Crankbait choices

[Cooter]

When to use a square vs round lipped model? When to use jointed vs straight? When to use a hybrid such as a Bucher Tilkey or Squirrley Jake vs standard?

[HugoBox]

I kinda dig ripping the square lipped baits as I think they get crazy head shaking action. I also find myseld trolling the jointed lures and ripping the straight ones. I've recently messed around making some big (20-ish inch) cranks and its been fun to test different lip shapes and sizes. I wish I would have stayed awake in physics!!

[10,000 Casts]

Jointed vs straight, it depends on whether you want a tight wobble or wide wobble. I have seen where they say to use the widder wobble when the water is warmer and the fish are more agressive. Same idea with the hybrid tail.

One thing I want to add is a rattle or no rattle. After talking to a highly respected guide, he really liked Jakes very windy days and only like Grandmas when it is calm. Then he went out the next day after talking to me which was glass and had a 5 fish day with 3 over 50 trolling 13" Grandmas. I think there is something to that...

Either way, IMO if you spend more time where the fish are, it doesn't matter what you use.

[MikeEiden]

The shape of the lip doesn't really matter to me especially for casting; just the action/depth the lure runs. If I'm bumping rocks hard I will make sure its a tough lip to handle the abuse. When trolling the rounded lips seem to bounce off of stuff easier without getting hung up.

Straight designs seem to twitch better and as mentioned tend to have a wider wobble. A straight version also seems to track better at higher trolling speeds than jointed. None of this is set in stone just some general observations. I like jointed for slower speed applications since it doesn't take much speed to get their action going. Or I will use them more at night or low visibility conditions.

As for hybrids it all depends on how the soft plastic changes the action. A jake with a twisty tail trolled actually has a wider slower wobble than a standard version so really its not the tail I'm looking for the additional attraction but its a different action. But in general I like the squirrly versions for twitching or pull pause situations or slower retrieves. The Super Believers tail have a ton of action and I can slowly walk it over weeds without sacrificing attraction.

I'm sure someone will chime in and say "what ever the fish prefer is the one I use" and yes that is true but you have to start somewhere so I pick a lure that will work for the structure I'm fishing. I really love crankbaits; casted or trolled. And I spend a lot of time getting to know each ones characteristics.

[dudeness]

What is the difference between Grandma's and Jakes? I thought it was a depth thing. Is it a rattle thing too?

I have both of these baits but I don't troll and I prefer wood baits like cranes or big games for twitching.

[guideman]

Crankbaits with the square lips will tend to deflect to the side in the event that they stike on a rock or a log. The round lipped baits tend to roll when they strike an object and have a tendency to get hooked more often than a square lipped bait does.(just ask a bass guy)

I will typically only use the square lipped baits when I'm casting and I'll save the all the round lipped baits for trolling.(Typically, but not all of the time).

The old Grandmas were made of wood, so if you're old like me you may still have some of the wooden models. Now Jakes and Grandmas are both made of plastic so the differences are a little less obvious. Rattles and the depths they run are the main difference now. You can buy Grandmas with smaller shallow running lips, (If you can find them). However they do generally run deeper than a Jake. Grandmas also have just a slightly more slender body than a Jake does, so you get a slightly different action.

The 7" Grandmas are one of my favorite shallow water cranks(Twitch Bait). I'll typically use a jake when I'm casting open water structure where you have deep water on all sides. The rattles do tend to do a better job of calling fish up that are suspending off of the structure.

In my own opinion, Jakes are at their very best when being trolled. They can handle high speeds very well and that nice steady action just catches more fish than any bait that I have ever trolled with.

If I need to get a little deeper, or I'm fishing in real clear water, where rattles aren't as important, I'll go to a 9" grandma. I just have a lot of convidence in the two baits and with good reason, they both catch fish.

When it comes to plastic tails or jointed lures, they are at their very best at much slower speeds than the traditional minnow baits. They allow you to get a good action out of the bait in situations where you have to work tham at much slower speeds. Or when you want to fish at slower speeds. They both seem to lose their best qualities if you try to fish them to fast. Whether you're casting them or tolling them.

"Ace"