Best Crankbaits to start with? MI and Ontario

[WRangler506]

What do you suggest for bass crankbaits, or will the shad raps I have (5s and 7s) work well? How is a scatter rap ( or all the other bass cranks) different from a shad rap.

 

Im fishing mostly in northern MI or canadian water for smallmouth, and even in June the water is still very cold. I go in June and August. Im looking to cover more water and find fish.

 

Should I start with some scatter raps, or is there something else I should be looking at? I need to cover shallow and deep, in multiple colors, but Im not sure which baits to start that with. I was going to start with 6 of them and see if they work well there.

[SWVABass]

Strike king square bills, 3xd and 6xd have all caught smallies for for me and seem to produce just about anywhere. Give em a try

[Way north bass guy]

They will all work at one time or another, but I’ve had good luck the last couple years with the scatter rap and strike king squarebills. 

[TOXIC]

I go to Michigan every year for Smallmouth and wear them out on SPRO Little Johns (original size) with the squarebill computer board lip.  Olive Shad, Nasty Shad, Cell Mate are a few of the colors I never leave home without.  

[Deleted account]

6 minutes ago, TOXIC said:

I go to Michigan every year for Smallmouth and wear them out on SPRO Little Johns (original size) with the squarebill computer board lip.  Olive Shad, Nasty Shad, Cell Mate are a few of the colors I never leave home without.  

I'm a fan of that ugly, flat, rubber one knocker, wanna be squarebill. It catches.

[scaleface]

If  youre going shallow to deep , find a manufacturer with a varied lineup and pick one of each . Strike King , Berkely . Rapala ... Crankbaits only work when fished at the depth bass are at . 

 

For instance the Dredger series would handle 5 foot to over 20 .

[WRangler506]

On 3/26/2018 at 7:08 AM, Swbass15 said:

Strike king square bills, 3xd and 6xd have all caught smallies for for me and seem to produce just about anywhere. Give em a try

I picked up some 1.5 squarebills today. I like the 3xd and 6xd with the smaller bait size. The 4,5,6's seemed pretty big to me. Ive just not fished much w big baits.

Going for smallmouth mainly.

On 3/26/2018 at 7:31 AM, Way north bass guy said:

They will all work at one time or another, but I’ve had good luck the last couple years with the scatter rap and strike king squarebills. 

Are you using shallow or deep scatter raps or all?

 

On 3/26/2018 at 7:45 AM, TOXIC said:

I go to Michigan every year for Smallmouth and wear them out on SPRO Little Johns (original size) with the squarebill computer board lip.  Olive Shad, Nasty Shad, Cell Mate are a few of the colors I never leave home without.  

Thanks. These are next on my list. Ill probably get a couple Med and DD little Johns also.

 

 

 

Is anyone using the DT series? I guess I need some 4,6 and 10s.

Do the Rapala's come with decent hooks already? I keep reading of people swapping hooks on the SK's.

[WRB]

Most of the lake in Ontario that I fished have toothy fish like pike and musky along with smallmouth. Do you use a wire leader?

I do very good out west with smallies using Major Craft Zoner Hunters in both crawdad and bluegill colors. Norman DD14 and Bomber 7A in baby bass for mid depth and Norman DD 22's in black red crawdad for deep divers. Agree the Dredger series offer a deep diving series with less cranking resistance then the Normans. Strike King are popular because of KVD, haven't worked as well for me.

Tom

[Way north bass guy]

I’ve used both deep and shallow versions of the scatter rap, depending on what kind of cover and where I’m fishing, but I’d say in summer I’m mostly throwing the deeper versions. I don’t normally use a wire leader when I’m bass fishing, but I will use heavier fluoro or tieable wire for leaders when I’m strictly targeting pike in the spring and fall.  I don’t usually lose too many fish to break offs when cranking for bass, but it will happen on occasion. 

[detroit1]

Don't get hung-up on which brand name cranks to use, just make sure you can cover all depths...

[A-Jay]

Along the lines of the Major Craft Zoner Hunters (nice bait btw @WRB),

The Spro Rock Crawler 55 and the new 6th Sense Curve 55 are both killer mid-depth Crawfish imitators that get bit.

A-Jay

[WRB]

6 hours ago, A-Jay said:

Along the lines of the Major Craft Zoner Hunters (nice bait btw @WRB),

The Spro Rock Crawler 55 and the new 6th Sense Curve 55 are both killer mid-depth Crawfish imitators that get bit.

A-Jay

Good looking lures, I don't need anymore crankbaits so please stop posting pictures!

Tom

[punch]

23 hours ago, WRangler506 said:

I picked up some 1.5 squarebills today. I like the 3xd and 6xd with the smaller bait size. The 4,5,6's seemed pretty big to me. Ive just not fished much w big baits.

Going for smallmouth mainly.

Are you using shallow or deep scatter raps or all?

 

Thanks. These are next on my list. Ill probably get a couple Med and DD little Johns also.

 

 

 

Is anyone using the DT series? I guess I need some 4,6 and 10s.

Do the Rapala's come with decent hooks already? I keep reading of people swapping hooks on the SK's.

A big YES to the DT series. They come with "ok" hooks. They are sticky but they can bend out if you get a nice pike or a fish that's in some grass.  You don't need to immediately upgrade them IMHO but keep an eye on em. 

 

DTs work everywhere, and catch everything. They have been my go-to since they came out. They are not without faults though. Being balsa they can crack and break when hitting cover (or the side of your boat), and their bills are not amazing at deflection like some more traditional squarebills. They will get hung up a little more if your raking rocks on the bottom. 

 

They do catch fish.. and lots of them.  Largies, smallies, pike, perch, walleye, bluegill's, crappies... They all will eat a DT. 

[Fishin' Fool]

I'm shocked no one mentioned lipless baits like the Strike King Red Eye shad or XClaibur XR50'S which have a new manufacturer now. Also check out Bandit 100 & 200 size crankbaits.

[iceintheveins]

Shad raps are great always, I also really like the Dredger Series. Don't forget wiggle warts either.

[Scarborough817]

the dt line is a killer up here, specifically the dt10 and 16. also take a look at some spro little john deep cranks