Crankbaits, Color Pattern Changing

[Spankey]

I’ve been throwing Crankbaits a lot this season right through the heat of summer more so than what my norm would be. Primarily because they have been working and I’m in a cb mode. Soft plastics kick in late for me this year. Actually got discouraging there for awhile. Played head games for a bit but worked my way out of that. Soft have been producing well with fish as of lately. I continue to crank fish 8-13 feet of water. 
 

Over the last few week I’ve noticed and have been fishing darker baits to draw bites. The lighter natural colors of gizzard, herring, Tenn. Shads, chromes and pearls have turned off. 
 

Sunfish, darker bluegill, bream, perch and brown/olive and with deeper reds have been getting bit. Matte gold w/black back has been working real well. Forage change I would think. I’m sure lake Shad have pulled back to deeper water. 
 

Just throwing it out there. Just talking. This game is all about change and changing conditions. 

[J Francho]

Almost all my cranks are the same pattern: MS Am. Shad.  I have some red craw color baits I throw in early spring, but for the most part the above works well when the cranking bite is on. 

[scaleface]

My crankbait bite has shut down . I dont have and cant find a crank for the 10 to 12 foot zone without rattles. I'm thinking the noisy baits might be  scattering the fish    . I bought a balsa wood DT16 and I'll be darn, it has a  rattle too .

[Spankey]

It’s all good. I have a passion for soft plastics. Maybe my favorite way to fish. But my previous personal best both smallmouth and largemouth have came off a crank. And current PB’s is off of crankbaits. Hard for me not to throw them. Lighter Shad colors and darker craw and forage fish colors all falls in line with where I fish. 
 

I’m alway ready to throw a fire tiger, hot tiger and red tiger. This is a no brained few patterns for me. Not one fish this season on them yet. I’m not gonna beat the water to death with it. Too many other producing. Fall or next season it will kick back in. 
 

I know a couple of guys from on the river who will throw nothing but fire tiger. And leave skunked because it didn’t work that day. Other patterns were working. Not my place to tell another grown man what to do because he does know what to do. They have a boat load of stuff to try. Generally fire tiger is always good for at least one Smallies. But things happen. 

[Spankey]

40 minutes ago, scaleface said:

My crankbait bite has shut down . I dont have and cant find a crank for the 10 to 12 foot zone without rattles. I'm thinking the noisy baits might be  scattering the fish    . I bought a balsa wood DT16 and I'll be darn, it has a  rattle too .

You could be on to something with silent deep divers. My silent baits are more shallow runners. I primarily am using a Rapala, Bomber, Bandit or Strike King. 
 

I’ve had days where you could not buy a bite. Ole Rat-L-Trap saved that day more than once. 

[J Francho]

57 minutes ago, garroyo130 said:

What does a knockoff senko have to do with the crankbait post regarding color?

[garroyo130]

2 hours ago, scaleface said:

My crankbait bite has shut down . I dont have and cant find a crank for the 10 to 12 foot zone without rattles. I'm thinking the noisy baits might be  scattering the fish    . I bought a balsa wood DT16 and I'll be darn, it has a  rattle too .

Take one you like, drill and JB weld the bead towards the nose of the bait then clear epoxy over the top. Most will typically have a lower and upper chamber and the process isnt terribly difficult. The top chamber is usually your noise maker while the bottom chamber is the weight transfer system to aid in casting which makes a smaller amount of noise. Ive done a few deep divers in the 20ft range and the action doesn't seem to be impacted too much. 

 

Another option is changing up the sound. Some of the Spros have a coated rattle which gives it a different sound profile. 

[Mike L]

Rarely throw a crank, but when I do it’s always shad or shiner colored. 
 

 

 

 

Mike