Crank Baiting in late Fall?

[Okeechobee_Cracker]

Well me personaly have never been really big on crankbaits...I bought about 8 not long ago and have caught 3 or 4 fish..its starting to cool down now in Florida with the ocasional cold front here and thier..should a crankbait be a bait of choice rite now? :)thanx

[senko_77]

I think a rattletrap is the best fall bait.  The crankbait is good, but only good if you know there exact depth.  A rattletrap will cover every bit of the water column until you find them.  But I'm guessing you have grass on your lakes.  target that grass with the rattletrap because fish will always move on them to feed.  The grass puts of oxygen, there are baitfish present...so it's the perfect spot for bass to sit and just gourge themselves.  If it is 4' and shallower, burn the rattetrap, if it is deeper slow down a bit.  Also, to make the rattletrap more weedless remove the back hook and put a #1 or #2 treble on the front.  You will have more solid hookups, it will be alot more weedless, and the large hook will play a 10lb+ easily.  My favorite rattletrap is the Spro Aruku Shad in perch.  I also like the Yo-Zuri Rattl-n-vibe in shad and firetiger colors.  

If you find deeper fish feeding on baitfish, then the crankbait can be good.  Have a wide variety.  My choice would be Rapala DTs.  Have a couple DT-10's and DT-16's in bluegill, silver, and firetiger.  When you get the bait down to it's max depth stop reeling.  Let it sit for about 3 seconds.  Then crank as fast as you can for about 3 seconds.  Then let it sit for 3 seconds and repeat that.  The violent stop and go will trigger reaction strikes out of feeding and non-feeding fish.  

Hope this helps.

[paparock]

The baitmonkey and I are best buddies after all the crankbaits I have purchased but I am looking forward to the fall crankbait bite coming on my lake soon!

[bocabasser]

right on senko. great response. i live in florida as well, and the idea you gave about the rattle trap is killer. will it change the way it swims? gonna give it a go tomorrow at loxahatchee.

[senko_77]

right on senko. great response. i live in florida as well, and the idea you gave about the rattle trap is killer. will it change the way it swims? gonna give it a go tomorrow at loxahatchee.

Are you asking if burning a trap changes the way it swims? If so, then no. A qaulity rattletrap will swim perfect at all speeds. I know the faster you reel it in the tighter the wiggle but its not like it tracks to one side or the other.

If your asking about replacing the hook then the answer is no to that to.  The big hooks doesn't effect that action at all other than the bait sitting a little more nose down which helps with its weedlessness if thats even a word.

[Bassassasin12]

cranking is defenitly up there with the best techniques to catch fish in the fall. Try fishing one right along a weedline with some rocks around as well. This where I have been catching all my fish. Of course things might change due to the climate in Flordia rather than in NY.

[BassKing813]

A crankbait is an excellent choice for this time of year. It is my number one go-to bait right now, with the softplastic worm in second if the bass aren't aggressive. You can generate a lot of bites using crankbaits in fall and should definitely start using them regularly during the cooler months.

[FIN-S-R]

Yo-Zuri Vibe!!! I was a half hearted rattle trapper till I found the vibe, and now I never hit the water w/ out 1, Especially fall. They run real nose down, and come out of the package with really good sharp hooks. They cost a little more, but are worth every dime!!!

[BassMaster_1]

I haven't bass fished in almost a month now, but we finished strong with a crank.  We found this little fall bass fishing heaven this year.  Im from upstate NY we were fishing a "pond" or "cove" off a creek, which was off a bay in Lake Ontario.  The water was warmer and on the dirty side, but thats where all the bait was.  We threw the same crank, Saturday and Sunday and in the 2 days we boated about 60 fish.  We were catching fish back to back to back, a few doubles, we had a great time.  The following Saturday we managed about 25 fish in 2 hrs.  So my advise is to find a creek with warmer water and holding bait, thats where you will find your bass.  Try to match the bait, mix up your retreve you will find what they like.