Crankbaits ?

[single spin]

I've never done alot of cranking, but want to give it a try this year. I was wondering what type of crankbait I should be throwing, shad or crawdad colored, and how deep of water to focus on? I would be grateful for any help on this. thanks

[Phil Lilley]

You might check out RSBreth's blog on crank baits. Excellent article.

http://ozarkanglers.com/forums/index.php?a...;blogid=16&

[Nitroman]

STORM WIGGLE WARTS in Brown & Green Crawdad patterns & NORMANS DD14 in assorted Shad patterns.

Look for shad, if they are at a reasonable depth ( 12 ft. or less ) & you have good weather conditions one of these crankbaits should produce for you.

[Whack'emGood]

Single Spin,

Here is my two cents. I hope it helps you. Cranking can be great, especially in the fall.

I fish crawdad patterns probably 80% of the time in Ozarks lakes. I think I just have more confidence in the craw as opposed to the shad. As far as depth of diving goes... Wherever I am fishing, I want that crankbait digging the bottom in most cases-- clunking off of rocks or wood. So, whatever depth you are fishing, fish a crank that dives deeper than that depth. Here is a great tip for you-- buy a telescopic lure retriever. See the link below for the retriever I use. It will save 99% of your snagged crankbaits. I have one of these and it has saved me hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars in crankbaits. I rarely ever have one I can't get loose with this thing. I always say that it is the best thing I have ever bought.

Also-- when fishing crankbaits, experiment with your retrieves until the fish tell you what they want. Fish it slow, medium, fast, stop-and-start, erratic... until you find which retrieve they want for that particular day or location. Pay close attention to how you were retrieving the lure and/or what you did with the lure just before the strike. Also keep in contact (your feel) with your crankbait at all times. You can tell what the bottom composition and/or structure is like through feel. I use feel with a crankbait just like I would a jig or something.

Here is the retriever I use... http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/s...__SearchResults

Oh, and if you buy this retriever... take some JB Weld or waterproof epoxy and use it to lock the screw holding on the spiral tip in place. If you don't, the screw will try to work loose on you and you may end up losing the spiral tip.

Good luck! Man, I am all fired up to go fishing now!

Whack'em

[Flippin]

whack'emGood,

I will be trying to learn to fish during the winter this year and I know you use crank bait a lot during the colder months. Is particular brand/size/color etc that you use frequently?

[Whack'emGood]

Flippin,

There are a few cranks that are very popular on Ozarks lakes... and for very good reason-- they catch fish. One is the Storm Wiggle Wart in the crawdad patterns. Alot of guys fish these and catch alot of fish-- I fish them periodically and generally do pretty well with them. The other is the Norman DD-22. It dives to approx. 15-18ft and most guys fish them in the shad patterns. Norman also makes a DD-14 and others that dive to different depths. I also fish these sometimes. I also like the Strike King Pro Model Series and the Rapala DT series crankbaits. In my opinion, you can't go wrong if you have crankbaits in either one of these two series' in both shad and crawdad patterns that cover all 3 levels of depth (shallow, medium, deep). On table rock, in most cases, I fish crankbaits in the aforementioned makes and models that dive 10 to 15 feet and, more often than not, I fish crawdad patterns-- although, I know at times you can catch a ton of fish on shad pattern cranks. I'm sure that there are some guys on here that fish other makes/models that they may recommend, but those are the ones I recommend.

You are correct about fishing these in colder water. I know alot of guys fish other lures when the water gets cold, but I fish crankbaits down until the water temp gets under 45*-- although I have caught fish in 42* water on cranks.

Good luck!

Whack'em

[S&M]

Nitroman and Whack'em gave you some great advise with cranking on the rock. Take to heart what Whack'em said about an "eractic" retrive, bottom contact and bumping structure, this is a must for working a crank bait.

I'll start throwing a crank bait when fall water temps hit around 67 *, and use it all winter. Now here's what to look for when on the water to use that crank bait effectively.

1) look for shad skipping along the shore line. Wind blown points and shore line are a must.

2) if shad are not visible skipping along the shore line, make a few cast up against the shore line. A lot of times the shad may not be actively skipping on the water surface, but they are there and will skip arcross the water when your crank bait hits the water.

3) Look for balls of shad on your graph, away for the bank in 20-30' of water. Crank above those bait balls, then hit the banks ajacent to those balls of shad.

4) to be really consistant with cranking during the fall and winter, you need to follow the shad.

Trust me on this, your going to have one of those days cranking where you will get into schools of bass during the fall and you'll crank up 20 or 30 keepers in a day.

[Nitro FIsh]

Here is the retriever I use... http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/s...__SearchResults

Oh, and if you buy this retriever... take some JB Weld or waterproof epoxy and use it to lock the screw holding on the spiral tip in place. If you don't, the screw will try to work loose on you and you may end up losing the spiral tip.

Whack'emGood is right about this tool, I purchased one a couple of years ago and it's saved countless cranks for me both under and above the water. Most noteable save was my partners errant cast that ended up in a tree about 10' up, another time we used it to rescue a hooked water fowl that was fairly large and aggressive, I also have used it to retrieve a crank from a laydown that had several limbs and impossible to reach without this tool. I store mine in the rod box, always ready to retrieve.

Good tip on locking the screw that holds the spiral tip on, I'll have to try this.

[dtrs5kprs]

My favorite plug saver moment was the day I used mine to get a wart loose in a little pocket up by Bridgeport. Did the usual deal of running it down to the bait, which was way stuck, and was poking at it with some vigor and managed to get the tip stuck when the wind caught the boat, and blew me past the bait saver. At this point it was standing straight up out of the lake like a post, and I was blowing across the pocket with line peeling off my reel, bait and saver still stuck.

Did get the bait and the saver back, and yes, the sprial tip was loose and hanging down around the bait. Learned a good tip is to either back way off your drag, or unlock the spool so you don't end up breaking or losing a rod on top of things.

[Whack'emGood]

Learned a good tip is to either back way off your drag, or unlock the spool so you don't end up breaking or losing a rod on top of things.

Yes-- also... at first, the retriever is a little difficult to use. It takes some getting used to, but eventually you get your retrieving technique down and rarely have something that you can't retrieve with it. The way that I use it is this:

1) Make sure you spin the tip around your line so that your line goes totally through the whole spiral.

2) Put your rod down and grab your line with one hand and the retriever with the other.

3) Hold your line right next to the retriever (exactly parallel to the retriever), and pull the line tight while you push the retriever down the line to the lure. This way you know you are making the best contact with the lure without your line or limbs and such getting in the way.

This thing has saved me alot of lures. I greatly prefer it to those plug knockers that run on a rope down your line. I have also saved spinnerbaits and crankbaits 10+ feet up in trees... don't ask me how they got there . You can also use the butt end as a push pole to get yourself back off the bank and keep your trolling motor safe from the rocks if you have to go way up shallow to get a lure.

dtrs5kprs and Nitro Fish,

The company that makes these should give us a commission or something for the advertisement!

Whack'em