A bit of advice needed for using crankbaits…

3 Answers

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   Jim Johnson on Jan 24, 2013 Reply

   Crankbaits are a pretty involved subject, so I’m not going to try to cover everything here. Hopefully some other folks will pitch in with more info, too.

   One very important factor in using crankbaits is that you’ve got to ricochet them off obstacles if you’re going to catch any fish with them. Fish don’t strike at food that’s behaving abnormally, and swimming along in a perfectly straight line is not what baitfish does, especially with a bigger fish breathing down their necks.

   So, bounce your crankbait off stuff so that it changes direction suddenly. That’s what’ll get a strike for you. You might lose a crankbait once in a while doing this, but those are the risks of the game, so to speak..

   You’ve also got to consider depth and speed. The fish you’re after are going to be at a certain depth. Crankbaits with a small lip run shallow, the ones with a big lip run deep. You need to balance that against the speed with which you’re going to retrieve your presentation. Retrieving fast drives the crankbait deeper, slow makes it run shallower.

   So, for example, a medium lip crankbait retrieved fast will go deep; a large lip crankbait retrieved slowly will probably move at a medium depth; etc. So you need to match two factors — the speed of retrieval and the physical design of the crankbait — to get your bait moving at the ideal depth and speed for the type of fish you’re trying to catch.

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   Manny on Jan 27, 2013 Reply

   Crankbaits are basically lures manufactured and designed to look like bait fish that predatory fish feed on. Usually, they are made of wood (normally balsa) or hard plastic.

   The main reason that professionals use them in tournaments is because they can cover a lot of water, fast.

   Here are some very quick tips for using crankbaits:
   Location: Try go for rock beds, wall edges, logs and weed lines. As Jim mentioned, the best technique is to bash the crankbaits into things. So try bouncing them off of rocks and logs.

   Keep your lure moving: go for fast and aggressive retrieval which will make it look like your little fish is trying to escape.

   Try a twitch: while reeling in, you can try twitching the rod tip every now and then. This erratic movement gets the bass’s attention.

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   Fidel R. on Jan 27, 2013 Reply

   One real important thing to remember when you’re using crankbaits is that you’ve gotta set your hook right, or the fish will get away.

   You’ve got a lot better chance of setting your hook nice and solid if your crankbait’s attached to a long rod. At least 7′ long, graphite, is best, anywhere up to 8′. That long rod gives you a lot of leverage to set the hook firm and true in that bass’ mouth.

   Don’t just start reeling in when you feel a strike. The crankbait helps a lot but it’s not magic. You’ve still gotta put in the effort to set the hook if you wanna get your fish.

   There’s a lot of detail to learn about crankbaits, but settin’ that hook real good is something you just can’t let slide no matter what else you do.

   Oh, yeah, and good luck, man! Hope you have a blast!

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