What they fail to tell you about cranking

[Paul Roberts]

OK...since we're back on topic:

Her favorite color is chrome

Chrome

Most crankbait anglers like to use chrome colors in clear to stained water. Many chalk up the success of this color to the fact that it mirrors light and gives fish a flash of light that draws the bass's attention. Many think that what they see above water is about the same as under water. But is it? Above water remember color is light wave lengths and the deeper you go the more light is filtered out. When you view chrome above water you see all colors that is why it has a mirror flash. Under water the lure will take on the color of the sky above. If you took a look under the lure while it is running the lure might reflect the image of the lake bottom. When looking at the same lure from the side you are going to see the reflective light or flash as the light bends as it moves. It will also take on some of the surrounding color. So around different cover or surroundings the bait will constantly change colors. Now if you ever watched baitfish they tend to try to blend into its surroundings to make it harder for predators to pick it out. Chrome very closely mimics this.

Clear Cranks

Remember I said that baitfish like to blend in. Clear lures also blend in and take on the lake bottom colors. Clear lures also change colors depending on lake bottom and how much light or direct light hits it. When skies turn cloudy or water turns dirty this effect fades and the lure becomes harder to pick out. Clear lures that have metal flake in them also add to the effectiveness in stained water by throwing off a flash. Clear lures because it takes on the surounding colors looks like a real bait.

Good stuff. I like plates too. Except under really high vis conditions in shallow water, chrome can be too much of a good thing. That's where the clear/translucent finishes come in.

One thing I disagree with is that plated finishes "flash" underwater. They only do so in shallows or VERY clear water in the depths. Water has the effect on light of scattering it. This diffuses flash to the point that flash cannot exist too deep, or even in shallow water with some color -with either dissolved, or especially, suspended material. Ralph Manns (accomplished angler, researcher and diver) has said that at a certain depth, chrome becomes black. (This can be good actually in some circumstances -as Chris alludes).

So...plated finishes may be at their best in clearer water, or shallower waters. Get some color to the water, and I like opaque colors -dark, whites, or chartreuse (hate it but man it catches fish).

[Gatorbassman]

Thanks Paul

[Paul Roberts]

Anglers use lures that dig the bottom because they don't know what depth their lure actually runs. To compensate they run the lure on the bottom to maintain contact with the bottom contour. Lures that bounce the bottom speed up and slow down and cause a strike. Now what is going to happen when your point is filled with weeds. Understanding the diving curve and running depth is more important and more accurate.

One more, before I get back to work lol:

Contact works! We read about it all the time. But so does a free-running plug a lot of the time.

As Chris mentions, you've got to ID fish position, then get your plug to them. If you don't understand dive curves (with the rig in your hands), you'll most likely be out of position and not catching. Cranking can be considered difficult because it does require some understanding to get the needed precision -something cranks CAN offer. It's not just a chuck-n-wind game, esp when you are throwing to stuff you can't see.

Often away from shore fish can be all over a free-running plug -then things slow down. At that point contact can draw a few more. Other times, when fish aren't highly aroused on their own, contact is necessary.

[I Love BassResource]

If you insist on some type of record I can always start a pole. "Who's taught you more about crankbait fishing." Paul or Chris. I'm pretty sure that Chris would come out on top of that unfair pole.

I think we would prefer to have a "poll" if at all possible. Please don't give us the "pole".

   ;D

[Pitchinkid]

If you insist on some type of record I can always start a pole. "Who's taught you more about crankbait fishing." Paul or Chris. I'm pretty sure that Chris would come out on top of that unfair pole.

I think we would prefer to have a "poll" if at all possible. Please don't give us the "pole".

;D

lol wow. i think cart wants a pole. lol

[Chris]

Many anglers use a form of cranking called bumping the stump or bumping cover. As I mentioned many anglers try to overpower the depth they are fishing to maintain in contact with the contour of the bottom. If you understand the dive curve of your lures you can present a crankbait in such a way to ram a key feature. This is why I say learning the dive cure is more accurate it is possible to make a cast and reel the bait down to hit a feature you have seen on your depth finder. Why would this be important? Well many times you will find structure that is not the text book kind that has a slow slope of a point. Maybe you will have some sort of bottom cover like a rock pile or brush pile or something that will hold fish. If you just followed the contour of the point itself you would never hit the key feature because the lure would not have enough room to reach the depth needed. By positioning the boat and your cast you are still able to reach the key feature. You just going to need to change your angle. Instead of casting and following the point by bumping the bottom you make an angled cast in the open water next to the point. By running the lure this angle you give the lure time to dig to the depth needed to reach the key feature that otherwise would be missed. Next you need to position the boat so that the lure reaches its max depth at the point where the key feature is. Sometimes your line might lay across the object which will give you an indication when you are about to strike it if you are using a deeper lure than what is required. You can feel when this happens and the vibration pattern will be different than when the line is not across something. Some anglers (bottom bouncers) use this technique of laying the line over the object to help make sure you are on target to strike the object to draw a strike. Other anglers (zone fishermen) use the dive curve to hit the same object. Then you have other guys who will weight down their crankbait to where they can just count the lure down to the depth needed then run the lure in line with the same object to strike it.

For myself I like to use a crankbait that has a slow rising float to it because I feel I can gain more depth than a high floating lure. In contrast a high floating lure tends to float off stick ups more so than a suspending model so owning a lure knocker would be wise. With a lure that has near neutral buoyancy the lure is not fighting the floatation to achieve depth. The difference might be only a foot or two but in the cranking world it might make the difference. Your going to naturally have the drag of the line cutting through the water that also play into a lures max depth. Many anglers use all the different variables that make a lure loose depth or gain depth to help fine tune depth control. Many anglers only list what prevents a lure from reaching its max depth but few ever take into consideration that it is also the same variables that help to refine your depth to hit a depth zone like suspended fish or objects like a hump or stump. You hear about it when it comes to shallow water fishing around weed flats and rattletraps. But the same holds true with other crankbaits and zone fishing. Also when you do make your cast remember that the distance that you cast and effects how much room you give the bait to reach its max depth. So another way to fine tune your depth is to change the point where the lure reaches its max depth by changing your casting distance and your boat positioning. You give the lure less room to run you loose depth. You change the distance you are positioned to the object you change the point where the lure digs and starts working its way to the surface. It is a means to fine tune your depth to hit the object. In plain English you can use the same lure for different depths by just changing the way you cast and how far away from the object you position yourself.

[-nick-]

Had I known this post would have rubbed people the wrong way I would not have presented it the way I did and I am sorry. I know cart that my words and a little smallmouth are not that impressive. I am not a outspoken person who shows large catches on here or have an avatar holding up giants with a tournament shirt on. I am not one to have an ego or to look down upon anyone who is just starting on their bass fishing quest to learn. I many times take the time to answer questions on here that few want to answer from members. My post count next to my name I would guess 80% of them came from answering a new guys question and many of them where hard questions. If they where not hard questions they where basic mechanics questions that many felt to proud to answer or where beneath their skill level. I couldn't begin to tell you how many times I broke down step by step how to fish a jig or a number of other lures. I took the time because I felt that teaching a new guy to fish was just that important. Long before this forum became what it is today it was guys like me that took the time to teach what they knew about bass fishing that set it apart from other forums. It was guys like me who didn't care about going to the grave with a trade secret who was willing to share knowledge. Many tournament anglers, like you say keep it for the guys who are willing to pay. But if it wasn't for guys like myself and others who are knowledgeable about bass fishing and tournament fishing and willing to share most of these members wouldn't be here. Remember most tournament anglers have the idea that if you knew what they knew then you don't need their knowledge anymore. Also if I taught you everything I knew about bass fishing then I am training the next person who will take money out of my pocket at the next tournament. KVD is a product in his own words of bassmaster magazine and show. So details about bass fishing become less descriptive in most print. They would like to maintain the gap that they have established on their knowledge. To be honest many tournament anglers really do feel this way. You take a issue of bassmasters these days and compare it to an old subscription and you are going to find a difference in how much the angler does reveal about fishing a technique or look at some old bassmaster shows for that matter. I remember when Stanley Jigs was a sponsor of Bassmasters or at least a tournament and everyone in a Congo line all said they caught their fish on his lures. When they got to Rick Clunn and Ray Scott said what did you catch them on a Stanley Spinnerbait? Rick said a spinnerbait but not Stanley's and talks about how he caught his fish on points. All the video that was shot was of him running around throwing a red rattletrap. Now everything he said would work for a spinnerbait bite and I am not saying he didn't use a spinnerbait to win that tournament. But what I am saying is that the same bite and vibration pattern that was described by him would also coincide with a rattletrap bite and vibration pattern. If you where him and had the edge that helped him figure those fish out would you be so inclined to help the other competitors learn from their mistakes for the next pre spawn tournament. Just a thought considering at the time most of the tour because of how it jumped from state to state landed in spawn, pre spawn and post spawn time frame. Many tournament anglers go through great lengths to give you the alternate pattern that could work but are a little more fuzzy when it comes to details when your talking money. Like I said I am sorry if I ruffled a few feathers that was not my intent and I have edited the whole post.

Paragraphs/indents are your friend

Your edits have transformed the original post into a pretty insightful article about crank baits, congrats!

If we were to only listen to anglers whose experience is actually recorded then Glenn should close membership, have a read only web site where anglers submit articles for review and after validation it is posted.

To repeat what I said eariler "I fish a Texas Rig completely different than cart7t or Kevin VanDam so who is correct, only KVD?"

Your missing the point Catt. Regardless of how you fish your Texas Rig, your gonna look like a tool if and when you jump on a public forum and call out how KVD chooses to fish his Texas Rig.

That doesn't mean he's right and your wrong, as with every other element in our sport, there are no absolutes. For many readers such as myself, it's hard to take a post serious when the author attacks an established pro, with no basis for comparison.

You're the only person I've ever seen on here write so little yet use indentions as if you were writing a novel. ;D

You're not writing a formal letter or a book hahaha :

[KYntucky Warmouth]

All I know is that when learning a new technique or improving upon one, every little bit helps.  I feel that chris' original post and subsequent edits and additions are very helpful and informative.   

[Raul]

Very nice piece of writting Chris 

[Chris]

Crankbaits that have a lot of roll when running through the water tends to dig less than lures that wiggle. Lures that wiggle side to side cut the water more and require less speed to reach depth. The side to side action along with the larger surface plane of a wider lip causes the bait to dig. The distance the lure travels from side to side does not gain or loose depth per say but it takes the bait longer to get there. When you have a lure that the line tie is at the nose the lure will dive less than a lure with the line tie at the lip. It changes the angle the lure runs through the water column and changes the pivot point.

The thicker the line the less casting distance you are able to cast. The less distance you can cast the less running room you give your lure. If you have a lure that dives more vertically you can make an adjustment. With lures that take some time to get depth you may never get there. You know how they say a crankbait ran on 8 pound test will dive a foot more than on 10 pound test line and so on. Well between 8lb line and 10 lb line you also loose 10 ft in your cast and so on.

I am going to try to break this one to you gently. I have cast lures and reeled them in with my tip up, down, and with the whole rod under water. On a average cast and casting with some sling behind it. Your lure will run the same depth regardless. What changes is the point where the lure makes its upward climb. If you make a short cast and can keep the line up off the water's surface you can make a bait run shallower.

I like to use wood lures and other people like plastic. What is important is air. If you read some of my other stuff I mention that wood is more responsive than plastic and reacts better when striking objects. Basically with a plastic lure you have a lot of dead weight that takes up room that could be air like in a wood bait. The thicker the plastic the less air can be trapped in it. The responsive part is that when you start your bait with wood the lure wiggles right now not a foot or two into your retrieve. Wood baits take less time to start and stop. Lures that are built with a ton of plastic take even more time. If a bait takes longer to start and stop when you strike an object it takes the lure longer to give you the back pressure vibration. The lure travels farther past the object than wood because it takes longer to start the vibration pattern to give you the vibration feedback into your hands. With wood you strike the object and you might be about a foot or less past the object before the starts its vibration pattern. With plastic when it strikes a object it will travel a greater distance before restarting its vibration pattern. Oval or round body lures have less friction in the water and dive more than flat lures. With lures that dive deep many add weight to gain distance in your cast. More weight takes up space for air. If you just add weight to a lure without countering it with more air your wood plug will act more like a plastic plug and will move a greater distance because of inertia so there needs to be a balance, air is key.

[Paul Roberts]

Thank you for the paragraphs! They really are helpful when there's lots of info.

"Air" in a crank sounds a bit like the ability of a spinner to engage, or a plastic tail to writhe -the reason I boil soft plastics.

Wood also just imparts more action -I can really feel wood plugs better than plastics.

[Chris]

Around weeds I like to use balsa lures. If you you use a longer lip than what is needed many times you can use the lip as a weed guard. If you don't drive the bait into the weeds but just reel it down until it touches the weeds surface then let it float up the reel it back down to touch it again. I am sure you have heard others go into great detail about this technique and the whole weed guard thing. But did you know that if you used a crankbait that the lip is positioned at the same angle as many square bill crankbaits that it is the best lure for the job for deeper weeds. This is the angle lip just for a reference http://www.bagleybait.com/7.html

Other lure companies make lures like this as far as the lip angle but it is the angle that keeps the lure out of the mess in weeds that is important. The angle also hits the cover at a different angle instead of digging in it slaps the top of the weeds. The angle also prevents the lure from digging in and if you choose the right depth can work very effectively. When you take a bait with this angle lip the length of the lip acts like a weed guard while keeping the bait out of the weeds. This style bait slowly works to reach its max depth. The dive angle is less dramatic than like a DT for example. On weed flats this is where this style lip really shines.

[avid]

It just seems odd to me how the members of a forum can spend bash bass pro's for being tackle industry pimps one day and then the next bash a highly knowledgeable club guy.

It's that ole love hate thing we Americans have with our celebrities.

[Mr Jenkins]

I cant believe I wasted 30mins of my time running through this post. Who in there right mind fishes with a crankbait anyways!!! A bucket of chicken liver is cheaper and more effective.  Just axt dick!!!!

[tnbassfisher]

Bookmarked for further reference. Couple of good reads. Thanks guys.

[Fishes in trees]

It was interesting reading different folks opinions about crankbaits.  All I know is that I'm not very good at it and I'd like to get better.

For deeper, structure type cranking, I've tried fiberglass crank rods and stiffer rods and the jury is still out.  I haven't tried any of the Loomis crankbait rods.

I've had much more success cranking trees, when fish are more up in the water column and not relating to the bottom.  The fish seem to be relating more to shade pockets created by horizontal limbs, etc.

The plan seems to be get on the side of the tree facing the sun,cast across the tree and bring the bait down into the crown of the tree, then up and out.  Easier said than done, some days I go hours without snagging, other days I snag every cast - very frustrating.

I've experimented alot with gear.  Currently I'm using a 6'8" All Star spinnerbait rod, 17 or 20 lb line and a Timber Tiger DC16.  I doubt that I get deeper than 10 feet with this setup, but I do'nt think you need to.

I think it is more important to bank the crank off and through the wood than it is to get extra deep.

Over the past three years, this has been my best technique for big

(20" or better) fish.  17 over the past three years.

Years ago, Infisherman magazine ran an article or two by Tom Seward, the guy who invented the Timber Tiger concept.

He recommended using a fairly stiff, 7' spinning rod, a big spinning reel (Diawa 2600) and 14 lb line.  Said that the spinning reel gave better feel during the retrieve.  I tried that and found it a little cumbersome, maybe a different feel during the retrieve, definitely a larger pain in the butt to throw around trees.

For medium distances and closer, I find myself pitching the crank more often than a regular casting motion.

My current thoughts on cranking. thanks for reading

[papajoe222]

I just revisited this thread. A very beneficial post, not only about crankbait fishing, but about searching the entire water column in search of active fish.  Worth a revival.