How do “you” retrieve a lipless crank?

[GRiver]

Hi everyone,

I got to thinking yesterday. I was casting lipless cranks off the dock, waiting on parts for my boat. I grabbed my Plano box with lipless and a rod, as I was casting out, I realized how many different ways to retrieve a rattle trap.

    You have the cast out and count before you start retrieving, to get to different depths. Steady retrieve, ie… slow, med, fast, or jerk, jerk crank while reeling in. I’ve let them sink to the bottom and yo-yo’d them in, with long up strokes with the rod, and take up the slack and let it sink again. It doesn’t end their ether, drag them on bottom, etc., etc. 

How do you fish a lipless crank? I want to kinda see what is the most effective way for the angler to fish them.

 

 

 

[softwateronly]

My best days, quality and quantity, with a lipless have been yo-yoing in cold water (sub 50) and a slow ish retrieve with reel handle pops and kills while trying to maintain within a foot or three off the bottom (sub 60).  Admittedly, I don't throw it enough to really know.  A blade bait and small underspin and now a jig and minnow are my first goto's for those conditions.  I've also had number days burning in the post spawn, but a swim jig/spinnerbait seems to get me close to the same numbers but with bigger fish mixed in.  

 

scott

[Scott F]

Different days and locations call for different retrieves. I mostly use lipless cranks on flats with submerged vegetation. My aim is to keep the lure just over the tops of the weeds. Fast retrieves when the tops come to 2-3 feet, and I slow down more the deeper the weeds get. 

[MediumMouthBass]

In the spring the lipless dominates every other lure i have.

I fish 4-10' with 1-3' of grass off the bottom.

 

I will cast it out as far as possible, and do one of 4 things.

1. Wait a few seconds and do a slow lift up, and let it fall (yo yo).

2. If i think they are higher in the water column its the same as 1 just without the wait, also i will do fast lifts.

3. Straight retrieve.

4. A mix of yo yo and a straight retrieve, with a pause every now and then. (ill fish it kind of like i would a chatterbait).

 

Ill fish a lipless year round, and everywhere in a lake.

But personally i have a saying, if its not ripping grass, there will be no bass.

85% of size and numbers have came after ripping it through grass, for me atleast.

[Aaron_H]

Depends on how I can get them to react. Sometimes it's burning it in as fast as I can on a straight retrive, sometimes I'm hopping bottom with it (less often as there are many stumps and roots where I fish), sometimes a slow yo-yo retrieve.

 

My most effective retrieve is to cast out, give it a second then give it a good twitch/rip with the rod tip. Keep the rod tip high to start and reel down at a moderate pace, when the rod tip is around 2-3 o'clock I give it another rip, pause to let it fall/flutter for a second, rip, reel with my rod tip back up high. Repeat throughout the cast. The overwhelming majority of strikes are immediately after a rip on that pause. I don't care if I'm around grass or open water, that rip action is what triggers them into thinking they've been spotted by a fleeing baitfish and they hammer it. Imparting that erratic action is key.

[A-Jay]

I'll effectively fish a rattle bait in just about every manner mentioned already in this thread.

My PB LMB ate a 3/4 oz Red Eye Shad on a stop & go retrieve.

Despite the effectiveness of that deal,

my absolute FAVORITE way to fish a rattle bait

is Like a Blade Bait.

Need a clean-ish bottom.

Meaning very limited soft *and or hard cover; especially wood./

I'll fish around cover just not in it.

With just very little pumps of the rods and then a tight line back to the bottom.

In the right conditions I will be netting SMB ALL DAY.

Not really a secret but if you're having success with a blade bait,

this is totally worth a try.

Bait of choice for me is the Duo Realis G-Fix Vibration Tungsten Lipless Crankbait

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Duo_Realis_G-Fix_Vibration_Tungsten_Lipless_Crankbait/descpage-DUOGFXL.html

A-Jay

[Pat Brown]

If I have no idea what's going on and I'm fishing a lipless I let it fall to the bottom and then start reeling and pump the rod tip up and towards me at various speeds and intensities and distances and frequencies - sometimes holding the rod tip up and sometimes dropping slack back to the bait immediately and picking it up with the reel - sometimes letting it fall back to the bottom etc etc

 

Give it life 😎😎😎 

 

Usually I'll start to see a little bit of a pattern if they're biting a lipless at all on what part of my little cycle of cadence variations they hit on and then I will sort of hone in on that type of retrieve exclusively and sometimes you can wear them out!

 

One of my all time favorite baits when the water gets cold.

[RB 77]

Burn it (Orig. Bill Lewis), Yo-Yo it (LC LV500). 

[Glenn]

Multiple retrieves are explained and demonstrated in this video:

 

 

[LonnieP]

Most of my biggest bass have been caught on a Lipless crank. All on a steady retrieve. 

[Dan N]

I would have to agree with a steady retrieve, I also try all other stuff, but for me a steady retrieve with maybe just a little bit of slow pumping of the rod works best. I know ripping out of grass works, but I don’t fish a lot that way.

[WRB]

For years I used Traps in blue back bleeding Shad it’s all I needed.

A few years back started using Yo-Zuri 3D Prism Gold back black and prism Tennesse Shad

Followed by One Knock Rattling Vibe Metallic bleeding shad.

The Yo-Zuri 3D is 1/2 oz and has a good triggering strike on the fall unlike any other lipless.

The Vibe is 5/8 oz and cast like a bullet in the wind and stays the depth you count it down works with a slow steady retrieve with a few rod pumps.

Tom

[F14A-B]

Ask again in mid January for my 1,000 word answer. 🤣🤣🤣

[TnRiver46]

Personally I use the reel handle to retrieve a lipless crank……

[Jigfishn10]

On 11/21/2024 at 12:44 PM, Dan N said:

I would have to agree with a steady retrieve, I also try all other stuff, but for me a steady retrieve with maybe just a little bit of slow pumping of the rod works best. I know ripping out of grass works, but I don’t fish a lot that way.

Great advice on here. I will vouch for ripping weeds with a lipless crank. Such a great technique. 

[scaleface]

Excluding this past season , a lot of my largest bass the last several years have been caught working a red eye shad like a worm on points 10 to 20 foot deep.

[Bankbeater]

On flats with vegetation I'll use a steady retrieve.  Fishing in deep water I'll pump the bait or use a stop and go retrieve.

[papajoe222]

burn it, stroke it, slow roll it, yo yo it, pop it off the bottom, wake it. About the only thing I won't do with one is dead stick it, oh and let it sit on the deck all day.  If I have one tied on when I leave the launch, it's gonna get used.

[OkobojiEagle]

23 hours ago, scaleface said:

 working a red eye shad like a worm on points 10 to 20 foot deep.

How do YOU fish a worm?

[Pat Brown]

8 hours ago, papajoe222 said:

burn it, stroke it, slow roll it, yo yo it, pop it off the bottom, wake it. About the only thing I won't do with one is dead stick it, oh and let it sit on the deck all day.  If I have one tied on when I leave the launch, it's gonna get used.

 

 

I'm not saying don't dead stick it but I'm not saying don't don't dead stick it.  😉😉😉😉

 

You'd be surprised, especially if you've got some hard bottom to work with and it's cold.

 

Carolina guide who did an article here on BR about winter time rattle trap fishing advocates letting it hit the bottom and then making it flip from side to side with the rod tip on a tight line like a minnow rummaging.  I haven't done that one yet but I imagine its deadly.

[scaleface]

38 minutes ago, OkobojiEagle said:

How do YOU fish a worm?

Bounce  them off the bottom.

[Catt]

[Catt]

On 11/29/2024 at 6:26 AM, Catt said:

 

Y'all laugh but kneel-n-reel absolutely works for getting a trap a couple of feet lower. I hear it said, "just let it fall", that will work but sometimes the bass want a steady retrieve not a "yo-yo" retrieve.

[GRiver]

I would have swore a straight retrieve would have been most people method. I was wrong and realized I need to take more chances with the bait. Fish more cover and drag or bounce bottom, fish through cover and grass.

I was a med/slow straight retrieve, never really did anything thing else, other than changing the depth, letting it sink before you start bringing it back.

By the pic @Catt just posted  “it’s fish it any way ya can” 

One thing  is fact, how ever you retrieve it, as @TnRiver46 says “ you gotta use the handle”.

 

[Catt]

My thought process has always been what's normal & who gets to define it.

 

I can promise y'all "normal" ain't Catt!

 

I've freaked freinds out by throwing a 1/4 oz rat-l-trap in the marsh in 2' of water by holding my rod tip high & burning it just under the surface.