Crankbaits there must be more than just cast and retrieve, help the CB idiot Update, sucess 9/

[retiredbosn]

Ok, I must be a crankbait idiot. I mean I can not catch fish on these things!!! I use megastrike attractant, fish with using a steady slow, or faster , sometimes a stop go, or jerky retrieve to switch things up. I knock them into brush, bounce it off the bottom, everything that you are supposed to do, I think. Give some advice to the bassresource crankbait idiot please. BTW I know there are fish in the lake cause I watch them hitting the shad and try to color match my cranks and all of that stuff. I think I have caught 6 fish total off of cranks. I catch the majority of my fish on jigs, worms, and buzzbaits, with some on spinners and precious few on cranks but I refuse to give up and I want to learn this bait. FWIW my crank set up is two crankin sticks from BP and 2 David Fritts reels one 5:2 and one 4:7. Any advice would be appreciated.

[Sam]

Sending you a PM.  

[Stringjam]

What kind of water are you fishing, and what kind of cranks are you throwing?  

[Raul]

I use megastrike attractant

Ok, I don 't use scent on crankbaits cuz for whatever reason you can think about I don 't see a point in adding scent to something that a couple of seconds later is going to be away from the fish, you want to add scent, feel like adding scent is important and that it 's going to give you an edge I 'll be the first one to say you should use it.

fish with using a steady slow, or faster , sometimes a stop go, or jerky retrieve to switch things up. I knock them into brush, bounce it off the bottom, everything that you are supposed to do, I think.

On the second part, hve you ever wondered that you might be doing the RIGHT things ( what you described ) but in the WRONG place ? cuz crankbaits are like soft plastics or spinnerbaits, you got to choose the right places to fish with them just as you have to find the right places for fishing with the other stuff.

Or that perhaps you are fishing them with the wrong approach ? there ain 't no point in making a beautiful pinpoint dead accurate cast to a stump cuz .......... oh well, by the time the crankbait is exhuding it 's charm it 's gonna be 20 ft away from the stump where the fish were supposed to be so the fish care less about it ( if they care at all ).

[retiredbosn]

What kind of water are you fishing, and what kind of cranks are you throwing?

I fish lakes, mainly clear to lightly cloudy, small resevoirs typically.  I use DD22's, Norman little N's, Rapala XR's, Rapala jointed shadrap, Bomber fat free shads, Bandits 200 series, Rebels something or other look like a miniature little n, rattl traps, even tried the dancing eel (shad), colors are shad, citrus shad, rootbeer, baby bass, stuff like that.

[VekolBass]

Are you using a graph? Your graph and your crankbait--particularly mid to deep diving cranks--are key.

[Marty]

I'm with Raul, you might be doing the right things but not in the right places at the right times. Crankbaits are too good at attracting fish to not get strikes if fish are around.

One other thing: when you get to a spot that you think should be good, are you using crankbaits first or using them after you've tried your more successful lures? I used to do that (not necessarily with crankbaits), but if you do it too, them you're using them after you've already established that the fishing is lousy in that spot.

[Avalonjohn44]

I use DD22's, Norman little N's, Rapala XR's, Rapala jointed shadrap, Bomber fat free shads, Bandits 200 series, Rebels something or other look like a miniature little n, rattl traps, even tried the dancing eel (shad), colors are shad, citrus shad, rootbeer, baby bass, stuff like that.

Why did you buy so many cranks if they don't work for you???  

I fish bandit 100s and 200s just about every time I go out, and they nearly always produce something.  I would keep at it, this time of year the crank bite should produce for you (I got 16 today, the most all year just on a little Megabass Griffon).  Go out with nothing but crankbaits, and throw them at wood, humps, points.  Bounce them off everything you can.  

[retiredbosn]

I bught so many cranks because they are supposed to work and the bait monkey had me ;D

[Raul]

I bught so many cranks because they are supposed to work and the bait monkey had me ;D

No dude, they ain 't "supposed to work", they work.

[grimlin]

Sending you a PM.

Sam,mind sending me that PM too..... ;D

[TournyFish001]

crankbaits suck don't use them just give up! I will PM my address send them all to me- LOL I love crankbaits- use them early before the sun comes up when you are on fish and every other time of the day here and there.  Sometimes it is best NOT to just to grab the rod and use it no matter what that will not gain confidence especially when unproductive- throw your jig, t-rig, spinner bait, shakey head whatever- but here and there put them down and crank it- the fish will tell you what they want- but by all means do not give up the crankbait I crank all year long that being said some days are better for it than others- just do it dude it will happen, took me a while to get into it now I always have one on the deck ALWAYS

[Top]

*sigh* i have YET to EVER catch a fish on a crank bait... I need a teacher to show me how to use them I guess...  

AL

[riverfisher]

Man I love crankbaits!! Rippen them through weed's knocking them of rocks and stumps. Geeze when Im really cranking it feel's like im digging a ditch underwater. When you hit something pause,slow'retrieve, fast retrieve, crank, stop pause, crank down deep dig that ditch pause.If by the end of the season you dont like'em send me your cranks ill put them to good use!! ;D

I used to be the same way with cranks keep throwin them really!

[dallas0996]

*sigh* i have YET to EVER catch a fish on a crank bait... I need a teacher to show me how to use them I guess...

AL

I remember having the same lament on a different thread a few days ago about spinnerbaits....

Odd as it is, I can catch fish fairly often and easily with crankbaits (I LOVE shallow runners) and have yet to catch a single fish on Spinners...but I guess since they are similarly attractive I suppose maybe I will just stick with crankbaits

I know this is not much help but I wanted to empathize from a similar point of view, just a different lure type

My best crankbait and technique is a Rebel Wee-Crawfish....which I usually do a moderate to slow crank with pauses, intermittently dispersed with long rod draws and pauses...if that makes any sense....its got a great pulsating action that is really easy to feel...if I burn this really fast it makes the pickerel crazy -which is fun when the bass aren't hitting :

Oh yeah, I missed the original post on your promotion... Good on Ya! ;D

-from an old salty sailor

[Marty]

*sigh* i have YET to EVER catch a fish on a crank bait... I need a teacher to show me how to use them I guess...

AL

You don't need a teacher, all you need to do is throw some where there are some fish. Just cast and retrieve and you'll catch some fish. That's not everything, but it will catch fish. I think what you need is the confidence to use them for awhile.

[retiredbosn]

Went to the small local lake yesterday afternoon, this small impoundment is only 40 acres, but in all honesty it is more like 20, the 40 has to include the wetland surrounding the pond.  Anyway started with a Norman Little N deep in citrus shad, caught 2 the first one on the second cast.  Then nothing, I downsized and started throwing a black back, yellow sided rebel, caught 2 more would have caught more but messed up my hookset, I was just suprised that I was getting strikes, lol.  Ended up with six fish, two came on a black buzz right at dusk.  Thanks for all the input and keep the advice coming, I'm determined to learn more.  BTW I can now tell when I'm hitting wood versus having my line over a limb and the crank getting ready to hit, can actually feel the heavier weeds before I get the lure covered up.  And I learned that a bass will bury a crankbait hook in your hand given the chance.  Pulling that teble hook out of my hand was not fun!!!!  I'm glad it was on the 1 1/2 " Rebel, has smaller hooks.  Glad I had my needle nose pliers handy.  FWIW the fish hooked my left hand, I was holding the fish in my right, couldn't quite manage to get the fish switched to my left, and could not free the hook with my left.  It was a mess for a few minutes, fortunately the fish shook and threw the hook out of its mouth and landed in the water, the downside was that the hook was still in my hand and driven deeper  ;D  I can laugh about it now, but last night I wasn't laughing to much  >  

[shootermcbob]

Sam, I would a pm with any tips about crankbait fishing too if you wouldn't mind. thanks so much.

[sambrochill]

With a crank bait there is just more than just casting out and retrieving it. i mean ive caught fish like that but i also try and use different techniques when reeling it in. like the "stop and go" technique as i like to call it or walking the dog. there's just different ways to retrieve a crank bait

im pretty sure there's somethin in the articles section of the website about what ur askin.

i hope i helped,

-Sambrochill

[Muddy]

Hey, not much i can add except You are not an idiot,idiots do not ask questions. A great help to my crank bait efforts have come from Fivebasslimit,good source.

[Bassaholic84]

Crankbaits are one of my favorite lures and one of my most productive especially in the fall and spring.  If you are not catching them this fall when the bass come back to the shallows.  Get yourself a shallow running crank, go out early in the morning and cast parallel to the shore and just cast and reel slow.  You should definetely catch fish if you do this and hopefully gain some confidence in a great lure and want to learn all the other techniques to crankin

[booneangler]

actually i have just got into crank baits heavy the last few weeks thanks to a friend of mine. I didnt catch very many on them myself until he showed me some things. Just stick with it and try new places.