A rare insight into crankbait fishing

[Brocephus Fishing]

Thanks Chris, great information!

[RanndomUndead]

Ive noticed that if the bass arent overly aggressive or feeding heavily, in shallow water a rattle sends them high tailing it faster than a 5lb rock. In deeper water...well i cant see that far, heh

 

[RanndomUndead]

I haven't been able to find this lure anywhere on the internet and when i mentioned it to a semi pro angler I know he seemed interested. Can anyone let me know more about this lure.  I am aware of pre-rapala wiggle warts, and this does have the storm logo on the bill underneath. But I was unaware that they made square bill wiggle warts in this style.  Please let me know, if you have information. 

 

Thanks

http://www.rapala.com/storm/hard-baits/original-mag-wartandreg/Original+Mag+Wart.html?start=19&cgid=storm-hardbaits

closest thing i personally know of....Discontinued model maybe?

[J Francho]

It's a Sub Wart. I have a bunch - great baits if you can your hands on some. They're sort of like a Mann's -1 got really drunk and can't walk straight. Really wobbly.

[Ginosocalbass]

What a great thread.

 

I had a question about how transparent or clear cranks work in clear water circumstances. I have noticed the majority of manufactures don't have to many color options that have a translucent pattern to them. anyone have any insight with these?

 

One thing not touched up on is Gear ratios. When would a 5:1 vs 6:1  is a 5:1 more appropriate for squarebills as the baits wider action and slower retrieve? were as a tighter action like a rapala DT might require a faster 6:1 ratio?

 

I know everything in this game is subjective and based on feel.   But what would you consider a standard order of practice with crankbaits and gear rations

[roadwarrior]

Slow reel (5.0:1) for big and deep diving crankbaits; 6 something for squarebills

and small to medium weight lures.

 

 

 

[scaleface]

I love crankbaits , that is all .

[Blwaz23]

What do the different types of crankbait lips or bills do? Does each style actually do something different then others or is it just style? Example: round vs square.  Any links to articles or guides to this? I've looked and I couldn't really find what I was looking for. Either I wasn't paying enough attention or didn't look hard enough. Thanks 

[JT Bagwell]

I scanned the responses and didn't see this mentioned  (but I may have missed it ) either way, to me one extremely important aspect of crankbait fishing is varying the cadence of the retrieve. 

Sometimes it may be speeding up that gets the reaction and other times it could be slowing down or stopping all together that does the trick. 

 

[ClackerBuzz]

On 1/23/2016 at 7:35 PM, JT Bagwell said:

I scanned the responses and didn't see this mentioned  (but I may have missed it ) either way, to me one extremely important aspect of crankbait fishing is varying the cadence of the retrieve. 

Sometimes it may be speeding up that gets the reaction and other times it could be slowing down or stopping all together that does the trick. 

 

Agreed. I have no idea how this 10 yr old post is considered pinned worthy.

I'm no cranking expert but I do know deflection is the number one rule of the game, not vibration. You have to be constantly deflecting off cover or structure.   Not just hard cover/structure either.  Weeds and lily pads are just as critical.  And give the lure a good pause after deflecting to allow it to rise.  Lots of bites come during the rise/pause.

Only 1/3rd of your retrieve will be spent on bottom.  The first 1/3rd is the decent and the last 1/3rd is the ascent.   Those times spent in open water are when I really focus on cadence.  Change it up, rip, pause, reel burst etc.   Anything to try and instigate a stalker into biting. 

Also lift ur rod tip high 75 ft before the boat. It will cause a false rise which also instigates strikes.  How many times has a bass committed just as you were about to lift ur lure out of the water?  Their instinct kicks in b/c pushing bait to the surface is how they hunt.  Creating that false rise further out means you have a better chance of instigating that strike before the bass sees the boat. Lord knows we all hate that moment when a follower sees us and does a 180 back into the depths. 

[roadwarrior]

11 hours ago, ClackerBuzz said:

Agreed. I have no idea how this 10 yr old post is considered pinned worthy.

I'm no cranking expert but I do know deflection is the number one rule of the game, not vibration. You have to be constantly deflecting off cover or structure.   Not just hard cover/structure either.  Weeds and lily pads are just as critical.  And give the lure a good pause after deflecting to allow it to rise.  Lots of bites come during the rise/pause.

 

Well, that is not always the case. The vast majority of my success with crankbaits involves swimming the lure OVER and AROUND cover and structure. So for me, vibration and/ or water displacement is "the number one rule of the game".

 

[Nitrofreak]

Before this thread my CB fishing wasn't where I felt comfortable, I have done just good enough to keep me focused but defiantly frustrated, now I can take them anywhere and have a lot more confidence, my deep cranking still needs work, I am looking forward to the work however knowing how much this thread has helped, thanks for the in depth input !!!!

[Neil McCauley]

I tend to let the lure do the action for crankbaits, though I will try a stop and go if they are reluctant to bite. I try to limit deflection and bottom-contact because it beats up the lip and they don't cast/dive as well with lots of scratches. I've also lost a few baits this way, and not just getting stuck between rocks or in logs- one of my more heavily used Rapala DT-16s last year actually completely disconnected from the lip on a cast, the epoxy holding it on just gave way.

For me the key with crankbaits is maximizing the bait's time at target depth. Like someone pointed out, roughly 1/3rd of the retrieve is spent descending to that depth, another 1/3rd spend ascending from that depth. You can increase that middle 1/3rd where the bait is in the target zone two ways, either increasing the distance covered by the retrieve or increasing the rate at which the bait dives. Cast further by using lower test softer line, which also helps with diving. But you can also cover more distance using wind to your advantage. Obviously casting with the wind is one, but you have to make sure that you're anchored and not drifting toward the bait you're reeling in which is a waste of the longer distance cast. I will do this when I have a specific isolated structure I'm targeting like a sunken hump. The alternative is if you have a bait that casts really well into the wind, you can do that while allowing the boat to drift away from your cast direction, retrieving slightly slower to compensate for the drift speed, sort of semi-trolling. I like this when I'm drifting along a long linear structure like a drop-off along a shoreline.

When I'm using CBs as search baits casting distance is important enough to me that I'll go back to monofilament line instead of fluoro for the extra distance it gives.

[Josh Smith]

If a crankbait or spinnerbait doesn't rattle my teeth, I usually don't like it. I'm enjoying both now that I have a place clear enough to fish 'em.

My biggest problem is with crankbaits in the river. I lose a lot due to submerged trees from last year's flooding. I feel the vibration stop and set the hook into wood, and generally can't get a knocker down there to free it.

Spinnerbaits do better here.

Josh

[J Francho]

1 hour ago, Josh Smith said:

My biggest problem is with crankbaits in the river. I lose a lot due to submerged trees from last year's flooding. I feel the vibration stop and set the hook into wood, and generally can't get a knocker down there to free it.

Use a square or coffin bill bait, and slow it wayyyyy down.  And this is another instance where I prefer the sensitivity of a moderate taper GRAPHITE rod over any glass or hybrid.  You can feel the difference between a tree limb and a bite much easier with graphite.  When feel contact with a tree, stop reeling, and give the bait a tiny bit of slack, and the start reeling again, slowly.  You often get bit after the contact.  Cranking laydowns is a bread and butter presentation for me.

[Josh Smith]

5 hours ago, J Francho said:

Use a square or coffin bill bait, and slow it wayyyyy down.  And this is another instance where I prefer the sensitivity of a moderate taper GRAPHITE rod over any glass or hybrid.  You can feel the difference between a tree limb and a bite much easier with graphite.  When feel contact with a tree, stop reeling, and give the bait a tiny bit of slack, and the start reeling again, slowly.  You often get bit after the contact.  Cranking laydowns is a bread and butter presentation for me.

I agree that slowing way down is a good idea.  I use a 22ipt reel, and about all I do use are squarebills.  I think you told me something along those lines on another thread..?

The rod I have is an S Glass.  Before that, I used a Daiwa M/F graphite rod.  Though it was labeled as F, it was more of a moderate-fast and I found it worked well, but I wanted something that would support slightly heavier crankbaits.

I feel most obstacles well with the glass rod and stop reeling right away.  I do get a lot of bites that way, as you say.

My problem comes when I run into submerged branches.  Those can grab and give a little, and feel an awful lot like a fish.

I might try a graphite rod for this, though, something in the MH range instead of the M that I used before.  Do you have any suggestions as to brand (not too expensive)?  I'd like it to be 7' or a bit over for cranks; I generally like 6' to 6'6" rods, but for spinnerbaits and crankbaits I prefer a bit longer.

Regards,

Josh

[Big Easy Bassin']

Thanks for the post Chris. I recently started throwing squarebills and this was very helpful. I've only thrown lipless cranks prior to this, and that enhanced wobble and vibration has been giving me trouble. 

Also, when it comes to line diameter and depth, what effect does using braided line with a flouro leader have on depth? Does it go by the equivalent of the braid diameter to mono/flouro?

[cpvenom]

This clip from Bigmouth Forever illustrates just how quickly a bass can inhale, then exhale a bait, specifically around the :22 second mark. The posters above me have said it perfectly already. If you lose contact with your crankbait, set the hook! 

 

[isaacnewton15]

Dang thats crazy

[bassassassin87]

Hey Ragnut you mentioned manipulating the lip. Have you ever filed down the lip to make it sharp? I havnt tried this yet but was curious as to what it can do in terms of diving depth and coming into contact with weeds. 

[scaleface]

It doesnt surprise me Uncle Homer didnt feel those fish . The way he holds the rod it would be hard to detect most hits .

[Bluebasser86]

10 hours ago, scaleface said:

It doesnt surprise me Uncle Homer didnt feel those fish . The way he holds the rod it would be hard to detect most hits .

Not to mention those old pistol grip rods weren't the most sensitive rods made. 

[Bob Wood]

when tuning a crankbait is the eye twisted right or left or is it bent right or left.   Great posts Chris

 

[J Francho]

I generally bend it. Gently.

[3rdDon]

Thanks for taking the time 11 years ago to type this up! I just ordered some crankbaits to experiment with