Never gotten a crankbaits bite... anyone ever have this issue !

[scaleface]

I  like rattleless   better on most days , even then they are not quiet  with those hooks clanking against the body . A good quiet crankbait is the Rapala Fat Rap . Balsa wood , so they dont make a lot of noise , they cast well unlike Shad Raps .   One of my favorite lures for just running down the banks and casting at targets or parallel casting . I like to position the boat so that the lure is running on or near the bottom for most of the retrieve . Keep the bait in high percentage areas as long as possible . Crankbaits are one of the hardest lures to  select correctly because they  run at different depths . 

[Black Hawk Basser]

I used to have zero confidence in crankbaits, because I failed to catch fish on them, aside from a few fish on the lipless variety.

 

At some point that I can't recall, that drastically changed.  Now, they are definitely a top choice in spring and again in fall.  Around here, they are nearly useless from the spawn to fall, due to heavy vegetation.

 

I had my best day for numbers by far on a small-ish Bomber squarebill this year.  It was in April, before vegetation got too thick to fish it effectively.

 

Stick with it; use a steady retrieve with some occasional twitches, pauses, and fast turns of the reel handle to temporarily vary speed.  I've found that a moderate action rod helps to keep them hooked.  I've lost a lot of crankbait fish on extra fast action rods; especially the famously frantically fighting smallmouth bass.

[Glenn]

This should help:

 

 

[Shimano_1]

1.5 squarebills and rapala dt6 have accounted for many many bass for me in spring and fall. Anywhere I can find grass on flats or close to depth changes they seem to shine. Just keep experimenting and I'm sure u will see them shine as well. Good luck

[scaleface]

I like  them spring  , summer and fall .

[WRB]

I was watching the sudden death MLF event today and both groups of anglers managed to meet the 20 lb cut line, 4 anglers in each group a total of 8, before the end of the 1st 2 hour round. 80% of the bass were caught on crankbaits. At the end of each event the winning  anglers talk about thier lures and what I noticed was every angler had changed hooks to over size Tokars trebles. Medium divers that come stock with stand 4 or 2 trebles had up sized to size 2 or 1 heavier wire Tokars. 

Why? Better hook penetration and no hooks bending outward resulting in lost bass. I have always known deep divers get hook changed to 1 size larger but with standard wire size hooks to keep the action similar. Apparently the action wasn't affected.

Tom

[MN Fisher]

7 minutes ago, WRB said:

Why? Better hook penetration and no hooks bending outward resulting in lost bass. I have always known deep divers get hook changed to 1 size larger but with standard wire size hooks to keep the action similar. Apparently the action isn't affected.

Good to know - thanks Tom

[Ratherbfishing]

I, too, find it a little difficult to believe you've NEVER caught a fish on a crankbait.  Seems the only time they don't work at all is after a cold front (fall fishing excluded).  I wish I could be a "fly on the wall" and see when/where/how you've attempted to use them because, again, they are often very successful.  As has been mentioned, try trolling with one (such as a shad rap or flicker shad).  They cover SO much water that any aggressive fish will grab them.  Especially in the evening.  And you can find suspending fish that are otherwise difficult to locate.

 

[Ksam1234]

38 minutes ago, Ratherbfishing said:

I, too, find it a little difficult to believe you've NEVER caught a fish on a crankbait.  Seems the only time they don't work at all is after a cold front (fall fishing excluded).  I wish I could be a "fly on the wall" and see when/where/how you've attempted to use them because, again, they are often very successful.  As has been mentioned, try trolling with one (such as a shad rap or flicker shad).  They cover SO much water that any aggressive fish will grab them.  Especially in the evening.  And you can find suspending fish that are otherwise difficult to locate.

I, too, find it a little difficult to believe you've NEVER caught a fish on a crankbait.  Seems the only time they don't work at all is after a cold front (fall fishing excluded).  I wish I could be a "fly on the wall" and see when/where/how you've attempted to use them because, again, they are often very successful.  As has been mentioned, try trolling with one (such as a shad rap or flicker shad).  They cover SO much water that any aggressive fish will grab them.  Especially in the evening.  And you can find suspending fish that are otherwise difficult to locate.

Sorry to be extra bad at them lol. I have had lipless cranks be successful before but anything else is a fat zero 

[Bluebasser86]

Crankbaits aren't my strong suit either. It's not that I don't know how to use them, the fish just don't eat them very well in the lakes I fish for some reason. There's exceptions, but a majority of the days I'm on the water, I don't even get my cranking rod out of the box, and that's okay, I do just fine without it.

[TBAG]

23 hours ago, Dorado said:

Baby 1- is an excellent recommendation while starting off and it’s how I caught that bass in my Avatar

 

What brand? Baby 1- doesn't really help, lol.

[J Francho]

Mann's

[WRB]

You want to select a diving crankbait that can dive 1' to 2' deeper then the active bass are feeding at. Mann's -1 is a small crank bait that dives maybe 3', meaning you are fishing 2' of water or over the top of submerged weed beds. I personally prefer a lipless to work the top of submerged weed beds, easier to rip through strands of weeds.

Diving crank baits excel during the transition light periods of dawn and dusk when most bass anglers are using surface lures.

Remember you can adjust diving depth with your rod tip position, held upright to reduce depth and downward to increase depth.

Tom

[fin]

On 9/23/2019 at 8:49 PM, WRB said:

If you are retrieving a crank bait through areas where bass are located and not catching them but catch bass on other vibrating moving lures you are not detecting strikes or the speed and cadence is very wrong.

I've never understood about "detecting strikes" on crankbaits. I either hook them or not. If I'm getting strikes without detecting it, I can't know. It's hard for me to imagine a fish hitting a crankbait with two trebles and not getting hooked. I'm using a MHF rod and braid, I don't think sensitivity is a problem. I still wonder if I'm missing something.

 

I catch fish on crankbaits; lipless, squarebill, deep divers and jerkbaits, (listed in order of success) but I much prefer soft plastics and have much greater success with them. I can see how OP may have never had luck with crankbaits.

 

Also, what do you mean by cadence? Like varying the speed, or doing a start and stop type thing?

 

 

[WRB]

1 hour ago, fin said:

I've never understood about "detecting strikes" on crankbaits. I either hook them or not. If I'm getting strikes without detecting it, I can't know. It's hard for me to imagine a fish hitting a crankbait with two trebles and not getting hooked. I'm using a MHF rod and braid, I don't think sensitivity is a problem. I still wonder if I'm missing something.

 

I catch fish on crankbaits; lipless, squarebill, deep divers and jerkbaits, (listed in order of success) but I much prefer soft plastics and have much greater success with them. I can see how OP may have never had luck with crankbaits.

 

Also, what do you mean by cadence? Like varying the speed, or doing a start and stop type thing?

 

 

Watch Big Mouth Forever video and see it for yourself, big bass totally engulfing crankbaits and the angler ( Uncle Homer) saying later he didn't detect a single strike.

Glenn's video saying he uses FC to help strike detection and explains he feels for lure vibration to change or the resistance to change. Strikes are not always easy to detect, they can be suttle so I sweep the rod once in awhile. if I don't feel anything, it could be either a fish, debris or a change in pace that can entice a strike. 

Cadence is both lure speed and action, change in direction, stop and go or erratic movements in lieu of a steady pace, no different then bottom contact lures like jigs and worms.

Tom

 

[Fishin' Fool]

On 9/23/2019 at 1:21 PM, Ksam1234 said:

So I have read the mega thread and topic on cranks and no matter what lake or pond wherever I go I have never gotten a crankbaits bite. I have tried shallow , deep , in between.  Bouncing off rocks and wood , all kinds of structure.  Ripped out of grass. Burned or slow cranked. Nothing ever happens ! I want to be good at using them , they seem like such a fun way to catch fish , I have tons of different kinds but they’ve just sit there... if I throw anything else it gets bit.  Switch back to a crank and nothing .. my goal for next year snd now is to try and get better with these dang things. 

Man come out to Lk St Clair next spring and throw a lipless crankbait. It's impossible not to catch some smallies that way.

[Yakalong]

love my crank baits, always have one tied on 

[Ksam1234]

13 hours ago, Fishin' Fool said:

Man come out to Lk St Clair next spring and throw a lipless crankbait. It's impossible not to catch some smallies that way.

Funny you mention that. I actually called a guide , marcel , I have a trip booked in the summer next year for lake st Clair !

[J Francho]

I'm gonna catch heat for this, but I think I can actually feel a fish on the follow with a crank.  Not always with bass, but definitely northern pike.  They disturb the water around the bait, affecting it's action.  I can feel this through the line and the graphite.  It can't be in my head.  Anyone else fish cranks that has had this experience?

[Team9nine]

6 minutes ago, J Francho said:

I'm gonna catch heat for this, but I think I can actually feel a fish on the follow with a crank.  Not always with bass, but definitely northern pike.  They disturb the water around the bait, affecting it's action.  I can feel this through the line and the graphite.  It can't be in my head.  Anyone else fish cranks that has had this experience?

Here, here! Kind of similar to fishing a crank in a river with different current seams. I will even go one bit further and say the feel with older non-infinite anti reverse reels is another level higher over most current models. Something about that tiny bit of backpressure on a reels crank that adds to the sensitivity of the whole process. I’ve actually experienced similar with older “new style” reels where the anti-reverse has become jus a tad “sloppy.”

[scaleface]

13 minutes ago, J Francho said:

I'm gonna catch heat for this, but I think I can actually feel a fish on the follow with a crank.  Not always with bass, but definitely northern pike.  They disturb the water around the bait, affecting it's action.  I can feel this through the line and the graphite.  It can't be in my head.  Anyone else fish cranks that has had this experience?

I sometimes feel the water disturbance when a bass approaches  a bait  and not hit .

[J Francho]

Or did it hit, and I not feel it right?  That Glen Lau video gets me scrambled in the head.  On much of the footage, the hooks look bent under, so I think on lots of those strikes, there would have been a hook up.  All the video proves to me is just how fast a bass will reject a bait, and what truly awful advice it is to "wait to set the hook" that gets uttered here over and over.

[J Francho]

2 hours ago, Team9nine said:

Here, here! Kind of similar to fishing a crank in a river with different current seams. I will even go one bit further and say the feel with older non-infinite anti reverse reels is another level higher over most current models. Something about that tiny bit of backpressure on a reels crank that adds to the sensitivity of the whole process. I’ve actually experienced similar with older “new style” reels where the anti-reverse has become jus a tad “sloppy.”

Missd this earlier.  Fritts use a reel with a dog and bone AR system for just that reason.  I used to think he might be nuts, but what you're saying makes sense to me now.

[Columbia Craw]

Crankbaits are extremely efficient at covering water and searching for active or semi active bass. They excel at working card cover but can be fished in soft cover well. 

 

I understand Tom's observation about hook changes, which makes sense but when the average bass was 1-14 the issue of bending a hook is not much of concern.

 

If you get "familiar" with the what your bait feels like you can feel a water disturbance as Franco experienced. It's not uncommon to feel a bass push the bait from behind.  I have confidence in crankbaits and if I can find a school, I can't think of a bait type that is better suited to exploit the opportunity to catch a bunch.

 

[Ksam1234]

2 hours ago, J Francho said:

I'm gonna catch heat for this, but I think I can actually feel a fish on the follow with a crank.  Not always with bass, but definitely northern pike.  They disturb the water around the bait, affecting it's action.  I can feel this through the line and the graphite.  It can't be in my head.  Anyone else fish cranks that has had this experience?

I can’t say crankbaits but I can feel it on spinnerbaits.  The same thing you mentioned , I been fishing in completely

open water and felt a subtle difference as you described many times. Then after like 3 casts in the same place I have caught a fish