Crankbait Bite

[KickNBass]

So Dietz's latest PB post gave me inspiration to try one of my PB areas with deep cranks and man were they on fire, practically as good as ever. I had a few spots going where it was nearly every cast for quite a while, in fact, was able to do 45 min of hat cam video on one spot, never went more than three casts without a fish in or on. Even had my first double fish on a single lure.

Anyway, my point here isn't to brag about some good luck fishing but to ask you guys this:

The fish I was catching, were getting hooked most often on the front hook of my DT16 or SK 6XD. They weren't down the gullet at all, lure on the outside every time, but they were absolutely all over the deep crank pattern. I've never really had that before, usually back hook or totally in the mouth. What do you think is up with this?

[SluggoMaster]

I had that kind of bite late Saturday. The fish were very aggressive on deep structure. When there are lots of fish in a small area, I find they are very protective and really eat the lures presented.

[Superduty]

Sounds to me like they were hitting the cranks "head on" or from the side. I don't know how else you can consistently catch them on the front hook and have the bait outside the mouth. Were the fish on bottom or perhaps they were suspended out off the structure and looking at the structure?

[RK]

Hiya -

Yeah, it's definitely crankbait time, especially with the warm weather. They get set up hard on spots and don't leave. If you can find a few different schools you can keep rotating through them all day.

As far as the hooking: I usually take hooks on the outside of the mouth or fish that you miss or lose as a sign that something's not quite dialed in with your presentation. I will try a different color of the same bait first, then start playing with other variables like speed, rattles/no rattles, or harder or more subtle wobbling baits that hit the same depth range to try to dial it in a little better.

That having been said, if you're landing most of the fish that hit, might not be worth too much monkeying around.

I'll be hitting the deep crank bite hard this weekend. Can't wait. One of my favorite ways to catch bass by far, and right now through mid-September is prime time.

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

[KickNBass]

It seems like the hotter they were, the quicker they'd hit. So, a lot of times, I think they were hitting it before the crank ever got to the bottom, after I caught quite a few, then I might have got them after bouncing the bottom for a while...

At times they could have been coming out of weeds to hit the lure, I was kind of paralelling the weeds if they were there...

My first two spots, they were staying hooked up but it seemed like they relly started getting off more as they day wore on. Maybe it also had to do with the distance they were biting at and the hook set. Later in the day I was getting hit at a farther distance so maybe I wasn't hooking up so well...

[bemidjibasser]

KNB- another possibility of them getting off may have been that after catching a bunch and banging bottom your hooks became a little dull. Always a good idea to have spare trebles especially if fishing rocks.

[TonkaBass]

what was you rod and line combo? Just curious... congrats!

[KickNBass]

Well, I have a new cranking setup I'm trying out it's basically all KVD...Quantum Tour KVD Cast Rod 7'10" Med Hvy w/ 12# Flouro and I even threw those KVD mustad hooks on either a DT16 or SK 6XD.

I also had my old cranking setup which is the pre split grips St. Croix Magnum Cranker w/ 15 or 20# braid. I still like to use this rod to feel the bottom type and make sure I'm castin the right areas. SO I used it for a few casts, noticed that a few bass banged my crankbait and never got hook and a few hooked up, a couple landed, a couple shook off.

With the old setup I generally don't have to set the hooks too hard, the rod is stiffer and the braid is way stiffer. Maybe I need to impart more of a hookset with the KVD setup???

[Deitz Dittrich]

Congrats on an awesome crank bite!!!! Fun stuff...