Never caught anything on a crankbait :( anyone else ?

[scaleface]

I' fish from a boat with a depth finder and hunt out deep structure and cover  so yeah , crankbaits  see a   lot of playing time .

[Munkin]

Like any other bait they have their time and place. I second Tom's recommendation of fishing crayfish colored cranks around dam RIP rap. In lakes with a lot of weeds I like a bait that runs just overtop of them. This can mean a 10' bait running over weeds 11' deep or a Mann's baby 1- running over 2' weeds.

 

Allen 

[Ksam1234]

1 hour ago, Munkin said:

Like any other bait they have their time and place. I second Tom's recommendation of fishing crayfish colored cranks around dam RIP rap. In lakes with a lot of weeds I like a bait that runs just overtop of them. This can mean a 10' bait running over weeds 11' deep or a Mann's baby 1- running over 2' weeds.

 

Allen 

Never heard of the Mann’s ? I’ll have to look those up

[MickD]

I might have missed it, but don't see mention of varying speeds.  Seems to me that with "fat cranks," very slow retrieves are often the best.  Coupled with the already mentioned stop and go.

[J Francho]

On 10/7/2018 at 8:52 PM, reason said:

No, a crank was one of the first lures I caught a bass on as a kid.

Same.  Crankbaits were more cost effective than plastics.  A $3 Rebel craw could catch a 100 fish, where a $1.50 bag of plastic grubs might be a dozen or so.

 

The main thing with cranking for me, is not to just haul water.  You should hitting, banging, deflecting, and snagging things underwater.  You say there are weeds, then pick a bait that runs list a little lower than the tops of those weeds.  Start your retrieve, and when the bait hits the weeds, kill it and give some slack.  A diver will back up out of cover as it rises.  Give the rod a moderately firm snap after a few seconds, and star your retrieve again, repeating the process.

[Boomstick]

Odd. I can usually catch bass on a crankbait in pretty much any lake. Last year, I didn't catch too many on a crankbait but this year I fished them more and made a killing.

[the reel ess]

The Rebel Deep Wee R was the first hardbait I ever used. For years, I only used it and the 6" purple worm. My dad believed most baits caught fishermen, not fish. He would only buy me what he used.

[MrFrost]

Do you have any rivers near you?  I know that I am doing well with cranks right now fishing a river near me.  Like some have mentioned, the side to side motion is what I like best about the Cabela's "Dig It" shallow diver.  Orange is the hot color, at least by me right now.  I have yet to throw any cranks at my local pond/lake due to the grass/weeds/pads still being too thick, but it getting closer to when that should all start clearing up.

[Ksam1234]

9 minutes ago, MrFrost said:

Do you have any rivers near you?  I know that I am doing well with cranks right now fishing a river near me.  Like some have mentioned, the side to side motion is what I like best about the Cabela's "Dig It" shallow diver.  Orange is the hot color, at least by me right now.  I have yet to throw any cranks at my local pond/lake due to the grass/weeds/pads still being too thick, but it getting closer to when that should all start clearing up.

I have a few rivers about an hour away but never been one to fish rivers really. 

[MrFrost]

5 minutes ago, Ksam1234 said:

I have a few rivers about an hour away but never been one to fish rivers really. 

I wasn't either.  I had a buddy pushing me, and I finally gave in, tied on a crank and threw it for the first time.  Took about an hour, figuring out the best retrieve speed and the right diving depth, and next thing you know I was catching 'em on a crank.  Only reason I won't be hitting the river today, is because of all the rain, it's up probably five feet and the current is ridiculous.  The current alone was pulling drag on me, lol.  But I am addicted to river fishing now.  

[Ksam1234]

1 minute ago, MrFrost said:

I wasn't either.  I had a buddy pushing me, and I finally gave in, tied on a crank and threw it for the first time.  Took about an hour, figuring out the best retrieve speed and the right diving depth, and next thing you know I was catching 'em on a crank.  Only reason I won't be hitting the river today, is because of all the rain, it's up probably five feet and the current is ridiculous.  The current alone was pulling drag on me, lol.  But I am addicted to river fishing now.  

I’ll have to give it a try.  I mean I do have the Niagara river right by me lol 

[MrFrost]

8 minutes ago, Ksam1234 said:

I’ll have to give it a try.  I mean I do have the Niagara river right by me lol 

Hahaha, I have found that either near dams, or where there is slack water near flowing water to be most productive.  

[NYWayfarer]

On ‎10‎/‎7‎/‎2018 at 9:35 PM, Ksam1234 said:

Thank you I never knew that. I would always throw crankbaits to imitate bluegill and such and try not to hit bottom.  I’ll focus on craw imitations and see how that goes. 

Don't count out the Sunfish pattern crankbaits and surface fishing them. One of the main forage in the rivers I fish is Redbreast Sunfish. I fish this Rebel Bluegill crank quite often by casting it out, waiting for it to float then cranking it a couple of turns, stopping and letting it surface. This Smallmouth smashed it on that type of retrieve.

 

[scaleface]

46 minutes ago, NYWayfarer said:

Don't count out the Sunfish pattern crankbaits and surface fishing them. One of the main forage in the rivers I fish is Redbreast Sunfish. I fish this Rebel Bluegill crank quite often by casting it out, waiting for it to float then cranking it a couple of turns, stopping and letting it surface. This Smallmouth smashed it on that type of retrieve.

 

I have that crankbait but only made a few cast with it . It has barbless hooks . Did you try it with the stock hooks ?

[NYWayfarer]

5 minutes ago, scaleface said:

I have that crankbait but only made a few cast with it . It has barbless hooks . Did you try it with the stock hooks ?

Yes, and that's the reason I swapped them out for the ones you see on it now, Eagle Claws Laser Sharp red barbed trebles.

I had a Smallmouth leap and shake the barbless ones...

[WRB]

The cadence a diving lure is retreived is just as important as how deep in runs. With bottom bumping crankbaits as soon as it makes contact stop reeling, then try different number of turning the crank from 1, 3, 2, 4, 1 etc and a rod pump vary that cadence until you get strikes. Strikes can be the lure feels it's gone, the wobble stops, could a bass or weeds, I just crank and rod sweep, if it's a bass thr fights on, if not and the lures action feel right keep working it or retrieve it and clean off whatever fouled it.

Just casting and winding a lure back without any cadence may work, but not for me, I like to work lures.

Tom

[scaleface]

2 minutes ago, WRB said:

 

Just casting and winding a lure back without any cadence may work, but not for me, I like to work lures.

Tom

I will try a straight retrieve , at times it is effective but I catch more fish after the lure hits something , or after a pause . Dredgers will suspend , float slowly or sink slowly , they are not all alike . I get a lot of strikes pausing them from followers .

[TBAG]

On 10/8/2018 at 3:20 AM, Bluebasser86 said:

While I've caught lots of fish on cranks, and can if the need arises, I don't enjoy fishing them. 

Just curious as to why not?

[Ksam1234]

48 minutes ago, WRB said:

The cadence a diving lure is retreived is just as important as how deep in runs. With bottom bumping crankbaits as soon as it makes contact stop reeling, then try different number of turning the crank from 1, 3, 2, 4, 1 etc and a rod pump vary that cadence until you get strikes. Strikes can be the lure feels it's gone, the wobble stops, could a bass or weeds, I just crank and rod sweep, if it's a bass thr fights on, if not and the lures action feel right keep working it or retrieve it and clean off whatever fouled it.

Just casting and winding a lure back without any cadence may work, but not for me, I like to work lures.

Tom

That might be another reason bc I usually just chuck and wind, no real work on my end .. 

[Bluebasser86]

On 10/9/2018 at 11:50 AM, TBAG said:

Just curious as to why not?

Generally there's always more effective baits in our lakes. An abundance of muck, algae, and zebra mussels tends to make fishing a crankbait difficult. They just don't seem to work that great very often here either. It's been years since I've had someone in the boat with me that was doing better with a crankbait than I was with other baits. Then there's the fact that I just don't enjoy fishing them, squarebills in particular. I don't mind mid to deep running baits as much. There's a lot of days through a fishing season that I don't even have a cranking rod on the deck. 

[JustJames]

Can I say that I never caught any fish on crank bait? ?

[Hillbilly Bennett]

On 10/7/2018 at 10:34 PM, Ksam1234 said:

I try to in the spring but once summer

comes all my lakes are covered in weeds unless it’s like 40 ft deep.. I fish smaller lakes bc I only have a canoe. I have never bumped bottom in the smaller lakes I fish like Tom mentioned so I’m going to try that 

Each lake is different and maybe yours just aren’t conducive to cranking. Throwing a crank is one of my strengths and there are a few lakes around here where I just don’t do well cranking. Don’t try to force this issue and feed the bass what they will eat. I think that to build confidence in a Lure you need to go to a lake, pond or river where you know there are tons of fish and get out of your comfort zone. I hated to fish Jigs until a recent trip to Guntersville where I made myself throw one all day after the topwater bite died. I caught a ton on it and I gained confidence in a Lure I didn’t trust. A jig now stays on my deck at all times and I use it religiously. Now about how I crank. I love to fish them, especially in the prespawn through early summer, and I consider cranking one of my strengths. In the early spring I catch most of my crankbait fish by bouncing squarebills off of wood and by grinding crawfish colored medium diving cranks on areas with a hard bottom. As the fish transition to their summer haunts I break out my deeper divers and do well on them until the bite slows in July and August. I use 10-12 pound test line for my deeper cranks to get them down to make contact with the bottom. If you aren’t making contact with something when you crank you probably aren’t getting bit. In the grassy lakes you fish I’d start by trying to throw a rattletrap style crank and pop them out of the grass. I would think that would be your best bet. 

[Russ E]

I use  a crankbait around 5 percent of the time. most times around here there are more productive baits to use.

most of my crankbait fishing is searching for fish. once I find them I often switch to something else.

At least for me,cranking in Eastern Kansas catches more drum and catfish, than bass.

[clh121787]

My pb came on a big ol crankbait

[Munkin]

On ‎10‎/‎9‎/‎2018 at 10:47 AM, NYWayfarer said:

Don't count out the Sunfish pattern crankbaits and surface fishing them. One of the main forage in the rivers I fish is Redbreast Sunfish. I fish this Rebel Bluegill crank quite often by casting it out, waiting for it to float then cranking it a couple of turns, stopping and letting it surface. This Smallmouth smashed it on that type of retrieve.

 

For some reason I cannot catch SM on a bluegill pattern bait in our rivers. The lake LM crush them but river SM just seem to prefer baitfish and crayfish to the point I quit using them.

 

Allen