CrankBait Dilema

[llPa1nll]

As my season is winding down to a close I cant help but look forward to next year. When I do there are always a few things that I would like to work on to improve my fishing arsenal. The crankbait is something that has always elluded me. I am aware that confidence is a main part of the factor and having none at this type of fishing doesnt help me.

My gear for this is a 7ft Castaway Soft Touch Series Rod paired with a Diawa Millionaire reel with a 5:1:1 ratio, this year I was using the 12lb BPS mono. I have a medium sized selection of Crankbaits mostly of the Norman variety DD22s and Deep Little Ns, along with other brands. Colors I keep it somewhat simple Shiner/shad colors, Firetiger/chartreuse colors, crayfish/crawdad colors.

Other than thinking I would switch to Fluorocarbon in maybe the 8lb to 10lb range. I wasnt thinking of changing much. For waters I fish mainly clear water with hardly any wood, mostly grass (Milfoil/coontail). Any tips, pointers, or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[roadwarrior]

Add a few lipless crankbaits to your collection, specifically the Yo-Zuri RatlN' Vibe.

Other suggestions would be for shallow presentations: Norman Fat Boy, Bomber Square A, Mann's -1 and Bagley BII.

[llPa1nll]

I have no problem with the lipless variety of crankbaits, personally I like the Cotton Cordells the most. I will give the Yo-zuris a look into..

[Siebert Outdoors]

Like RW said need some shallower ones some of my favorites

manns - series

Bandits 200-300

I dont think a dd22 is one of the best lures to gain confidence on cranks with.  It has a specific time and place imo.  The shallower cranks like bandit, dt's, normans, etc that range from 6-10 ft would be my choice to gain confidence.  These lures are typically a bit smaller and produce more fish.  Nothing builds confidence like sucess.  Once you acheive that then go to the specific target.  Thats just my opinion.

I throw 10lb flouro for almost all my cranks.  It works well for me with no problems

[Deuceu72]

I'm gonna have to agree with the rat-l-trap. Personally however, I like the excalibur brand of traps the best. The finish on them is just awesome and they are VERY loud in the water. Just my .02  ;D

[nboucher]

I second GMAN's suggestion to concentrate on that 6-10 foot range to build confidence. The value-priced Rapala DT-6 series has been a real confidence builder for me. Bluegill would be a good choice for clear NH water; Tennessee Shad, which has a similar pattern but jazzier color, works well for stained water. Rat-L-Trap in silver-blue would be my second choice, because you can use it at whatever depth seems appropriate.

[.ghoti.]

Sounds like you have the right gear. And the change to flouro will probably work out for you. I started using flouro for most of my cranks, and will continue. GMAN got it right, deep crankin is not the way to build confidence in crankbaits. My all time best producing cranks are Shad Raps. I like to work the 2'-8' range. I carry just a couple of colors, but all the sizes. They are hard to beat.

Crank it down, then start an erratic retrieve. Rip it, puase it, twitch it, jerk it, anything but a steady crank. And try to run it into something. Most of my fish have bit just after the bait ran into something. Logs, rocks, even the bottom is a good deflector. You may loose a few, but you'll catch a lot more fish banging the bait into whatever you can find.

Good luck,

GK

[Infidel.]

If you fished the baits you already have, on the setup you have, I can't think of a reason you didn't build any confidence with cranks this last season.  This next year, be sure to vary your retrieves on just about every cast.  A change in pace whether it is a pause, a twitch, or just a short burst or drop of speed, is almost always necessary to get a fish to strike.  In fact I was throwing a DT10 all morning on Sunday without a single bite until 11am.  That bite didn't come until I got stuck in some submerged trees and yanked the bait off the snag.  As soon as the bait stopped from the pull, wham!  You are smart for keeping it simple with your colors, Normans are excellent baits, and your rod and real sound perfect, so just go out next year and give it hell.

Jared

[Grey Wolf]

You should start throwing cranks in shallower water . You will start having better luck.

[senko_77]

Save your arms and switch out from  dd22's to rapala dt-16's.  The lip is alot thinner and sharper so it gets down there faster and its just alot easier to reel in than the dd22

[Marty]

Since you're fishing mostly clear water, it wouldn't do you any harm (and it might help) to try some non-rattling cranks. My first choice would be the Original Rapala Shad Raps in whatever models are appropriate for the depths you're fishing.

[lubina]

Add a few lipless crankbaits to your collection, specifically the Yo-Zuri RatlN' Vibe.

Other suggestions would be for shallow presentations: Norman Fat Boy, Bomber Square A, Mann's -1 and Bagley BII.

Like he said.

I would add if you are fishing deep and clear the Yo-Zuri Hardcore Drum, the vibration of this lure is phenomenal and it sink very fast.

I also think that a jerkbait may help you,  I favor the LC Slender 112 but for you the 97 may be better or the regular Pointer 65-78.

Good luck and let us know

[boondocks]

The key to cranking for bass is definately running your lure into to whatever cover you are fishing.Where I fish there are a ton of weeds.I will pick a crank that will run right over the tops of them, occasionally getting hung up. And thats the ticket you want it to hang up.You want a crank that is pretty bouyant for this.When it gets hung up, stop reeling and shake your rod tip a little. Sometimes the bait frees itself, sometimes it won't, but that doesn't matter.Either way you give it good rip(or two or three) after trying to free the lure to snap off any remaining weeds that may still be attached. The key to this technique is to always try to bring your lure back weed free. You would be amazed at how weed free a crank really is when using this method. Its works wonders. I don't know if its the lure jiggling in the weeds, the pause, the rip or a combination that makes them bite but it works wonders. Always try different retrieves with rips, pauses, twitches. Rarely does a straight retrieve work for bass, although sometimes it does. Its a matter of mixing it up till you find something that works. Don't give up on them, cause you'll be missing out.Cranks are my favorite lure to fish, whether it be bass, walleye, or pike.

Oh yea, for this to work your gonna need braided line.Good luck!

[The_Natural]

Small medium running cranks are versatile and will get you bit frequently.  A Lucky Craft flat mini DR is a little medium runner that runs about 8ft on 8lb fluorocarbon (even though it is classified "deep runner" for DR) that gets a ridiculous amount of bites.  It does catch it's share of small fish, but the chunks like it, too.  It would be a great bait to get your confidence built up.  Flat sided baits such as the afforementioned L/C, Rapala DT flat, and the Bandit Flat Maxx work great in early spring when the water hits 50 degrees plus.  

[patbfishing123]

Lipless crankbaits will be your best bet... especially when fishing just grass..  The bass will be in the grass in search for food.  If you run you lipless crankbait right above the grass, the bass will hit the lure.  They are not bitting the lure because they want to eat it, they are bitting the lure because it is zooming past their faces.  This is called a reaction bite and it is what a lipless crankbait is generally used for. It is used to mainly get this reaction bite because you can run it as fast or as slow as you want and as deep or as shallow as you want.. The best part about fishing the grass is that there will be bass in the grass at all times of the year.. but in grass in different depths of water according to the temperature of the water and the clearity of the water and the weather outside.. in a clearer body of water, which you said you would be fishing in,  When the sun is out, the fish are driven deep and when there are clouds and both early and late in the day, the fish will be moving into the shallower water.  GOOD LUCK fishing

[The_Natural]

I guess he needs to post up and tell us whether he has any traps.  I don't consider a trap a crankbait, but he may be including them.  

[llPa1nll]

Well I must thank you all, for all of your input. To clarify when I refer to crankbaits I mean the lipped variety. I have quite an elaborate collection of lipless crankbaits  aka Traps, ranging in size from 1/4oz to 1oz. Cordell Spots, LC DVRs, Rat-L-Traps, Frenzy Rattl'r, SK Diamond Shad are what makes up my lipless crankbait arsenal. I also have allot of confidence in using these, especially in colder water.

I guess the problem I have is when I am using a lipped (diving) crankbait for example, Deep Little N,  diving it in the 8-12 ft zone, on the outside of submerged grass or down a rocky point. I am guessing its the line having to  much stretch in it. I just have a hard time feeling what my bait is doing,  which usually ends up with me reverting back to a 1/4oz or 3/8 oz JP, my confidence bait.

I would say I am well aware that for a better chance of getting bit that the bait has to come into contact with some structure, rock, wood, or grass. I will admit that other than the infrequent pauses, I wasnt imparting as much action as most of you have suggested such as twitches and rips.

So I think with the harder/low stretch flurocarbon that I hopefully will get a better feel for what my lure is doing. I also know now that a steady retreive will not get the job done, that I need to add more action to the bait. I also thank all of you for listing the baits that you have confidence in I have already added a large group of them to my BPS gear wishlist.

[jdw174]

For some great shallow water crankin', try the Bandit FootLoose.  I've caught bass up to 4lb and bluegills over a pound on those little devils.  Try the smaller bodies with square bills and bang them around in the thick stuff.  I use 10lb Super Silver Thread on all my crankin sticks.

[MALTESE FALCON]

I AGREE WHOLE HEARTEDLY WITH THE SHALLOW WATER THEORY. THE SHAD RAP AND BOMBER SQUARE "A" ARE GREAT SUGGESTIONS. ANOTHER NEW LURE ON THE MARKET IS THE BERKLEY FRENZY FLICKER SHAD.

[llPa1nll]

One more question on this subject. I currently use 12lb BPS Excel line, I am going to switch to a 10lb Fluorocarbon line next year. My question is this I do use the Norman Speed Clips, I use them to connect to the split ring on the diving Lipped Crankbaits. I figured this would give great freedom of movement to the bait. Does anyone else use these or a clip/snap for connecting Lipped Crankbaits?

[jdw174]

I use snaps on all my crankbaits.  Occasionally I use the Norman Speed Clips, but I've had instances where they've almost let go of the lure.  I never tie to the split ring on the lure.  I remove it first thing out of the box.

[boondocks]

I always use a snap as well. But as soon as they look like they are getting a little beat up.Change them. They are a lot easier than tying knots all the time. Big snap fan!

[Fishin49er]

I use the Norman Speed Clips on all lures with a split ring.  But like boondocks said just have to watch the clip and make sure its in good shape and also you still have to check your line.

[scott000]

for longer billed deep runners i hear its good to sharpen the lip with a little file to improve the action