I am almost on board..........almost

[scaleface]

If you want to be a better crankbait fisherman become a soft plastic fisherman . 

[ETX92]

10 hours ago, TOXIC said:

I was just the opposite years ago.  I am a finesse fisherman and threw 90% plastics year round.  My tournament partner is a cranker and I have to admit I throw a lot more cranks now.  What you need to realize is that there are times when 1 will outproduce the other but as a general rule, finesse plastics will always produce.  Whenever I get frustrated, the weightless Senko comes out and I have had 4 different rods rigged with different senko presentations at times.  I will never be caught without a senko rod rigged up.  This was last weekend.  You can see the bait....

 

 

 That's a nice one! If you don't mind me asking what different presentations do you use?

[the reel ess]

When I was a kid I'd always try out whatever bait I just bought because Bill Dance told me to. My dad would always use a T rigged worm, 6-8" with a 1/8 oz. bullet weight. He would say "they may bite this andnthey may bite that, but they'll always bite the worm." You're missing what they'll bite when they aren't biting reaction baits. Of all the baits, for me, the T rig has the best hookup percentage of them all.

[LxVE Bassin]

I have given up on crankbaits because they barely produce for me. I may need to try and give it another crack. 

[crankbait2009]

I will say this, I love using cranks, and me catching one fish every time out, was ok with me.  Do they produce a lot for me? not at all.  but i still enjoy them.

 

this past friday i skipped work and went out.  the waters were high, muddy, and not exactly ideal.  but figured id give it a shot.  was out for four hours, caught a saugeye via the crank.  nobody i talked to was catching anything.  senkos wern't working either.

 

i'll give it another go next weekend. 

[Deleted account]

There is no question that wacky rigged plastics will catch fish when other baits won't, but for me it's like watching paint dry, so it's always the last thing I try.

[scaleface]

My big two are soft plastics and crankbaits . Other lures have their days too .

[Bankbeater]

Until about 14 years ago all I ever used were crankbaits.  Then I was on a trip with my friends, and they were killing the bass on plastics.  Then I went the other direction, and only fished plastics for about 6 years.  Now when I head out on a trip I have both rigged up.

 

[TOXIC]

On 6/16/2017 at 5:42 PM, ETX92 said:

 That's a nice one! If you don't mind me asking what different presentations do you use?

Totally depends on where I am going.  River or lake.....but.......I will always have a weightless Senko like in the picture, I will also have a Senko rigged with a screw in Bullet weight (different weights for location and/or tide/wind). a weightless Senko on a Gamakatsu Skip Gap hook if I am going to be skipping docks or in heavy grass, and I'll drop down to a Pro-Senko for finesse Dropshotting and Shakeyhead.  I can upsize to a 5 inch instead of the Pro-Senko if I want to powerfish those presentations. I will have a Senko rigged on a 1/4 oz football jig for dragging if the situation presents itself.....I can go on and on.   

[WIGuide]

It sounds like you lose confidence too quickly. One thing I've found is that the classic lures that you have no confidence in do work. Part of it is learning where and when those excel over other baits. That takes time and experience and you don't get either of those in a few casts here and there.  One of the baits I had no confidence in 2 years ago was a jig. I had tried them a few times and struggled. I always did better on a t-rigged bait, but last year I put my mind to it that I was going to learn to fish a jig effectively. It took a while, but I slowly learned the how/when/where, and even though after a year I still don't consider myself a jig expert, I've gained a ton of experience and confidence in them. They also pulled in the majority of my bigger fish last year. 

 

My advice is to take your time. If you go out next time and don't catch anything don't think they're garbage, just put it down for a while. Maybe throw your crankbait through and area and if you catch a fish, turn around and fish it with a worm. 

[Choporoz]

OP, be careful when you decide to try a trickworm...your mind is going to be blown.

 

I love to toss and wind, too....(try this, too: mix in some chatterbaits), but once you start getting confidence in having located fish...you'll find that you do a better job of presenting the plastics.  It is hard to be happy with slower presentations when you don't believe you're on fish