Crankbait for 1 to 3 feet of water?

[nocellcontracts]

My hometown lake that has tons of shallow water (1 to 3 feet).... and fish here simply love crankbaits. Water here is usually stained to muddy with no more than 2' visibility at it's best.    Yes, I know everyone throws a KVD squarebill, but this lake sees a lot of pressure, and I was hoping to find something a little out of the norm. I haven't heard of anyone local throwing Spro fat john 60's. Any of you have experience with that bait or can recommend something else? Thanks!

[Evan K]

THKO Wakebait in frog color.

[Montanaro]

Bass dont recognize brands

Try a real small swimbait like gambler tz swimmer on a darter head

 

 

 

[Deleted account]

You can throw a wakebait on lighter line or a shallow CB on heavier line. Bandit 100 on 20lb mono runs 1-3', 1 minus on 10lb runs almost 2'.

I have some Academy and BPS CBs that see a lot of this duty as well.

 

[Bankbeater]

That is the same reason why I learned to fish with a jig and craw.  The lake near me sees very heavy pressure on the weekends, and most of it is crankbaits, and plastic worms.

[scaleface]

Bagleys Honey B is good for shallow bodies of water .  

[Raul]

Rapala Shallow Shad Rap

Mann´s Baby 1 Minus

Bandit Footloose

Storm Subwart

Jackall Cherry Zero Footer

Lucky Craft BDS

Rebel Wee Frog

Those are some cranks that dive 0 - 3 ft

[WI_Angler1989]

Bomber square A is a 1' runner and cheap

Spro little fat John is 1-3' and pricey

Those are the 2 I have experience with at least. Tons of options though. Go to a tackle site, crankbaits, pick the depth and browse. 

[thebillsman]

Love the slow float Little Johns

[iabass8]

2 hours ago, Evan K said:

THKO Wakebait in frog color.

x2. Trey makes an awesome bait

[Logan S]

Mann's Baby 1-Minus.  I've probably caught more fish from shallow cover on a 1-Minus than all other crankbaits combined.  I fish a ton of grass, wood, and rocks in 1-3 feet of water on the Potomac, 1-Minus is always on the deck.  

With the rod tip high it can be a wake bait.  With the rod tip low it can get down to 2 or maybe 3 feet depending on your line choice and length of cast.  It's not always thought of as a squarebill, but it deflects off cover just as well and comes through grass better than most.  Good bait to have in your arsenal.

[ww2farmer]

Mann's baby 1-...................if you hold your rod tip high and reel slow and steady it will "wake", point the tip down and it get's a foot under the surface. I started super shallow cranking almost 20 years ago with the baby 1-, have since tried every other bait similar to it, and am back to the baby 1-. The only other bait similar to it that I have in my rotation is the Storm Arashi Waking bait...it's a true "wake' bait, and is a little bigger than the 1-

[fishballer06]

Mann's baby 1- is a killer in shallow water

[tander]

Like some others I use the Mann's Minus 1 and a Bagleys Honeybee.

[Catt]

Bill Lewis Echo 1.75

Blending the tonal temptation of the Rat-L-Trap with the shallow water presence of a squarebill, the Bill Lewis Echo Squarebill Crankbaitstake Bill Lewis’ legendary line of hard baits a step further. Internally, the Bill Lewis Echo Squarebill Crankbaits provide the same combination of low-knock and high-frequency rattle that has made the Rat-L-Trap a fixture in the fishing industry for decades.

Built with a durable square bill, the Bill Lewis Echo Squarebill Crankbaits generate strike-triggering deflections and a wide-wobbling action that hunts through shallow terrain. Backed by two Mustad Triple Grip trebles, the Bill Lewis Echo Squarebill Crankbaits deliver unrivaled shallow water performance.

[68camaro]

I just picked up my first wake baits, a couple 1-minus plus I have on order a couple Livingston Pro Wake's with EPS sound system, both will create wakes or run about 12" under depending on speed and tip height. 

I haven't really tried yet but I fish a lot of shallow areas and think these will really be good.

[Jrob78]

Zoom WEC E1, pricey but worth it when you get a good one.

Megabass S Crank, also pricey but something different.

[aj88kc]

H20 express scsfw wake bait in bluegill color. I run it in 1-3 ft of gin clear water and I pound small mouth and large mouth on it. I run it on 10lb mono. Run it super slow and it will leave a very nice big wake or run it a little faster and it will run about 6-8 inches at the most. 

[RyneB]

Strike king super shallow. I'm not a crank bait guy, but that little bait has done some damage for me.

[Bluebasser86]

Haven't gotten to use it much yet but I'm really excited about the new 6th Sense Movement 80X because a lot of our lakes are also shallow and stained. It's a pretty good sized bait with a very wide, thumping wobble, and loud rattles. 

[smalljaw67]

Mann's Baby 1 minus is a killer at the 1' depth, the Mann's Baby X is a killer at the 2' level. The Bomber Square "A" is a favorite of mine as well but it dives to 3' unless you are throwing it on 17lb line. If you can find any Sebile Crankster SR 50s, grab them, these will dive about 1' but they have a different wobble and sound than others. The Yo-Zuri 3DS flat crank, it has to be the 3DS specifically, it will have a little shovel type lip, it dives to right around 2', it is a flat sided bait but the action is unreal. Those are my picks for the 1'-2' level, an honorable mention goes to the Spro Baby Fat John 50, it gets an honorable mention because it is good but I haven't used it enough yet to fully find out just how good it is.

[RHuff]

I immediately thought of squarebill in this situation. 

[FlipSide]

23 hours ago, Evan K said:

THKO Wakebait in frog color.

100% this, first thing I thought of when I read the title.

[nocellcontracts]

On 2/1/2016 at 5:43 PM, Logan S said:

Mann's Baby 1-Minus.  I've probably caught more fish from shallow cover on a 1-Minus than all other crankbaits combined.  I fish a ton of grass, wood, and rocks in 1-3 feet of water on the Potomac, 1-Minus is always on the deck.  

With the rod tip high it can be a wake bait.  With the rod tip low it can get down to 2 or maybe 3 feet depending on your line choice and length of cast.  It's not always thought of as a squarebill, but it deflects off cover just as well and comes through grass better than most.  Good bait to have in your arsenal.

Several people said Mann's Baby 1-minus.... but I have a question. Why do they look so bad? The paint designs are horrible and the plastic looks cheap and grainy (no clear coat). I did just notice there's an "Elite" series with a little better paint. What is the "color name" of 1-minus you guys have good luck on? Thanks again!

[desmobob]

I fish in very muddy water and have had good luck with the 1 Minus in chartreuse/blue and fire tiger.  I also have a couple of the Storm Arashi wake baits that I haven't tried yet.

 

Tight lines,

Bob