Jump to content
  • GUESTS

    If you want access to members only forums on HSO, you will gain access only when you Sign-in or Sign-Up .

    This box will disappear once you are signed in as a member. ?

Crankbaits?


ole matty

Recommended Posts

Fan casted crankbait can cover flats very well. I like a clown colored rapala fat rap. Either that or a wiggle wort. Crankaits can be fished anywhere from 2" to 30'. Try bouncing them off of cover ie. stumps, tree, rocks. they can be used to cast paralell to a weed line. They can be fished alongside docks. They can be fished parallel to drop offs, or up, or down. They can e fished over weed islands. They can be fished parallel to laydowns.

Crankbaits can be fished a 100 ways. Ask about one and ill do my best to answet

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have found myself cranking more often in the past few years and dont consider myself an expert but here on some things I have picked up and consider when cranking...

When Im going cranking the thing I consider before anything else is the depth I will be fishing. Generally I will want my crankbait to get to the bottom and stay there. The only time I dont want to be near the bottom is when I targeting suspended fish or fishing weeds, but thats later.

The reason I consider depth first is because one of the main triggering factors with cranks is deflection. Deflecting off the bottom, rocks, stumps, docks, weeds, anything. If your bait is going through the water at 8' and the depth is 10' you're probably wont get anywhere near the amount of bites you could be getting. When a crank deflects it signifies weakness and easy meals to a predator. Anytime I feel my lure deflect off an object Ill pause it for a second before I continue my retrieve.

I mentioned fishing weeds earlier I find this can be one of the most frustating ways to fish cranks. You want your bait to run just over the tops of the vegetation occasionaly hitting the weeds but not bogging down into them, which can be hard to do. The way I go about this is considering the average depth the weeds top out and find a crank to match. Next I cast the area and hold my rod tip at various levels anywhere from tip on the water to the 11 o clock postion and find the right combination that keeps my bait near the vegetation but not in it. When fishing weeds the deflection comes in when you feel your crank hit the weeds. When you encounter the weeds there are several different things you can do pause or rip it. If your bait floats you can pause it and let it float up but what I do most often is rip it. I give the rod a quick upward snap, a little less than a hookset, to free the weeds and cause the bait the pull loose eraticly.

When picking a crank for deflection consider round bills run through vegetation better while squared off bills deflect off hard cover better.

Other factors when cranking such as color and vibration come next. In clear water softer colors, whites, silvers, natural colors get called on most often. In murky waters dark colors or bright combinations. In clear waters fish feed on sight and less on vibration so a big, wide wobbling, rattling bait isnt necessary the best option. It may also hinder you catch on heavily fished waters. In these waters a bait with no rattles or smaller profile can be effective. In darker waters you will need that rattle to help the fish locate your baits especially down deep.

As far as where start fishing them depends alot on the season. In the spring shallow is best. Ten feet in the spring is usually my max. In the spring a smaller, tight wobbling, or suspending bait is usually most effective. Some good baits might be shad raps, pointers, rogues, husky jerks, x raps.. This time of year, or anytime you faced with water less than 55 degrees a suspending bait can be effective when the fish are less aggressive. Suspending baits are not fished with your normal cast, reel, repeat. A few erratic twitches followed by a pause is most effective. When fishing under tough conditions dont be affraid to let that bait sit for long periods, some may let it go for a minute or more.

In summer into fall I like to start around 10' and work deeper. I find the DT series by rapala to be awsome baits. They get down and stay in the strike zone. I like to fish weedlines, steep breaks or areas with rocks located deep.

Later in fall when the fish spread out you can get them almost everywhere deep green weeds, shallow cover/flats. This time a quick bait like a lipless crank can be effective for covering water and triggering fish.

When it comes to equipment for most cranking you will hear about slow gear ratios. Slower ratios make it less tiring to reel big cranks, make you slow down without even thinking, and dont wear out as quick. Even though a crank usually has 6+ hooks fish often come unbuttoned. You can increase you chances of landing fish by using softer action rods. Rods with a moderate action are less likely to pull hooks out of fish. Some guys like glass rods but they are less sensitive and heavier I prefer graphite rods with moderate actions for the sensitivity. For line I like to use 10lb mono most often. Florocarbon can also be a good choice to get your bait deep. I dont prefer no stretch braids for fear of tearing hooks out of fish. Though the exception comes when fishing weeds. Either a stiffer rod or braid line can help when ripping weeds free.

Sorry for the novel but this is just a tip of the iceberg when it comes to cranking. Good luck, I find effective cranking to be an under utilized method here in MN.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Matty- great advice in the post above.

As you know, I do quite a bit of cranking. Its a very good way of locating fish, and on some days a very good way of catching fish. Conditions do have to be right though. Fish have to want to chase something. Usually a little wind is nice, stable conditions for a few days can really put on a good crank bite. On some cold frints I will try cranks very fast, just to see if I can get a reaction strike.

Matty- if you want to learn cranks--- keep talking to my partner at FBL events.... that man(Jeff) is the best crankbait fisherman I know!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hiya -

Great post TUTF. That covered a lot of good info.

A couple further thoughts...

TUTF is right on about contacting cover being a big part of using cranks successfully. I fish cranks on deep weedlines a lot. August and September are prime time for deep cranks in MN. With a little practice and patience, you can really walk a crank through deep coontail or cabbage. Have to really pay attention to what you're doing and feel the crank as it bounces off stalks and hangs up. You're actually fishing the thing very slowly with a lot of stop and go. It's actually one of my favorite cold front techniques. When fish are chasing they can really smack crankbaits, but when you're walking them slow after a front, they just swim up and grab them. Don't even feel the hit a lot of the time - the rod just loads up.

I've been using 12# fluoro for most cranking, but I switch to braid about this time of year. The deep coontail gets pretty tough to rip through with fluoro or mono. Have to have the right rod for braid though. I use a 7'11" moderate action cranking rod with a low gear ratio reel (I won't give up my old Lews BB-1s and BB-19NGs. Still the best cranking reel ever made...). The rod's really a noodle but with a lot of power in the butt section. The soft tip keeps the bait fron driving into the weeds too hard when the rod loads up so I have to rip it free less, plus I lose very few fish even using braid. I try to fish parallel to the weedline if I can, and with the long rod and braid and a deep diving crank, I'm casting about 3 miles. One retrieve can take a LONG time...

I fish mostly clear lakes so I throw natural colors a lot. Absolutely love the Bluegill color in the Rapala DT series. From August on, a bluegill DT-16 is on one of my cranking rods all the time. Others I like are Poes 300s and 400s (if you can find them), Fat Raps, Fat-Free Shads, Bandits... Later in the year, into October, I like flat-sided cranks like DT flats, Fat-Free shads, Poes RC-3s and -4s, etc.

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Like I mentioned I dont use braid. I use a 7' Heavy, moderate action St. croix cranking rod most the time. I may actually switch to a MH fast action rod in some situations since its stiffer and rips grass off better. If you used a heavy rod with no stretch line you may rip the crank right away from the fish on the intial hook set or tear the hooks out of the mouth of a lightly hooked fish. If I were to use braid I would use a soft wippy rod or losen my drag. Some benefits of braid is the small diameter which can get you extra diving depth and abbrassion resistance for fishing in cover.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Skink -

The reel doesn't matter all that much with braid - although braid is murder on gears when you're ripping weeds a lot.

As TUTF said though, with braid, your rod needs to be a lot softer with a moderate action rather than a fast action. Actually, glass rods work very well with braid. With a fast action graphite rod and braid, it's really easy to overpower fish and either tear hooks out while you're fighting them, or rip them out on a hookset. There's just no give in the system, and even big crankbaits have very small hooks (relatively speaking). With braid, fish can tear a pretty big hole with the hook while they're fighting, and if they jump, the toss the hook.

I use a 7'2" Med-Heavy Mod-Fast action for fluoro and mono, but my braid rod is a 7'11" Med-Heavy Moderate Action that's almost a Mod-Slow action. It's really a buggy-whip compared to any other rod I use. But it's great for cranks with braid, and I rarely lose fish with it.

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

Link to comment
Share on other sites

wow its sure good information. thanks everyone! i will sure use cranks more often from now and on.. thanks

ah one more thing i have 7'0 med-heav fast action rod spooled with 12 lb flurbo with low gear reel will that work good?

matty

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.


×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.