Crankbaits ?

[focused fishing]

Lots of good advice here, the one thing I didn't notice were any comments on boat positioning when cranking. For the most part you will want to parallel whatever bank or point you are fishing to maximize the amount of time the bait is in the strike zone. For example; when throwing a wiggle wart on I will position the boat 8' deep parallel to the bank and cast directly infront of the boat. I will work the 8' range down a bank, around a point or whatever keeping the bait tight to the bottom throughout the retrieve. My fishing partner and I call it "chewing" the bottom.

The same holds true for paralelling with a deeper crankbait.

If you are trying to hit some form of off shore structure it is a different story; position the boat so at the "deepest" point of the retrieve makes contact with the structure. Cast beyond and retrieve into the cover / structure.

Hope this helps,

EP

[Champ188]

This is all great info from some very good fishermen and I hope I'm not repeating anyone here, but I would add two things ... (1) As Eric pointed out, it's important to keep your bait in the strike long for the longest amount of time possible. The longer your cast, the longer the bait will remain at its maximum depth. So get yourself a quality rod and reel and hurl that dude out of sight. (2) Line size also plays a huge role in crank baits reaching their maximum depth. Personally, I find that just about any crank bait will perform very well on 10-pound-test monofilament. My personal choice is either Trilene Big Game or P-Line mono. The P-Line is a little pricier but seems to be a bit tougher.