CRANK BAITS FOR BRUSH

[justbass2u]

WHAT TYPE OR BRAND OF CRANK BAIT DOES THE BEST JOB OF GETTING THROUGH BRUSH? SQUARE BILL , ROUNDED ,ETC.

[Mikey]

I think you're asking alot of a bait to run thru brush; expect to get "hung" with any of them. On the otherhand you're not realy fishing unless you lose a lure once in awhile.

[cedar1]

A square bill is by far the best

[Rebbasser]

Yep-go with a square bill.  Just about all the manufacturers have one.  They don't run real deep, but the square bill deflects off the brush better than a round bill.

[ernel]

Coffin bill cranks also work well for swimming thru brush. The trick I use for taking any crank thru the trees, is to pull the lure with the rod tip instead of reeling. You gently pull the lure thru the cover, and reel in the slack after you stop. You can start to feel the lure change as it approaches a limb and can stop and let the lure float up before pulling again. After the lure comes up a little, you can pull it back down and it will act erratic as it hits the limb or trunk of the tree. As it hits the cover,  it will deflect to one side . This will help cause a reaction strike.

[Will]

Also the balsa wood crankbaits work good since they are bouyant enabling them to float quickly.

[Nick]

Yes indeed. Try the Balsa BII  for 1-5 feet and the Worden's Timber Tiger for just a little bit shallower. Ease it carefully through the brush as has been stated earlier. That Hot Lips is supposed to be a great deflector for deeper waters, but I haven't used it enough to say.

[Spencer W]

I picked some Bomber Square A's that were on sale at BPS, they do pretty well on deflecting through cover, but hangups are inevitable.  So have your lure retriever handy  

[Nick_Barr]

Timber tiger cranks and Luhr Jensen hot lips are great for getting through brush.

[Chris]

I'll just go by type because I throw a list of brands and it would be a long post.

Square bill is by far the best heavy cover crankbait. Between plastic and wood baits wood baits are easier to get through thick weeds and wood cover than plastic. In rocks I use plastic crankbaits because rocks can be hard on wooden baits. I usually change my front hook on my crankbaits to a triple grip hook because it will hang less. Make sure your bait is tuned perfect. If your using a bait out of tune it will hang up a lot more.

Coffin bill crankbaits work great for isolated cover not heavy stuff. A coffin bill has two deflection points on them which kick the bait out away from cover. The bad part is in heavy cover it can kick out to another branch and hang you up. A square bill only has one deflection point on the side of the bill and will kick out from cover but at a shorter distance away than the coffin bill so it follows the contour of the cover better.

There is also another post I did called why some baits are better than others that explains the different bills and what they do when they hit structure.

[Shad_Master]

I have also heard of guys cutting the front hook off their trebels.  Do any of you do this?  Does it work?

[Chris]

I don't cut hooks ever!

[texasbass1]

Modogman,

As you can see there are as many options as anglers. I use balsa baits because I have found they work better around wood cover. The bill isn't as important to me as the bait material. The slower rise of the balsa bait let's me work it through the cover without it rising to fast when I pause it. Good luck, work it slow and pay attention as to hitting a limb or getting bit.

[Raul]

Forget about the square bill, any bait will work, if you want to crank in the bush get a lure retriever and you 're ready for it, if you ain 't knocking wood you ain 't fishing them right, instead or puchasing 10 or 20 square bill cranks for the bush spend 7 dollars in a lure retriever and use ALL your crankbaits.

[bassackwards]

hell, I dont use cranks that often, u'll find me usin a spinnerbait more often than a crank.  it wont get hung up nearly as often.  

that or a plastic.  I try not to complicate things, however, I'm very good at it.   :-/

[Brad_Coovert]

I like square bill cranks in the wood.  They deflect better IMO, but they also have a much wider wobble as well versus other models.

Balsa BI, II and III

Norman Fat Boy

Bomber Square A

Lucky Craft Fat CB Series 1, 2, 3 and 4

I use all of these and they all work great in the wood.

Brad

[Brad_Coovert]

Darn!  Fotgot about Brush Baby crankbaits.  They work great in the wood as well.

Brad

[AceHigh]

The original metal billed Bomber crawfish works well in brush.  Rather than remove the front trebles or cut hooks on trebles, try removing the trebles entirely and substituting a single large hook pointing up at the rear. Many plugs made in the 20's, 30's and 40's had single rear hooks and they work!

[bassackwards]

that might be worth a try....