Back Seat Crankbait/Jerkbait/Top Water Selection?

[5/0]

Would like suggestions and advice from any of you back seaters out there on what size, color, and depth I should have on hand. I have room for two 3600 six panel boxes in my bag, one for cranks (all depth ranges) and one for jerkbaits and topwaters (frogs included).

Obviously the size of these boxes doesn’t allow for a wide variety of sizes and colors. So I would appreciate any help on what colors and depths I should be concentrating on?

 

Thanks....Joe

 

[tander]

Cranks- Bandit 100, 200, 300. This will take you from 1 foot to 12 feet in Tenn. Shad, Baby Bass, Chart. Crawfish.

Jerks- Smithwick Rogue in silver, gold

Frogs- Spro in black, white

Throw in some spinnerbaits in chart./white and some Senkos in Junebug and Green pumpkin and you are good to go.

[SWVABass]

I personally care the kvd squarebills 1.0-2.0 the 1.5 flat, 3xd a couple lucky e strike Berkley rapala cranks... I would say have a selection that allows you to cover multiple depths. Or you could set up multiple boxes for different ranges a switch them out based on time of year, conditions etc. top water plopper spook poppers buzz baits, whatever you have confidence in.

 

i haven’t had success with a jerkbait... so I carry very few of them.

[scaleface]

What would be the deepest water you want to cover ? There are lots of baits for 10 foot and less  , deeper than that there are  fewer options .

[primetime]

The 2 best days i ever had fishing out of the back of the boat was by simply using the same or similar technique the boater was using, but I downsized all the baits and used a color slightly different.

 

I had a guy throwing the bomber Long A jerkbait on top the entire day, and he was not getting a ton of strikes but the 5 fish he caught were all huge. I simply threw a rapala and smaller fluke, and I would always have a trick worm or finesse worm to switch to since they will catch fish anywhere...Just my take.

 

For Cranks, I would also try to go smaller profile..The bandits are all good, for a super shallow wake bait or 2' diver if you can find some Storm Subwarts and you can't go wrong with the Rapala DT's and Strike King, spro cranks any model really.....I would look to have some smaller profile lures, worms and jerkbaits. I would maybe grab a smaller Husky jerk and XRAP as most guys throw the standard bigger sizes....

 

Casting a Senko Or Fishing a Fluke, Rattle Trap is never a bad idea.....If topwater action happens, I would have some floating minnow jerkbaits/wakes.swimbaits....Bomber Long A, Bagley's Bang o Lures, Rapala's, and for certain a Tiny Torpedo which will catch good fish and also get a ton of action most days they are on the surface.

 

Reason I say XRap and Husky jerk are they are easy to find locally, and one has a lazy action similar to a rogue which is a great jerkbait for less action, and the xrap has more of the pointer style of erratic action....Also a flat sided crankbait can sometimes make a difference, same with a one knocker or silent lipless crank since most guys will be throwing the louder ones.

 

The best advice would probably simply be this...Just fish the baits and lures you tend to always use as you have confidence in them, and if they work in one lake, they will work in all the others. I used to make the mistake of trying new lures, copying what others were using or what I was reading etc.....Sometimes its best to maybe just buy a few new models of the lures you like, few colors that catch your eye....Tournaments are not the best time to try something new unless your Boater is slaying them, and if he is, he will offer you one if you don't have one. Try not to spend much time tying on new lures and changing out tackle. Every minute matters, cause in a long day, you may only have a few short windows to catch fish...

 

Color should be easy to simplify. Fish the ones you like to use the most, have one shad color, one with flash, and something with chartruese...

[Fishes in trees]

This isn't a fix & forget question, in my opinion.  Different tournaments happen on different days, in different conditions, on different bodies of water and in different boats.   MY suggestion would be to bring a bunch of different stuff and make your cut down selections the evening of the tournament, post tournament meeting and after you've met your partner and had a conversation about what his/her plan is for tomorrow.   Be mindful that different boats have different amounts of room available.  Some boaters are more considerate of the co-angler experience than others.

I fished BFL's as a co-angler for several years, with mixed results.  Met a lot of nice guys and a few jerks.  While I caught fish on a number of different baits throughout the years, my top bait was an Eakins jig (the heavier version, not the 5/16 one). I wasn't in charge of moving the boat and the heavier jig got to the bottom quicker and gave me more time to drag the jig per cast.  Secondly and third, most productive baits were a bubba drop shot rig and a trick worm on a quarter oz jig head.   In my tournament experiences, there were only a couple of times where reaction baits were the ticket.   

 

[WRB]

I don't like a backseater casting crankbaits unless we practice doing it. Crankbaits require a lot of long accurate casts from the same side of the boat well coordinated. 

Check with your boater before showing up with a cranking rod and boxes of lures.

Tom

[5/0]

Tander and Swbass, thanks for the suggestions!

1 hour ago, primetime said:

The best advice would probably simply be this...Just fish the baits and lures you tend to always use as you have confidence in them, and if they work in one lake, they will work in all the others. I used to make the mistake of trying new lures, copying what others were using or what I was reading etc.....

You nailed it on the head with this one! Point is well taken and will be put into practice!

 

20 minutes ago, Fishes in trees said:

This isn't a fix & forget question, in my opinion.  Different tournaments happen on different days, in different conditions, on different bodies of water and in different boats.   MY suggestion would be to bring a bunch of different stuff and make your cut down selections the evening of the tournament, post tournament meeting and after you've met your partner and had a conversation about what his/her plan is for tomorrow.   Be mindful that different boats have different amounts of room available.  Some boaters are more considerate of the co-angler experience than others.

I fished BFL's as a co-angler for several years, with mixed results.  Met a lot of nice guys and a few jerks.  While I caught fish on a number of different baits throughout the years, my top bait was an Eakins jig (the heavier version, not the 5/16 one). I wasn't in charge of moving the boat and the heavier jig got to the bottom quicker and gave me more time to drag the jig per cast.  Secondly and third, most productive baits were a bubba drop shot rig and a trick worm on a quarter oz jig head.   In my tournament experiences, there were only a couple of times where reaction baits were the ticket.   

 

 

11 minutes ago, WRB said:

I don't like a backseater casting crankbaits unless we practice doing it. Crankbaits require a lot of long accurate casts from the same side of the boat well coordinated. 

Check with your boater before showing up with a cranking rod and boxes of lures.

Tom

I back seat in a small local club, not on any professional circuits. But your points are well taken. I do speak with the boater after we're paired up to get some idea as to what I should bring and this allows me to think about other techniques I could use as an alternative. 

Even though we are fishing against each other (unless it's a team event), I go with the mindset of having fun. It can get discouraging at times when I don't catch many fish or the boater does something totally different, but I just try to pick up any information I can and look forward to the next time I'm out.

I posed the original question because I have really used crank baits that much and wanted to give them a try.

2 hours ago, scaleface said:

What would be the deepest water you want to cover ? There are lots of baits for 10 foot and less  , deeper than that there are  fewer options .

It can vary. Some have large ares of 10' or less. Others have a lot of shallow water that drops off pretty fast to 20-30' along walls, rocky banks, and along points.

 

 

 

Thought about getting baits that would actually dive deeper than water being fished. Something like the Strike King XD series. Then I could carry just a few in shad or crawfish colors.

[WRB]

Crankbaits have treble hooks! You also use longer rods on average and make full hard long casts requiring a lot of rod motion. If you have ever been hooked in the side of your face with someone casting a crankbait by accident you would understand.

If your boater knows enough to position his boat so you can cast keeping the rod towards the back of the boat over the engine as far away from the other angler as possible at all times every cast and knows not to cast without keeping an eye where you are all the time, it may work out ok.

Tom

[scaleface]

Berkely dredgers are smaller than other lures that dive the same depth . You could get one of each size , cover 6 to 23 feet and take up little space . Add a couple of square bills and you  will have it covered . 

[5/0]

15 minutes ago, WRB said:

Crankbaits have treble hooks! You also use longer rods on average and make full hard long casts requiring a lot of rod motion. If you have ever been hooked in the side of your face with someone casting a crankbait by accident you would understand.

If your boater knows enough to position his boat so you can cast keeping the rod towards the back of the boat over the engine as far away from the other angler as possible at all times every cast and knows not to cast without keeping an eye where you are all the time, it may work out ok.

Tom

Tom,

I think it would work out ok because I believe I have enough common sense to know when and where to cast a lure to keep the boater safe.His positioning of the boat has nothing to do with it, if wasn't safe I wouldn't cast. Depending on the person I fish with, I generally abide by the rule that I don't cross the 50 yard line unless they are comfortable with it.

That being said, I fished with a guy years ago who had his boat positioned perpendicular to the bank and throwing a spinnerbait. He was bent over the front like a bird dog and was whipping that bait past my head on his back cast. I had to practically crawl on top of the motor to get out of the way. I finally had to yell at him. He never once stopped to consider what he was doing or the potential consequences of his actions.

 

Joe

[WRB]

Accidents happen with lapse of concentration.

Years ago a very good friend of mine who fished with me for years without any issues hit me in the side of the head with a 3 treble hook lure. A big fish had jumped on the other side of my boat and Ron saw it, made a instant decision to cast. The problem was I heard the same splash and turned to see what it was when the lure hit me otherwise it may have been only a near mis instead of a painful trip to the hospital.

Be very careful with treble hook lures when fishing as partners. I discourage using them unless fishing alone, they are that dangerous.

Tom

[5/0]

Wow! That hurts just thinking about it!

Now I'll be watching myself AND who I'm fishing with!

 

Joe

[WRB]

Being a backseater you are a passenger going along for the ride, where you fish and how you fish is controlled by the front seater. The majority of club bass anglers are shore pounders never more then a cast away from the bank and tend to be right handed keeping the right side of the boat facing the bank target casting.

You can use top water lures without making long cast but shorter accurate target casting. Buzz baits are ideal if the boater gives you enough targets to hit at a good angle because you can control the pace you retreive the lure. Another overlooked top water lure are weedless spoons like a Nemire 1/2 oz Red Ripper. Weedless spoons can be cast nearly anywhere without snagging and can drop into pockets swimming underwater.

Chatterbaits and Scroubger jigs are as effective as crankbaits and safe.

Soft jerk baits like Flukes are a good backseater choice rigged weedless they don't snag easily and can be used on a Scrounger jig or underspin.

Good luck,

Tom

[5/0]

1 hour ago, WRB said:

Chatterbaits and Scroubger jigs are as effective as crankbaits and safe.

What brand of scroungers? Looked at Lucky E Strike and they had bad reviews>

 

Joe

[WRB]

34 minutes ago, 5/0 said:

What brand of scroungers? Looked at Lucky E Strike and they had bad reviews>

 

Joe

Tremor jigs, I believe now owned by Jenko.

Picasso Aaron Martens Scrounger are pricey should be good.

Tom

[5/0]

Thanks Tom!