Squarebill vs Lipless

[Buffdaddy54]

So I'm a little confused. When would you use a squarebill over a lipless crankbait? I've never fished either but ordered both kinds today. 

[Dorado]

For me, I use lipless cranks in Open water and it could be used at any depth, so they are beyond versatile. I shy away from structure to avoid getting hung up so easily since I mostly fish from shore. It excels in colder temps when the fish prefer a tight wobble. I like to use it like a blade bait too in late fall- winter when the Shad start dying off

 

When spring is in the air, I replace the lipless with a Squarebill for a wider wobble and to deflect off structure to trigger reaction bites when the bass move to the shallows during the prespawn. I get hung up less due to the Squarebill and most dive down 1-5 ft, on average. 

 

Fast forward to fall, then I’m burning lipless cranks subsurface when the shad schooled up. Never used a Squarebill in the fall so others might attest. 

[ww2farmer]

I switch to square bills after the water warms up in to the low 50's and the grass starts growing up good.

 

In thick-ish milfoil that's more than, say...3-4 feet off the bottom, ripping a lipless bait out of it becomes a chore, and often an exercise in frustration. They bait turns into a rake.

 

 What I like to do with a square bill when the grass gets going good is let it dive down to tick the tops of the grass, and purposely try to hang it. Then I either pause it, letting it float up and away from the grass for a split second, or if it's hung, pop it out. You can't get this"pause, float, pop out" effect from a sinking lipless bait. Plus I have the added versatility of being able to chuck that square bill at docks/wood/other cover and getting it to deflect good. A lipless bait around most wood is a disaster waiting to happen.

 

The only time I use a lipless bait in the warmer months/water, is to cover water along deeper grass edges, but even then, I am more apt to reach for a deep diving  lipped crankbait. I have had a few OK days though making long casts on the outside of a weed line, letting the bait sink, and stroking it back to the boat.

 

In the fall when the grass starts to fade, I don't pull the lipless cranks out much. I still opt for the square bill, for reasons similar to why I switched to it in the spring. Even though the grass is thinning out....it's weak, mushy, and grabby. Letting a lipless get hung in it, often results in pulling a wad of milfoil the size of a hay bale back to the boat completely uprooted from the bottom.

 

 

[The Bassman]

As a bank fisherman I find lipless easier to control than anything that dives even a foot or two. Also, I like the less water resistance of lipless crankbaits and the fact that they cast so well.  A squarebill may be more effective at times but the reasons mentioned trump that for me. I do like wakebaits though in warm weather if I'd rather crank than fish contact baits.

[Catt]

Down here when the bass start transitioning from winter into early pre-spawn is when I keep a Trap tied on.

 

I'll start in creek channels closest to feeding flats throwing a 1/2 or 5/8 oz Trap & knee-n-reel that puppy as deep as I can get it!

 

As we move into pre-spawn I add a Bill Lewis Echo 1.75 

 

Once the bass are on beds I put those 2 rods up until post spawn.