Understanding Crankbaits
"This may sound funny, but if you think like a baitfish when you retrieve
your crankbait you'll catch more fish."
By Jerry Southworth
Before we get on the water, let's take a moment to talk about crankbaits.
As most of you already know, it's pretty hard to find a bait that you can
just take out of the package and throw in the water. Fine-tuning your
crankbait is usually necessary. Sometimes your bait doesn't run true- it
may tend to run to the left or to the right. This can be fixed by bending
the eyelet either to the left or right. This may take a few adjustments
until you get it to run perfect, but it's well worth the effort.
If your baits are not running straight, it becomes difficult to target
fish. For example, what if you throw your bait into an opening in the trees
that was only a foot or two wide? Well, if your crankbait is running to the
right or to the left, you are almost sure to get caught up on some
branches. Basically, you need to have total control of your bait at all
times to target fish effectively.
Next we have hooks. Always check your hooks to ensure they are the size you
like and that they are sharp. I have bought some of the cheapest crankbaits
out there because they may be exactly the shape, size and color I am
looking for. Most of the time, a cheap bait will have cheap hooks. Any
tournament fisherman out there will tell you that a good quality hook is
priceless. So, I usually change hooks as soon as I take a new crankbait out
of the box. Sometimes I'll even go a size bigger than what the bait came with.
In the spring I like to use a 1/8 oz. craw color speedtrap and micro mini
bommers. At this time, the females are trying to plump up for the spawn and
these baits can really produce. The water clarity will really dictate your
retrieve. If it's muddy, I would try a start and stop retrieve with about a
10 second pause in between cranks. You need to give the fish enough time to
locate the bait. If the water is clear, crank a little faster and if the
water is crystal clear, burn it as fast as you can. Just like any other
baits, try as many different retrieves as you can to find what works.
When I was first learning how to bass fish, I used to think that if a bass
wouldn't hit a worm, why then would they hit a crankbait? This is where the
term, "reaction bite" came into a bass fisherman's vocabulary. Bass don't
have to be super-aggressive to hit a crankbait. What you're doing is making
them react to your bait. If they see something zoom by them, they can't
help but be curious, so some times they'll go after it, sometimes they
chase it for awhile and turn away at the boat, and other times they'll
pound it.
I think that most of your reaction bites will come from the bass sitting on
an ambush point. They hear the bait coming and once your bait is in their
attack zone, they pound it before it can pass them up. The bass aren't
really looking at it very hard, they just want to stop that potential meal
from passing them before they have to go after it. Bass are lazy and will
do as little as possible for a meal. Would you rather have breakfast
delivered to you, or get dressed, go out in the cold and walk half a mile
for a meal?
T
I
P When you're retrieving your crankbait, try to strike as many objects as
you can. Crank it right into dock pilings, logs and any other structures
you might come across. For each object you strike, let the lure sit for a
few seconds and then continue your retrieve.
"Think of yourself as a baitfish: if you thought that something 100 times
your size was going to eat you, you would swim for your life."
When you're retrieving your crankbait, try to run it into as many objects
as you can. Crank it right into dock pilings, logs and any other structures
you might come across. For each object you strike, let the lure sit for a
few seconds and then continue your retrieve.
Think of yourself as a baitfish: if you thought that something 100 times
your size was going to eat you, you would swim for your life. With
adrenaline pumping, you look back to see if that big bass is gaining on
you, and you accidentally run into a stump. This would definitely daze you,
leaving you very disoriented and confused. You would probably take a breath
and gather your bearings before taking off again. By this time that monster
bass is right behind you, so with one last effort you try to make a run for
it just to find out that you just became lunch. This may sound funny, but
if you think like a baitfish when you retrieve your crankbait, you'll get
bit more often. You'll find that this technique works much better than the
good old "chuck and wind."
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