Special or “magic” crankbaits

[steelheader316]

This is more a curiosity post.

 

I have done a lot of backtrolling for steelhead in rivers. There is a phenomenon that I have seen many times in many situations. I have experienced it myself many times over. This phenomenon is the “magic” crankbait or “swimmer.”

 

Wiggle warts, Mag warts, maglips, hot shots, and tadpollies are mainstays of this technique. 
 

The interesting thing is this: there can be 10 identical plugs (crankbaits): same type, brand, and color, and yet in that 10, there may be one plug that will out fish the others, often by staggering margins. The other “identical” plugs may hook a fish here and there, but the “swimmer” if the one that sees action. Some plugs will have hooked so many steelhead (which have sharp teeth) that most of the paint is gone, and it doesn’t matter, it still gets bit. I am firmly convinced that when you have one of these “swimmers,” color matters almost not at all; steelhead will continue to crush it season after season. 

 

I have read (and happen to agree) the theory that small manufacturing differences and “defects” during mass production cause slight, imperceptible variations in each lure, thus causing to emit tiny variations in each lure’s vibrations, and that the closer a lure’s vibration is to an organic creature, the more effective the bait. 
 

I am curious for you bass addicts out there whether any of you have a specific “magic” crank bait that you hesitate to throw or throw on heavier tackle because it simply flat out gets bit again and again, more than any of your other cranks. 
 

Given the technique of backtrolling, it’s possible to go decades without losing a plug to rocks and other snags, whereas in bass fishing it’s not that way, so maybe it’s a moot or silly question, since there’s no sample size large enough with a single bass crank bait, because we lose them so much more frequently. 
 

But it’s late, and I was curious. 
 

Cheers

[islandbass]

My findings and experience have been along the same lines you described. I’ve learned that lures identical in looks may still vary in productivity and effectiveness. Sucks but as such, this is life.

One example is a Rapala husky jerk in rainbow trout I bought. I hooked into what was the biggest bass to back then, easily a 4-5 lb bass. Unfortunately, I lost that battle and that lure eventually. I bought the “exact” ones and none of them can even catch a cold. I still love Rapala but this indeed was interesting and fascinating and worthy of pondering over the winter. 

[ironbjorn]

I completely agree. Matter of fact, I have 2 magical cranks, one 1.5 and one lipless, that have resulted not just in magical days, but top 10 catches of all time for me. They're pretty tore up so before I potentially lost them I took the hooks off and have them on my keychain where they will forever remain at rest.

[Susky River Rat]

I have never trolled for steelheads or bass. I have trolled for musky. You are 100% correct on this. Some baits just have the magic. There is also the theory of the ringer bait. It’s not the bait that gets hit it’s the one that calls the fish in. Then they hit a different one in the spread. You take that bait out and your catch rate goes down even though it was never hit in the first place. 

[GRiver]

makes ya wonder, what made that specific one “The one”.

    Was the the bill on the crank tweaked a thousandths of and inch in a certain way? Maybe the eyelet where you tie off was turned, maybe no straight. I thought it may have been the paint, but I’ve beat the paint off a jointed Rapala and it still catches , or should I say “caught more”. ( Lost it) Than a brand new one. 

[A-Jay]

5 hours ago, steelheader316 said:

This is more a curiosity post.

 There is a phenomenon that I have seen many times in many situations. I have experienced it myself many times over. This phenomenon is the “magic” crankbait or “swimmer.”

 

 

X2 ~

Seen it many times.

In the early stages of my hard bait fishing,

this was often more of an accidental discovery, than anything else.

But now I am a firm believer.

Seems to come into play with many rattling topwater baits as well.

Folks may wonder why I purchase several of what is essentially the same hard bait.

THIS is why.

YMMV

A-Jay

[Darth-Baiter]

The thread is gonna magically move to the tackle forum.     

[Catt]

I got a couple ?

 

 

[Pat Brown]

I actually mod my lipless crankbaits so they sound and look different so I can't imagine it being different for a diving bait that has a unique sound or action that stands out above all the others made exactly the same way.

 

Glide bait anglers talk about this all the time actually.

 

I figure this is the same thing as rigging a menace vertical vs horizontal on a jig.  

 

Another one I've noticed lately:  when you take the time to get your pegged weight and soft plastic aligned and seamlessly rigged with no gap where the not is below the weight, you get tons more bites, I reckon on account of it looking a whole lot more natural.

 

Sometimes a little tweak can mean suddenly a bait gets bit on every cast.

 

Bass are site feeders and I think something that looks a little different is a big deal.

[LrgmouthShad]

I wish I could say that I’ve found a hard bait that is an abnormally stellar performer, but I haven’t. I think that’s simply because I dont throw hardbaits enough. Now when I say hardbaits, I’m not including spinnerbaits. But just some food for thought: if little changes in how a crankbait is built can produce big changes in its effectiveness, why would some small or large deliberate changes not do the same for spinnerbaits?

[Pat Brown]

@LrgmouthShad: popular mod is swapping in the smallest and thinnest willow blades you can find on the heaviest spinnerbait you've got (ideally 3/4 oz).  You can keep it very very low and move it very very slow and keep those blades spinning hard and fast.  This is the deep offshore structure spinnerbait mod that people who use them all winter for deep water giants really like.

 

[LrgmouthShad]

5 minutes ago, Pat Brown said:

@LrgmouthShad: popular mod is swapping in the smallest and thinnest willow blades you can find on the heaviest spinnerbait you've got (ideally 3/4 oz).  You can keep it very very low and move it very very slow and keep those blades spinning hard and fast.  This is the deep offshore structure spinnerbait mod that people who use them all winter for deep water giants really like.

 

Yeah that is popular

 

Most commonly if I am changing size of blades, I’m going larger than stock on willows, and smaller than stock on colorados. My favorite size colorado is a #4. (hildebrandt). Small size colorado that caught my PB. I will also make double Indiana, Indiana/willow, or other unique blade combos

 

Anyways, back to the thread, do y’all look for crankbaits that hunt? Is there anything that you look for to determine if a hardbait is good?

[Dwight Hottle]

My take on the subject is it’s all about the action of some baits more than any other variables like color or sound. When you find a particular bait that HUNTS it will be a killer bait. What I’m talking about is the irregular action of certain baits. A bait that swims along then suddenly kicks out to the side left or right will get bit. It’s like a bait deflecting off the bottom or other cover. That sudden irregular movement is what triggers bites. Certain baits when trolled or retrieved will veer left then right like walk the dog but under water. That is a big trigger. Some of the best hunting lures have line ties that require bending or straightening to fine tune them. Lots of anglers do not like them because they require frequent tuning to keep them working properly. An good example is a Luhr Jensen hot N tot. Killer baits for almost all species. They have a metal lip with an extended built-in line tie. 

[Darth-Baiter]

i am not fishing cranks enough to find any standouts, plus i dont buy muliples of the same bait.  

[LrgmouthShad]

@Dwight Hottle I think I have a dt10 that hunts. I will have to double check, thanks

[Darth-Baiter]

there are cranks designed to hunt.  i am working on a few.  any day now!!

[steelheader316]

4 hours ago, Darnold335 said:

I have never trolled for steelheads or bass. I have trolled for musky. You are 100% correct on this. Some baits just have the magic. There is also the theory of the ringer bait. It’s not the bait that gets hit it’s the one that calls the fish in. Then they hit a different one in the spread. You take that bait out and your catch rate goes down even though it was never hit in the first place. 

I’ve never head of that. That’s a pretty cool theory.

1 hour ago, Dwight Hottle said:

My take on the subject is it’s all about the action of some baits more than any other variables like color or sound. When you find a particular bait that HUNTS it will be a killer bait. What I’m talking about is the irregular action of certain baits. A bait that swims along then suddenly kicks out to the side left or right will get bit. It’s like a bait deflecting off the bottom or other cover. That sudden irregular movement is what triggers bites. Certain baits when trolled or retrieved will veer left then right like walk the dog but under water. That is a big trigger. Some of the best hunting lures have line ties that require bending or straightening to fine tune them. Lots of anglers do not like them because they require frequent tuning to keep them working properly. An good example is a Luhr Jensen hot N tot. Killer baits for almost all species. They have a metal lip with an extended built-in line tie. 

This is what I was trying to convey but may not have articulated it. It’s exactly that certain steelhead plugs wiggle and hunt slightly differently than others. I know of a single steelhead plug (a guide’s) that has accounted for over 300 fish. Steelhead aren’t usually easy to come by so it’s impressive. 
 

I think: action, sound, color, scent (in that order).

1 hour ago, Dwight Hottle said:

My take on the subject is it’s all about the action of some baits more than any other variables like color or sound. When you find a particular bait that HUNTS it will be a killer bait. What I’m talking about is the irregular action of certain baits. A bait that swims along then suddenly kicks out to the side left or right will get bit. It’s like a bait deflecting off the bottom or other cover. That sudden irregular movement is what triggers bites. Certain baits when trolled or retrieved will veer left then right like walk the dog but under water. That is a big trigger. Some of the best hunting lures have line ties that require bending or straightening to fine tune them. Lots of anglers do not like them because they require frequent tuning to keep them working properly. An good example is a Luhr Jensen hot N tot. Killer baits for almost all species. They have a metal lip with an extended built-in line tie. 

Hot n Tot was an extremely popular backtrolling lure for west coast steelhead in the 70s, 80s, and 90s. They would still work as well as ever, I’m sure.

[TOXIC]

I bass fished when I went north and pulled my boat with a buddy who was a professional walleye guy.  He used to laugh at my crankbait selection.  While I may have had 4 or 5 of each crank in my favorite colors, he always would comment that he buys 2 dozen in each model and each color.  Out of that number,he claimed he would get 4 or 5 that would produce.  He said he could tune another 4 or 5 to produce and the rest were essentially throwaways. 

[pdxfisher]

This is an interesting thread. I would say I am in the minority in that I have found that lures of a given brand, once tuned, produce the same. I have always been able to replace a lost lure with a new one that will produce equally well. I am a firm believer that having high confidence in a lure or technique makes people fish a little more diligently and thus attribute success to perhaps the wrong factor.

 

That is just my experience. Sounds like a lot of other folks believe otherwise. Fishing is an interesting mix of science and voodoo!

[islandbass]

@Catt: That is a great arsenal “magic” lures. With that much magic at your disposal we might have to start calling you Gandalf (One of my favorite Tolkien characters of all time), lol.

Are they still pulling active duty or retired? 

[steelheader316]

36 minutes ago, pdxfisher said:

This is an interesting thread. I would say I am in the minority in that I have found that lures of a given brand, once tuned, produce the same. I have always been able to replace a lost lure with a new one that will produce equally well. I am a firm believer that having high confidence in a lure or technique makes people fish a little more diligently and thus attribute success to perhaps the wrong factor.

 

That is just my experience. Sounds like a lot of other folks believe otherwise. Fishing is an interesting mix of science and voodoo!

This is a good point as well. Other than locating fish, confidence may be the most important factor.

[WRB]

The best method to learn to fish a diving crank bait (plug) is trolling. This technique keeps the lure in the strike zone as long as you are moving the boat. Using trolling you can determine which crank bait out fishes the others of the same type and colors by fishing productive areas and changing lures.

Back in the day I bought 6 each of every diving bait of interest and tested them by trolling. The lure the caught bass was a keeper, the others returned or sold. After a few years you have a box full of pet crank baits that you know work.

Bass anglers don’t troll because tournament bass angler anglers can’t, it’s forbidden. I know several pro anglers that troll to select fish catching pet lures, on their own time fun fishing.

Tom

 

[GReb]

This is certainly true with Spro Little John’s. They all require tuning out of the box but a few seem to have a sweet spot the others don’t. I throw a LC 1.5 a lot too and those seem to be more consistent bait to bait. But when you find a LJ tuned just right it will hammer fish. 

[Catt]

1 hour ago, islandbass said:

Are they still pulling active duty or retired? 

 

These will never get wet again!

 

 

[steelheader316]

1 hour ago, WRB said:

The best method to learn to fish a diving crank bait (plug) is trolling. This technique keeps the lure in the strike zone as long as you are moving the boat. Using trolling you can determine which crank bait out fishes the others of the same type and colors by fishing productive areas and changing lures.

Back in the day I bought 6 each of every diving bait of interest and tested them by trolling. The lure the caught bass was a keeper, the others returned or sold. After a few years you have a box full of pet crank baits that you know work.

Bass anglers don’t troll because tournament bass angler anglers can’t, it’s forbidden. I know several pro anglers that troll to select fish catching pet lures, on their own time fun fishing.

Tom

 

This is awesome! Such great advice in my opinion.