Crank baits from the bank

[Luke Barnes]

Besides lipless I rarely throw cranks from the bank. The one time I did and did really good was fishing a squarebill on rip rap banks at a lake. But as far as ponds go, do you think cranks are just not practical or maybe just wake baits and maybe square bills? I have a bunch but I never use them and want to more. 

[huZZah]

Cranks from bank are hard. Especially in ponds. It takes distance to give them time to dive to depth, and from the bank it’s really hard for them to dive and go uphill. I only use lipless or the smaller square bills that go 3ft or less. Even those I have to ease my rid tip vertical as it comes back to me. Just can’t fish them effectively. I do well with the lipless as long as I keep it moving so the nose can bounce off the rocks. Or I change the treble hooks to doubles. 

[Boomstick]

It really depends on the location. If you have bank access in a spot where fish go to feed, you can do well with a lipless or a square bill from the bank. While I can generally only fish a shallow diver, I've had success in places with a fairly steep drop off.

[schplurg]

I use them a lot from shore. Depends on the location though. My runner-up PB was on a crank from a fairly large shallow pond. 

 

Ideally the shore should be a bit elevated (or steep), and there isn't a lot of vegetation in the water. I can control the depth by cranking speed and tip position.

 

I only throw square bills that are rated at 5 feet. If I pull up too much grass I switch to something else.

[jimmyjoe]

   What everyone has said mirrors my experience as well. Squarebill on riprap, and squarebill or minnow-style (Bomber Long A) in ponds. Cranks are my last choice in ponds.             jj

[Luke Barnes]

That's what I was thinking but I wanted to get more opinions. Ive been hearing so much about the shad rap that the tackle monkey is knocking but being primarily a bank pond fisherman I didn't know if it would be worth it. Maybe when I get my jon boat finished though. 

 

Which sucks though because I have some really nice bluegill colored squarebills I would to use in ponds. 

2 hours ago, huZZah said:

Or I change the treble hooks to doubles. 

Doubles as in a treble with only two hooks? Ive never seen those. Do you just cut a hook off?

[huZZah]

You can or you can buy doubles. 

[lynxcat]

2 hours ago, Luke Barnes said:

Besides lipless I rarely throw cranks from the bank. The one time I did and did really good was fishing a squarebill on rip rap banks at a lake. But as far as ponds go, do you think cranks are just not practical or maybe just wake baits and maybe square bills? I have a bunch but I never use them and want to more. 

Cranks are a waste of time for me in ponds. I’ll occasionally throw a lipless in spring and maybe a jerk bait in the winter. 

[Bankbeater]

I mostly use wake baits in ponds.  I'll snag anything that runs deeper.

[garroyo130]

I throw lots of cranks from shore down to about 18' (its a quarry). That said, I've lost tons in the process of finding the ones that work best for me.

 

My best advice is to determine the depth you'll be fishing most at at and then buy a couple of different lures in that depth range. There are also some crankbaits that just excel at not getting hung up like the luhr jensen hot lips for example.

[TriStateBassin106]

KVD 1.5 shallow is the only squarebill crank I use for my ponds which are no deeper than 7 feet. Many people don't want to admit it but squarebills are at heart a boat technique. Lipless cranks work well in ponds though, maybe even better than squarebills. 

[Koz]

I'm not a big fan of crank fishing from the bank because I think ideally you cast a crank towards the shore and as you reel it in it goes from shallow to deeper depth, paralleling the contour of the bottom as their design was intended (for shallower running cranks).

 

That's not to say I don't throw them from the bank, but they aren't primary baits for me.

[walt-14]

I think there is a time and place for cranks from shore.  There have been days that I’ve absolutely hammered em on a squarebill in the early spring before the weeds get established. After any weed growth happens they are essentially useless in a pond however.  Best places, as stated above in other posts, are rip rap or rocky banks.  Make sure you are casting parallel to the bank though, need to try to bang it off any structure to trigger bites. 

[jdr99a]

I’ve had luck in my ponds paralleling the bank next to a weed line. Know that you will snag from time to time and you will lose them from time to time. If it’s real thick where you are you might think about switching to straight braid. 
 

chartreuse black back kvds after a late spring/ summer rain storm in dirty water is killer where I am. 

[Biglittle8]

I use them a lot in ponds. I throw a shallow square bill( 5 or 6 ft max) like other posters said you can use your tip to control depth when coming into shore. Also, if you use a crank and stop retrieve, the lure will float up when you stop (if it's not suspending) I have had good success with this method. You're going to get weeds on some casts but that's not necessarily a bad thing, that's where the fish are. I only crank fast enough to feel the action on my rod. But , I will rip it through the weeds... sometimes when it breaks loose it will trigger a strike.

[snake95]

I have used them a lot from the shore, and in fact were the main lure I started on.

As years have passed I use treble hook baits less and less from the shore, because of the difficulties due to snagging; without a boat they can be extremely difficult to extract from a snag.

I will use deeper diving cranks where I know the area very well and have a good handle on where the risk of snagging is high.  

I primarily stick to shallow running cranks and wakebaits, or lipless cranks.  I will use shallow running Rapalas such as the Shad Rap Shallow and Original Minnow, where I know the bottom and cover well.  The depth of lipless cranks as mentioned can be controlled by rod position and retrieval speed.

[Bluebasser86]

A Baby -1 is a great bait for ponds. Doesn't run deep enough to snag often or pick up junk on the bottom and it cast like a rocket so you can reach lots of places from single spot.

[Hammer 4]

Depending on the lake/pond and time of year, I'll toss a lipless crank during the winter when the grass has died back. When the grass begins to grow, I'll toss my old Rapala balsa square bill. 

I've found that in most conditions and times of the year, I can catch fish using other baits that don't snag a bunch of weeds. Glide baits and weedless swimbaits being 2 of them.

[Chonch12]

Following as I am trying to get into some Cranks and Jerkbaits from the bank this year.

 

I picked up some Bandit 100s, Fat Johns and some LC 1.5 Shallow to give it a shot. all are between 0-5 ft diving, so keeping it as shallow as possible

[Bankc]

Most ponds I've fished have a dam.  That's usually the place to throw them, as it's usually the deepest part of the pond with a steep rise to the bank.  And you're often higher up so you can cast further.  Though, if there's a lot of vegetation on the dam, then they don't work so well.  Sometimes it helps to go deeper than you'd think, since it's hard to get the distance necessary to get it down.  So if the water is only 8 feet deep, maybe throw a 10 or 16 foot diving crank, and really crank it hard for the first few feet of the retrieve.  The higher elevation of the dam also helps with using a plug knocker from the bank, should you get hung up.  

 

So I do fish crankbaits often on ponds.  But there are some ponds where they just won't work.  On those, I'm usually sticking to topwaters and T-rigged.  

[PhishLI]

IMA Bill Lowen Square Bill

 

This one's a great pond crank. More versatile than a Mann's Baby when you have room to go just a tad deeper in certain spots. Both baits can be a One-Two punch. Sometimes they will, but sometimes won't come up for the Mann's, but will grab the IMA that will run a shade deeper depending on retrieve and line size.

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/search-tackle.html?sort=no&start=0&count=30&searchtext=ima+bill+lowen

[walt-14]

3 hours ago, Chonch12 said:

Following as I am trying to get into some Cranks and Jerkbaits from the bank this year.

 

I picked up some Bandit 100s, Fat Johns and some LC 1.5 Shallow to give it a shot. all are between 0-5 ft diving, so keeping it as shallow as possible

Highly recommend the Bomber Square A.  Started throwing them last spring and did well with them.  They are inexpensive as well which in turn doesn't make me as nervous throwing it around wood or rip rap.  Apple Red Craw, Oxbow, and Baby Bass are great colors to have.  Stock hooks are garbage so I would definitely change those out if you happen to pick some up.

[soflabasser]

Crankbaits are a very good lure for river bass fishing.

[ChrisD46]

5 hours ago, walt-14 said:

Highly recommend the Bomber Square A.  Started throwing them last spring and did well with them.  They are inexpensive as well which in turn doesn't make me as nervous throwing it around wood or rip rap.  Apple Red Craw, Oxbow, and Baby Bass are great colors to have.  Stock hooks are garbage so I would definitely change those out if you happen to pick some up.

Good recommendation - along with wake baits , Mann's Baby -1's and Bandit 100's .