Crankbait Retrieve

[carySE406]

I've been more sucessful using the stop and go technique with my crankbaits opposed to a steady retreive.  In what situations does each retrieve become more effective?  What conditions do you look for to determine which retrieve to use?

[iceintheveins]

Largemouth often hit a crank when you stop the retrieve or just as you start the retrieve again. I usually reel about 20 feet or so then stop for a few seconds, letting it rise above weedbeds, rocks, stumps, ect. To slow the rise, I like to put suspendots on.

For smallmouths I don't pause as much but still will on occasion.

[Guest ouachitabassangler]

I try my best to slam a crankbait into wood or rock. Use one with a long enough bill to keep the hooks out of the way doing that. Flat ended bills are better for banging stuff, and using one that's buoyant enough to float off of trouble will keep it swimming. The best bites come right after the bang happens. Be creative with speeds, rod movements side to side, pausing, and mix up your retrieves to find the best presentation bass want most.

Jim

[j-bass]

It depends on what you are fishing.  If you are woking weeds with a crank, I would suggest zooming the crank over the weeds, if you are working structure I would recomend that you bump the crank off the bottom, if you are working cover, I would suggest that you use a square lip crank (they deflect cover better) and bump it along the branches.  Cranks are a good go-to bait if you know how to use them.

[Chris]

I use a steady retrieve the most in heavy stained water, muddy water, and in cover. When fish visibility is low I want the fish to find my bait by it's steady vibration. In cover a steady retrieve helps prevent my bait from hanging up and the erratic action from the bait making contact with cover puts more action in the bait same as stop and go.

[Guest avid]

For me crankbaits are alot of fun. I have no set "rule" about how to fish it depending on conditions. My only rule is to keep using different retrieves untill I find something that seems to work. Even then I keep applying variations to the successful theme. The only time I don't enjoy fishing them is if the lake is low and they keep gooping up with weeds.

[Raul]

What Chris said.

[fishlikemad]

Someone once told me "The guy getting snagged a lot is the guy catching fish."  I've proved it over and over again with cranks.

[Guest ouachitabassangler]

I agree you need to be in danger of being snagged a lot, maybe every cast unless over sand or gravel, but there are some ways to avoid hanging up and retrieving lures. When fishing over submerged weeds there are bait styles that help swim through without snagging, lie a lipless Ratl Trap which carries the hooks rear, not straight down. If that bait is too fast then a slightly floating crankbait can be paused to rise a little before moving on. A strong floater can be send into deeper danger, paused to let it float back out of a jam. Pretty often a snagging doesn't involve a hook point imbedded in something, but only a hook bend is caught. Freeing line to let it float backwards on a little line slack will usually let it float free. Next, pinch the line, draw it back with rod tip aimed at the problem spot, then release the line like shooting an arrow. If that doesn't work the next best fix is to back up and get on the other side of the snag point without circling a snag. Move 180 degrees backwards to the cast angle or you'll wrap line around the stump. Get a long line angle from the far side and gently snap the semi slack line. A long bill on a crankbait helps the lure dig along while keeping hooks protected and riding high. I use those to root through sand & gravel bottoms, weighting them with Suspend Strips to reach 30-50 feet down. For a faster dive sharpen the bill tip, but that wears the bill short pretty fast. Anyway, those plow along bumping stumps without snagging up. In spite of all the alternatives a couple of used spark plugs get well used, in the boat to snap on the line and glide down to knock a hung lure.

Jim

[Guest ouachitabassangler]

Now back to "I've been more sucessful using the stop and go technique with my crankbaits opposed to a steady retreive.  In what situations does each retrieve become more effective?  What conditions do you look for to determine which retrieve to use?"

Sometimes a stop & go gives a bass too much time to get a good look at my fake meal.  Maybe a high speed darting ripping is all they will bite. I hope for a slower bite so will start out keeping the bait in te strike zone as long as possible. But some divers require a steady even swim to get down to the intended depth, so you don't have much choice but to swim it more than one way. The first job is to find bass and determine their depth. Then I select a bait that will reach that depth. I let the bass tell me how they want it presented by experimenting until I find a consistent bite.

Jim

[Chris]

When I do use a stop and go retrieve it is more of a hesitation than a pause. I do it because it maintains the depth without floating up I also throw in a few jerks and twitches to mix it up. In weed cover or low water wood crankbaits work well for me because I can stop the bait to float it out of the stuff. I do beef up the line to rip the bait out if needed. There is some kinds of weeds like algae (snot grass) that there is no way around it your just going to be picking weeds all day. Most weeds you can just snap the rod and they will break free. There are some lures that search or have an erratic action built in and all you need to do is reel. Wood crankbaits tend to draw more for that reason. When a bass can see the bait or more importantly when a bass can observe the baits action this is when they can determine that the lure is not acting correctly. With any lure that you use in clear water you need to fish the lure and not just cast and reel. This is so important to learn because it will separate you from a lot of fishermen. With any live fish or creature that lives in any lake not one will swim hop or crawl in a straight line or at a constant speed. Live bait acts different when they think they are on the dinner plate of a bass. Live bait runs for it's life and tries to shake the predator by changing directions and speeding up. If your lure runs through the water acting like it don't have a care in the world it does not act like something alive. Bass will run up to a bait to try to spook it and if your bait don't have fear the bass gets bored and figures that it isn't a meal. The way your bait reacts to a bass is what promotes strikes. If a bass is in an ambush position if you bring your bait into their zone and stop it then change directions or speed it up you will force that fish to eat first and think about it being a fake second. Even the old and sick still try to make a last ditch effort to get away they just don't move as fast and make short dashes with long pauses. If you can make a lure appear like it is struggling or trying to get away or act like something alive this is what will put more fish in the boat. When the bass's vision is obstructed by dirty water or heavy cover vibration and water displacement is most important. If you used a stop and go retrieve or an erratic action in muddy water the bass will have a hard time tracking the bait and making a pinpoint attack. The end result is that you will miss a lot of fish because the bass isn't hitting the bait accurately.

[RoLo]

The strong point of the jerkbait is its ability to induce a 'feeding' strike, which works good in clear water.

However, the strong point of the crankbait and spinnerbait are their ability to trigger an 'impulse' strike

(reaction strike), which works good in turbid water.

There are just too many variables to presuppose what lure speed will presently work the best.

Until a few bass have been boated, I'll try every retrieve-speed imaginable. However, once I'm satisfied

that I know the most productive 'lure speed' of the moment, I'll hold that speed as steadily as possible

throughout every retrieve. I feel that this gives the bass every opportunity to home in on the crankbait,

which is particularly important in murky water. If I'm using a floating crankbait, I may stop the retrieve

intermittently, but only to give the lure a chance to loft above the veggies and brush,

which is not an option with a sinking crank like a "Countdown".

Roger

[Cephkiller]

Another good tip regarding retrieve speed is this:

Once found, I try to replicate the feel of the retrieve rather than the cranking speed.  This keeps the bait speed consistent regardless of current, wind, boat speed, etc.

[uiubassmaster]

This may be a little irrelevant, but so far this year I've fishing the Rapala X Rap for bass and they love em!!! Especailly the smallies, I know the X Rap is a slash bait, but you can retrieve it steadily (it produces a slow, wide wiggle) but I've had the best success with a stop-and-go jerking technique.  

Just my $0.02   -Jacob-

[Rattlinrogue]

Same as Avid.Use different retrieves until I find the one they want.

[alhuff]

i'm not much of a crankbait guy but have seen how well they catch fish...

this tread has motivated me to use them more...

i'm thinking a few days of nothing but crankbaits...the bait monkey is calling. ;D

thanks for the topic jfowl32590.......

Tight Lines...

Alfred