Crank Bait fishing 

        Crank Baits are big bass baits and they can be fished in so many ways that you can just keep messing around with them to draw a strike.  Here are some things that can be alternated with your presentations until you catch a bass when trying to figure out the puzzle.  Keep in mind that lure speed, a steady retrieve, a stop and go retrieve, go steady and stop when it hits something and let the lure back up and then reel again, steady and stop when it hits something and let it back up and then BURN it for the next few cranks away from the cover, steady and when it hits something just burn it right away without letting it back up.   

        Let the depth tell you what size to use. If your fishing deep cranks, use something along the lines of the 10lb P-Line CXX moss green.  It is super strong and the small diameter lets you get max depth out of the cranks.  For shallow cranks around cover and over grass, throw P-Line CXX moss green in 15lb.  It will keep a 1' shallow crank about 8" under the surface and you can work it over and around anything.  If fishing water that is higher over the grass or shallow cover, the 10-12lb CXX  gives the lure more action and will run its max depth, while going to 8lb P-Line CXX when you need a little more depth.  

       Also on this same note, the smaller line will run deeper than a heavier line.  Getting in the correct strike zone where the bass are in the water column or on structure is key.  Lure speed/action is critical.  If your using a slower reel ratio you are giving them a slower presentation that they may only take. Or the other way around, a faster reel will retrieve the lure at a faster speed.  If you are fishing a crank bait for anything other than suspended bass in open water or running them in less than 2' of water, you want your crank to hit the structure or the bottom AT ALL TIMES.  That is the key to successful crank bait fishing.  The lures are made to work through cover and hit and bang around in it.  If you are fishing a stump flat, creek channel or lay downs, you want that crank banging around on the stumps and wood cover. The same goes for when you crank a rocky bottom.

        For deep cranking and mid cranking, go to bait are deep divers like the Norman DD22 and Norman DLN.  For shallow cranking there is an arsenal of assorted brands and sizes. You have round bills, square bills and coffin bills.  Silent and rattles.  Fat and thin body cranks.  Big and small.  There is no way anyone could tell you what lure works best because at any given time the conditions or the bass will call for a different one. Try and get an assortment of good cranks.  You don't have to spend $16 for a great crank.  There's a decent amount of cranks thrown that are $4-$6 apiece, such as the Mann’s baby series, Bandits and Norman for extreme shallow to 4' cranking.  For mid depth the Norman, Rebel, Bombers and Poes.  Throw deep cranks on 10lb test and most shallow cranks on 15lb. To get the true running depth out of a diving crank you need to throw 10lb.  You can use larger test but the depth will be less for the bait.  The one thing that can’t be stressed enough with cranks is to have a great cranking rod.  They have the action you need for maximum performance out of your cranks and the limber blank to keep bass on those hooks.

        For deep structure fishing, fish the crank with the rod and not the reel.  Rather than reeling the crank through there, crank it a few times to get it down there and then  pull the rod to the side slowly.  This allows the rod to work the bait through some nasty stuff without getting hung up.  It will happen from time to time, but the bow and pop method with the rod and reel will get it back.  When working the crank through brush,  pull and when you feel it stop, stop.  The crank will back up off the cover and then  pull it back over, this is when to expect to get bit.  For brush and thick stuff, keep it moving slow and stop to let it rise and go through.   

        When fishing creeks, channels, stumps or more open water structure with the deep diver, use the same retrieve, but when you feel it hit the cover, stop...let it back up and then pull the rod with some speed and make the bait nail the cover and then stop it again.  You can do that when you are not in brush or horrible stuff.  Once again, the bass will nail it 9 out of 10 times when the lure stops and is backing up.  If you were to stop and speed it up through brush, you might find the lure getting hung up.  Starting at the mouth of the creek, continue back and make certain you keep working all the points along the way, and make several casts into each one.  Remember that these are usually open water suspended fish, and when you find them, they will eat.  If you are going to fish shallower water areas, switch to a 1/2 oz Rat-L-Trap and use similar crawfish colors and just keep it moving.  Use crawfish colors and a medium to large size bait. Some favorites are Bagley's Killer B II (Deeper diving model) in Hot Belly Craw or Spring Craw colors, as well as a Large Rhisto Rap in the Hot Mustard color.  In cold water these baits can be worked like a Jerk bait rather than a crank bait.  As the water warms, a regular minnow type of jerk bait will also work, but in cold water these alphabet shaped plugs can be worked deep water and get down another 10' or so.  Start out at the mouth of a creek, and keep the boat out in 30-50' of water, and cast up into 10' or so, then crank it down fast for about 6 or 7 turns, then slow down and use a jerk-jerk-pause retrieve.  Try and keep the bait moving slowly enough to stop it from rising, but not a constant retrieve.  Many times bass will come up from 30 or 40' and hit the bait just before it gets to the boat.

       Water temps are a major consideration.  You can start throwing cranks when the temps reach around 46-48 and warming.  Look for points, and if they are rocky, even better.  You want steep rocky points too, rather than long tapering ones at first.  As the water warms, work further back into pockets and creeks looking for the longer points with shallower water.  A key for this time of year is to consider where these fish are most likely to be located.  Normally, they are going to be starting to migrate from winter haunts but still scattered along the deeper areas.

         Suspending cranks can be worth their weight in gold when bass are suspended or sluggish.  These are most often used in cold-water conditions but they do work at other times just as well.  In cold water, use a suspending crank through these areas.  It is more difficult to work through the cover because the lure will sit in the spot you stop it for a long time.  If you don’t have it weighted to the point where it will not rise at all, it will slowly rise up away from the cover and you can work it over after hitting.  But you will have to wait about 5 times longer since the bait will come back much, much slower. Often, the bait will still get hung up with the suspender model, but you can free it.  When cranking deep structure, you want the bait to run into and through the cover.  When you feel it hit something stop cranking and reel the slack up.  This allows a suspending crank to stay right next to the cover you hit and often provokes a strike.  With floating cranks it will back up away from the cover you hit and draw a reaction strike.  Most of the time if cranking through cover the strike will come when you have stopped cranking and feel it once you start pulling again.  Often the only thing you will feel when a bass hits a crank on the pause is a heavy sensation on the other end.  You do not have to snap a hook set like you do with a worm.  Just lean back into the rod and keep it tight.

        Use a limp crank bait rod for cranks, though lipless cranks are the exception.  Use a stiffer rod to rip it free of grass, but that is not always enough in thicker grass.  A  7' rod can rip it from grass easier with the added length.  Keep the rod tip pointed up high and try to run it just over the top of the grass.  If the grass is already on the surface, it is a waste of time pretty much. But even if it is just under the surface, burn that trap with your rod tip high and let it knick the grass.  If it does grab some grass, rip it upwards and NEVER stop reeling or it will fall into the grass even more.  Try a 1/4 oz lure that will not sink as fast, baits like the Cordell lipless cranks work better sometimes because they are lighter and won't sink as fast and can be worked slower at times.  Work the traps on the edges of the grass, not in it, if it is on the top.  Often you will find the bigger bass there anyway.  But if it is too much trouble versus the amount of bass you catch, try other fast moving weed less lures and some lipped extreme shallow cranks just over that grass like Mann’s baby -1,Bandit Footloose and some others.  Fish them on 15lb CXX P-Line because they will only run about 6-8" deep and stay over the grass.  As for braid,  use that stuff ONLY for rats/frogs in the thick slop. On the occasion when have found some big bass in lily pads, run a spinner bait on braided line because it cuts through the stems like a saw.

        And if you are just fishing a ledge, hump or drop without any type of structure on it, you want that crank to dig into the bottom.  When fishing lipped cranks, learn to feel what that lure is doing and when it hits something, STOP and reel up the slack and then reel again.  This is when most of the strikes will occur as the bait rises up or backs up off the cover.  You get 3 different presentations with this one technique.  You have a steady retrieve, then the action of it banging into something and then the action of that crank just backing up really slow.  All 3 are different and even though it is all just one simple act of reeling, stopping and starting again, you get 3 very different ways to catch bass on that one cast.

        When you are fishing thick structure like wood, brush or other objects that the bait will have to go through instead of over, you will want to finesse it through the cover with the stop, back up and reel again technique.  You can fish DD22's so soft and easy through cover, that before you could barely feel it hit anything  just work it through that thick cover without hanging up.  You may end in a tree top more than once to get a crank bait unhung, but you have also go into those same tree tops with a net to haul out a 7lb bass that wouldn’t take a slower, more weed less lure.  So as painful as it might seem at first, if you can make yourself throw a crank bait anytime anywhere and learn how to work them, you will find out just how effective they really are.

        In spring, throw a baby -1 over the grass beds while they are still just under the surface and I will throw them on 15lb CXX P-Line.  It will keep them doing what you want them to do...run VERY shallow over the grass without snagging it.  The same goes for the shallow cranks, alternate the retrieve with stop and go, steady and burn them or burn them and kill them then burn them again.  A good way in Spring is by burning a baby -1 over open, shallow water in a spawning cove and killing it and letting it rise all the way to the surface and doing it back to the boat.  But that is a very effective technique when the bass are aggressive. Or sometimes, even if they are not, that change in speed will draw a strike anyway.  When fishing shallow cranks or when you are fishing a certain depth in the water column rather than the structure on the bottom, you can reel it steady through the retrieve.  Still use a small stop and go method to give the bait some life, but for the most, unless fishing through suspended bass, I just reel it steady.

        Then in late spring all through summer, try to "wake" the larger full size -1 lures.  Run it just fast enough to make a big wake and stay right on the surface and it will work anytime a top water will...or when top waters won't for that matter.

        Then for suspended bass, you will want to figure out the depth that they are suspended at and find a suspending crank that will get right down into that strike zone and when you stop reeling those, they will just sit there in the strike zone for any amount of time.  You will need to weight them with sticky strips, lead or any other method of weighting a crank.  You want that bait to get to where it will sit in the exact same place for minutes.  Then, you run it down to the correct depth and stop.  You will have to determine how long to let it sit there.  Sometimes it could be 5 seconds, others it may be 2 minutes.  It is painful but often in winter or frontal conditions, these suspended bass over deep points, bluffs or creek channels will only hit a suspender crank or jerk bait that has sat in their face for over a minute. That can be a last resort since it takes so long and suspended bass are about as inactive as they will ever be.  But sometimes in cold winter months, that is what it will take. 

        If bass are suspended in open water or above cover you can locate them on your sonar.  Find a crank that will stay at that depth and work it through the suspended bass.  Jerk baits are usually the choice for suspended bass but also you can use suspending cranks with good success.

         It is a pain to get the bait to run right no matter how much you tune it when you modify the bills.  Most cranks are shaped and designed to run a certain way like they are made.  BUT...at the same time, some anglers are always messing with lures of all kinds looking for something better.  Once you get to throwing cranks you will notice most will not run true out of the box.  They will run left or right.  You can tune them with a pair of pliers.  If it is running right, turn the eye to the left and so on.  It only takes a small amount of turning to adjust the lure, so you only need to move it a hair at a time.  Cast the lure out and with the tip straight in front of you reel it in. Once you have it coming right at you it is tuned right.

        Also, take into consideration that the farther you cast, the longer a crank bait will run at its max depth.  It will dive down...then stay on the max depth line and then once it nears the boat, it will start to climb back upwards.  So a long cast PAST the cover you want to crank into will work best.  If you cast right on top of the cover or just past it, it will crank down away from the structure without ever touching it.  So always learn the dive of each brand and size of crank you have, as each will be more or less steep in the dive.  It takes a little time to learn what you are feeling and what the lure is doing, but once you learn, you will amaze yourself at the crud you can work a big crank through with those big #2 treble hooks.  They are designed to go through that stuff, but most anglers that have never learned to work a crank bait will hang up, lose a few and then go back to a worm or jig out of frustration.