Shallow-running/Suspending Lipless Crankbait

[B-Gee]

I’m in Florida and fish for largemouth bass and an occasional Peacock in a shallow pond with a grassy, weedy bottom. Any lure that runs deeper than about a foot or so picks up grass and becomes useless. I’ve been using mainly Texas rigged worms, topwater lures and the Rebel Jumpin’ Mullet which suspends just below the surface when retrieved.

 

Many lipless crankbaits have been mentioned favorably in this forum, but I don’t know if any of them would swim high enough so that I would have any success using them in my pond. There are so many that have been mentioned and I can’t buy them all. These seem to be popular: Rattletraps, Red Eye Shad, Yozuri Vibes, Spro Aruku Shad, Cordell Super Spot, Booyahs, Excaliburs, Rapala Rippin Rap and Rattlin Rap, Storm Arashi Vibe, etc. I wonder if any of these run shallow enough for me to consider buying?

[Firstoutfisher]

IMA suspending vibe or sixth sense quake 80 suspend are what you're looking for. I have personal experience with the ima and recommend it. I have not tried the sixth sense but it is the same concept. 

[Cgolf]

I tried out the 6th sense last summer and it worked really well for me. It is a nice option to have especially over the top of weeds. The ability to kill it and not foul the hooks increases the amount of water you can effectively cover. The Quake is a very large bait though, and I honestly don't remember how deep it actually runs, so for shore fishing from a pond I can't give a 100% go get it. You could always make either of these baits a little shallower by keeping the rod angle at 45 degrees or greater, I do this all the time fishing crankbaits on rocky rivers to run them a bit shallower and reduce hang ups.

[Deleted account]

Super Spot on heavy mono.

[the reel ess]

The H20 Xpress knockoff does a good job of staying shallower than the Trap or Spot. I find it's less likely to get the hooks fouled with weeds even when you rip it out. There is a "floating" Trap model that pretty much suspends during pauses. It dives down to maybe 3' upon retrieve and slowly rises if paused. It wouldn't be too difficult to get it almost neutrally buoyant. But I have yet to catch a single fish on it. It doesn't weigh or even sound the same as the standard. And where I fish, the Spot outfishes the Trap 2-to-1 anyway. I prefer gold in either of these models.

 

https://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/h2o-xpress™-lcr-5-8-oz-lipless-crankbait?sku=multi-03

 

https://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/cotton-cordell®-super-spot®-1-2-oz-lipless-crankbait?sku=gold

[B-Gee]

3 hours ago, Deleted account said:

Super Spot on heavy mono.

Thank you. Why would you use heavy mono?

[PhishLI]

4 hours ago, Firstoutfisher said:

IMA suspending vibe

Another vote for the IMA Suspending Vibe. It's a bit lighter than the 7/8oz Quake at 1/2oz, so it's a bit better for shallow water. I fish similar weedy conditions and have a nice pile of these to deal with this situation. The hooks are pretty good out of the box. Thicker mono is more buoyant than thinner line and will help keep the bait higher in the water. Being able to pause longer and rip gets bites.

[Aaron_H]

15 minutes ago, Robert C. Gates said:

Thank you. Why would you use heavy mono?

 

Larger diameter line will keep the lure higher in the water column.

 

Personally I'd swap out the hooks/split rings on the Super Spot, but it will do what you need. A wakebait sounds like it would do well for you in that pond, also.

[B-Gee]

14 minutes ago, Aaron_H said:

 

Larger diameter line will keep the lure higher in the water column.

 

Personally I'd swap out the hooks/split rings on the Super Spot, but it will do what you need. A wakebait sounds like it would do well for you in that pond, also.

I use braid and I've been told that it floats and that mono sinks. Did I read this wrong?

 

Also what is a wakebait and can you name any for me that might be appropriate for my pond. Thanks very much!

[Aaron_H]

19 minutes ago, Robert C. Gates said:

I use braid and I've been told that it floats and that mono sinks. Did I read this wrong?

 

Also what is a wakebait and can you name any for me that might be appropriate for my pond. Thanks very much!

 

Mono is like braid: it floats. Fluorocarbon sinks. But more importantly, the larger diameter line has more drag in the water, preventing the lure from diving deeper.

 

Wakebaits are kind of the lovechild of a topwater and a crankbait. They typically run just barely subsurface while creating a wake (hence the name). I'm not big into them so I can't rave over any recommendations, but I've heard good things about the Fishlab Bio Shad, supposedly a copy of a discontinued Strike King wakebait that performed well.

[B-Gee]

5 minutes ago, Aaron_H said:

 

Mono is like braid: it floats. Fluorocarbon sinks.

 

Wakebaits are kind of the lovechild of a topwater and a crankbait. They typically run just barely subsurface while creating a wake (hence the name). I'm not big into them so I can't rave over any recommendations, but I've heard good things about the Fishlab Bio Shad, supposedly a copy of a discontinued Strike King wakebait that performed well.

What pound test mono would you recommend for baits that I want to suspend?

[Fat Ika]

6 hours ago, Robert C. Gates said:

I’m in Florida and fish for largemouth bass and an occasional Peacock in a shallow pond with a grassy, weedy bottom. Any lure that runs deeper than about a foot or so picks up grass and becomes useless. I’ve been using mainly Texas rigged worms, topwater lures and the Rebel Jumpin’ Mullet which suspends just below the surface when retrieved.

 

Many lipless crankbaits have been mentioned favorably in this forum, but I don’t know if any of them would swim high enough so that I would have any success using them in my pond. There are so many that have been mentioned and I can’t buy them all. These seem to be popular: Rattletraps, Red Eye Shad, Yozuri Vibes, Spro Aruku Shad, Cordell Super Spot, Booyahs, Excaliburs, Rapala Rippin Rap and Rattlin Rap, Storm Arashi Vibe, etc. I wonder if any of these run shallow enough for me to consider buying?

Like others said, the Ima is smaller. I've thrown both and the both get bit, but it hasn't worked for me in any other situations than traditional lipless fishing. From my experience, the fishing conditions have to be pretty easy, 50 plus water temp, crank and stop seems to be the best from my experience. Trying to get sneaky and get more complicated with retrieve and cadence variables, doesn't seem to produce better results. Just simple cranks and brief pauses, and they usually smash it pretty hard on the pause. 

 

There's tons of hardbaits that will be just as or more effective in those conditions. For me personally, it hasn't worked in minus 50 / colder water, which is what would make it a useful new tool.

 

The Ima is a little more subtle and does seem to work in a little colder water than the quake 80. 

 

Again, for me, I'll be excited if they ever evolve the tech to make smaller/thinner/tighter wobbling suspending liplesses.

 

Years ago, I grabbed a MB Fermata. The action of that was pretty killer......nice tighter wobble. I lost it before I had much time on the water.

[B-Gee]

It has been recommended that I go with heavier pound test mono which would help  to keep the lure suspended  since mono floats. I guess I would normally fish with 15 or maybe 12 pound test mono. How much heavier should I go? I'm using spinning gear.

[Chris Catignani]

A floating Rattle Trap is a bait I throw a lot in shallow water... @the reel ess mentioned this above.

[Aaron_H]

Mono won't make a sinking lipless suspend but it will help it run shallower. 17-20lb would be fine. You're going to be burning the bait with your rod tip high either way to keep it out of the grass.

[fin]

2 hours ago, Fat Ika said:

Again, for me, I'll be excited if they ever evolve the tech to make smaller/thinner/tighter wobbling suspending liplesses.

 

You've got to have enough buoyancy to float two treble hooks, and enough weight to make it wobble and balance. I don't think that can be overcome through tech. I've played around with taking old lipless baits and converting them to suspending/floating/slow sinking, and it's tricky business. It's not that hard to do, but it takes some trial and error.

[RDB]

You might also consider wake baits, light swim jigs, and swimming worms.  If you want something to wind but only have a foot above the weeds, your options are somewhat limited.

[Luke Barnes]

23 minutes ago, RDB said:

You might also consider wake baits, light swim jigs, and swimming worms.  If you want something to wind but only have a foot above the weeds, your options are somewhat limited.

That was my thoughts. I was thinking weightless fluke sounds killer. But if you want Chuck and wind then all I would have to add to the conversation is hold your rod tip high, feel faster, and go with the lightest weight you can get away with throwing effectively. 

[Bluebasser86]

I've dabbled with the suspending Quake 80. Managed to get a few to nibble at it.

[B-Gee]

I've not fished with these much before and wonder what is a good way to retrieve these shallow running crankbaits-- slow retrieve, fast retrieve with twitches or pauses or ? Thanks for any help.

[PhishLI]

56 minutes ago, Robert C. Gates said:

I've not fished with these much before and wonder what is a good way to retrieve these shallow running crankbaits-- slow retrieve, fast retrieve with twitches or pauses or ?

All of the above. Mix it up and let the fish tell you what they want at the moment.

[ironbjorn]

The lipless is my favorite bait. I'm a self proclaimed king with it tied on.

 

A 1/4 oz on 12 lb Big Game with a high rod tip and faster retrieve does very well for me in shallow water where things can get mucked up real fast.

[PressuredFishing]

On 12/21/2021 at 6:18 AM, Robert C. Gates said:

I’m in Florida and fish for largemouth bass and an occasional Peacock in a shallow pond with a grassy, weedy bottom. Any lure that runs deeper than about a foot or so picks up grass and becomes useless. I’ve been using mainly Texas rigged worms, topwater lures and the Rebel Jumpin’ Mullet which suspends just below the surface when retrieved.

 

Many lipless crankbaits have been mentioned favorably in this forum, but I don’t know if any of them would swim high enough so that I would have any success using them in my pond. There are so many that have been mentioned and I can’t buy them all. These seem to be popular: Rattletraps, Red Eye Shad, Yozuri Vibes, Spro Aruku Shad, Cordell Super Spot, Booyahs, Excaliburs, Rapala Rippin Rap and Rattlin Rap, Storm Arashi Vibe, etc. I wonder if any of these run shallow enough for me to consider buying?

Alot of guys love liplesses in the grass, don't get me wrong they work great, but when grass gets that high I seem to be more productive with weedless swimbaits, spinnerbaits, swimming worms, swimjigs, topwaters and chatterbaits depending on water clarity weather etc. I like to fish liplesses in sparse isolated grass and accasionally rip it through, maybe some days these guys will outfish me ripping that lipless through the grass but I don't have the patience to pull off a fistfull of milfoil on every cast, that's not my thing. 

[OkobojiEagle]

Cut the leading hook off the front treble... and keep the rod tip high as Cgolf suggests above.

 

oe

[B-Gee]

4 hours ago, ironbjorn said:

The lipless is my favorite bait. I'm a self proclaimed king with it tied on.

 

A 1/4 oz on 12 lb Big Game with a high rod tip and faster retrieve does very well for me in shallow water where things can get mucked up real fast.

Is this a fast retrieve without pauses or twitches? Is this what some call "burning" it?

4 hours ago, ironbjorn said:

The lipless is my favorite bait. I'm a self proclaimed king with it tied on.

 

A 1/4 oz on 12 lb Big Game with a high rod tip and faster retrieve does very well for me in shallow water where things can get mucked up real fast.

What lipless bait(s) do you use?