Hardcore Crank'n

[Robert Hergan]

I love throwing those little billed and lipless crankbaits like any other angler! Just wanted to know if anyone had any other ways to work them that deemed overly successful for them! And also if they work great in the spring! Any tips and tricks are appreciated! Thanks a ton!

[Ratherbfishing]

The two crank baits which have regularly produced well for me in the early spring are lipless crankbaits and suspending jerkbaits.  Don't know how "hardcore" they are as I've never seen them in a naughty movie but they do work exceptionally well.

[Robert Hergan]

7 minutes ago, Ratherbfishing said:

The two crank baits which have regularly produced well for me in the early spring are lipless crankbaits and suspending jerkbaits.  Don't know how "hardcore" they are as I've never seen them in a naughty movie but they do work exceptionally well.

Thanks a ton! Much appreciated!

[Ratherbfishing]

3 minutes ago, Robert Hergan said:

Thanks a ton! Much appreciated!

No problem.  Ironically, these two baits are quite a lot different from one another.  The first (lipless crankbaits) have to be chased (or, at least, intercepted quickly) whereas suspending crankbaits seem to be at their best when they are at rest.  Who'da thunk, right?

[scaleface]

One of my more productive  tactics is to hop Red Eye Shads off the bottom like a worm .  

[Paul Roberts]

Great topic title. You got my attention. Love crankbaits. Here's some suggestions...

 

Don't just chuck-n-wind. If that's getting bites at a satisfying rate, great! A great way to catch a bunch of bass, fast, is by burning a lipless -hyper chuck-n-wind. It doesn't tend to work in cold water and sometimes it just doesn't work. But when it does, there's no faster way to put a bunch of fish in the boat.

 

That said, there are often much better ways to trigger bass than by relying on the plug to do it for you. Often you have to trigger strikes, and straight chuck-n-wind often isn't enough: 

-Vary your retrieve -accelerations and pauses. 

-Crash into things. Bang bottom, wood, rock, weeds. For the latter, you need broken cover (openings) and clump edges. Fishing a crank in weeds is a lot about probing the area, finding the clumps, mapping them in your head, to set up casts that count. Crawl up over an identified clump, then when you get to the outer edge, RIIIIIIPPPPPP! it free. Often this will account for the majority of your strikes. You'll need a stouter rod for this -a MH casting is about right. You can rip off wood too, but it's more dangerous; Make sure you have a plug knocker handy.

-Fish slow and methodical. I often use a crankbait like a jig, slow rolling, with lots of pauses. I once shared this with a friend who had started tournament fishing as a non-boater. After I shared how to fish a CB like a jig, he came back from a T having placed for the first time.

 

Early spring lipless stuff worth doing:

-Tiny lipless, like 1/8ozers, are dynamite in the spring. Spinning tackle, 6lb line. Don't be bashful, speed often turns the trick with them.

-Yo-yoing: This works all year but is esp useful in cooler, even cold, water. Great in spring. Cast, sink, pull up a short ways (feeling the plug vibrate), then let sink again. Keep track of your depth control by lure weight, line diam., and sink rate. Vary the height of your pulls to find out what fish will react to. The colder the water, the shorter the rip (minimizing horizontal movement).

 

-Vertical ripping: Similar to Yo-yoing, but amongst weeds. Great anytime, but very useful in cold water as you can minimize horizontal movement (which discourages cold fish from chasing). You will be fishing nearly vertically, so line up to weed wall, esp those with ragged edges, and cast short. Sink, come into contact with edges and rip free. Sink again, and repeat. Hugely effective. Remember to minimize horizontal movement.

 

Plenty of other stuff to do too...  Be creative; Crankbaits simply catch bass. Period. The only thing to veer away from, unless it's working, is the straight chuck-n-wind.

 

[lo n slo]

i like this kind of talk

[roadwarrior]

 

[mattkenzer]

If you are going to fish hard baits, read Paul's post ..... read again, read again, read again.

 

Straight reeling a hard bait in shallow to mid-range open water more often than not will be unsuccessful .... IMHO.

[bigbill]

Road warrior is 100% correct. Blockout distractions. Get into your own zone. I watch my rod tip for movement and vibrations. You can change speeds by watching your rod tip. So you won’t go too slow. With a floating crankbait I go just fast enough so it stays submerged making it look like an easy meal. The presentation is as important as the color and size too.

[WRB]

When I started bass fishing we used plugs, somewhere in the 80's the term crankbait replaced plugs. Surface lures, minnow lures, jerk baits, traps became lipless lures and divers with bills are to me considered "crank baits". So now we lump every lure that is retreived fast a "crank bait" except blade baits, speed worms spinnerbaits etc.

So what is a crank bait today? Rods designated as "crank bait" differ fron "jerk bait" and "lipless" so the rod builder thinks there is a difference.

Tom

[Bankbeater]

If the bottom is somewhat clear of vegetation, I let the lipless crank sink to the bottom and then reel it back in just fast enough to feel the vibration.  Every so often I'll pause the retrieve and shake the rod tip a little. 

 

I'll pause the retrieve on a crankbait and let it float up for a second or two, or I will just pull the bait with the rod, taking up slack in between pulls.  Sometimes working a diver like a wake bait works well around vegetation.

 

 

[Catt]

Still a big fan kneel-n-reel...even with lipless?

[Deleted account]

13 hours ago, WRB said:

When I started bass fishing we used plugs, somewhere in the 80's the term crankbait replaced plugs. Surface lures, minnow lures, jerk baits, traps became lipless lures and divers with bills are to me considered "crank baits". So now we lump every lure that is retreived fast a "crank bait" except blade baits, speed worms spinnerbaits etc.

So what is a crank bait today? Rods designated as "crank bait" differ fron "jerk bait" and "lipless" so the rod builder thinks there is a difference.

Tom

I started out as a surf rat, so they are all plugs as far as I'm concerned. crank baits, jerk baits, lipless, wake baits, and even chuggers and poppers, whether they float, suspend or sink are just variations of the same thing.

 

#nottechniquespecific

[scaleface]

In order for diving plugs to be successful they must be fished at the depth as the fish .This is very difficult to determine and relies mainly on trial and error . The Berkley Dredgers dive to the advertised depth using 12 lb Big Game . Select a model that advertises a depth a couple feet deeper than the depth you want to fish . If you think the fish are about 14 foot deep then choose the 17.5 foot model and so on .

[Bluebasser86]

My favorite technique for lipped cranks-leave them in the box in the boat storage.

 

Favorite lipless technique-rip them up and let them fall on a semi tight line. Also work well on the straight retrieve obviously.