn a bad night into a good one. Since stripers and LMB are both predators, it should work for both.

As Sirsnook mentions, deadsticking  can be deadly (especially on larger bass, if you have the patience) on  larger bass using plastics. It certainly can be good for redfish at times.

Years ago a friend of mine's then young cousin was catching a lot of nice bass (5 or 6# up north in MA) on a Hula Popper in the middle of the day during the summer. His technique was to cast the popper near some reeds and then do nothing. He would let it sit for 5 minutes or more. If he didn't get a hit he would retrieve quickly and make another cast to the reed cover. I never had the patience to give the technique a meaningful try. It worked for him.

[HoosierHawgs]

You are not fishing slow enough or I heavy enough cover until you start losing tackle

[BobP]

Retrieve speed is absolutely critical and you only know it's right when bass start to bite it - so you have to experiment on the day, according to sunlight available, and water clarity.  Crankbaits are reaction baits.  You want a crankbait to be sensed by the bass but not so visible that they can determine it's not a real prey item.  Generally, that means clearer water = faster retrieves.  The lake I fish most is very clear.  If you want to get a bite there, you have to really burn crankbaits back to the boat or go fish-less.  In my personal experience on varying lakes, faster retrieves generally get more bites in open water while slower retrieves do better in heavy cover (where you can't really burn it anyway).

[J Francho]

One of my favorite things to do with a deep diving crankbait is to work shallow bedding areas with it.  Cast, let settle like a topwater.  Reel in, until it hits bottom, and let it dig in a bit.  Stop, and give it a 30 count.  Repeat.  You'd be surprised how many hit it on the rise.