Catching Smallies On Crankbaits

[fishinwrench]

Makes sense now. I actually first saw that on an old Heddon lure included in a collection, it was one of those cigar plugs with the metal ring around the head (the name of it escapes me now.....I wanna say it was a very early "spook" but I don't think that's right).

Anyway, I remember thinking that "some bonehead put that on there, and if it was part of MY collection I'd take the stupid thing off". LOL

Turns out "that bonehead" knew more than I did.

Edit: it was a Dowagic minnow. (That drove me crazy)

[joeD]

Twaddle. Fish have a brain the size of a pea, We have no idea what they "think." They live in water and have eyes on opposite sides of their head, Ascribing human reactions or functions to a scaly animal that lives under water is ridiculous.

Ooops. Sorry. I forgot. Some of you KNOW what our friendly smallmouth are "thinking,"

Fluke. Spinnerbait, Topwater, Crankbait, Nightcrawlers, Minnows, Crawdads, Blue. White, Fast retrieve. Slow retrieve. Green. One foot of water. Ten foot of water. Flourcarbon. Spinning reel. Baitcasting reel. Five foot rod. Six foot rod. Canoe. Kayak. Wading. Black. Skirt, Cigars. Cigarettes. Bass Pro, Cabelas. Ford, Chevy, Honda, Yakima. Thule. Wal Mart, Shuttles. Beer. Liquor. Ice. Gas, Nylon. Cotton. Sunglasses. Hats, Caps. Shorts, Shirts. Sunscreen. Shoes. Drugs. Friends. Cars, Outfitters. Highways.Watermelon green. Fast water. Slow water, Wading boots. Waiting on rides, Loading gear. Unloading gear. Anticipation. Fishing.

Fishing...

[cwc87]

JoeD u crack me up.

[Chief Grey Bear]

I'd love for someone to explain the science of this whole spinnerbait skirt on the belly hook thing.

I have always put the skirt on the belly hook. I got that from my dad as that was the only place he put his. The early model Tadpolly's and some other early model cranks were virturally supsepending baits 40 years before they actually made suspending baits. If you crank them down and stop, the skirt on the belly hook will blossom out like a flower. You can also get some super top water bites by just letting it set for a bit before you start cranking when you cast them. It adds a realism of life into the bait. When cranking, they fold under the bait and pulsate appearing to add a swimming action.

We always used 60 count flat rubber skirts. They are hard to find now days. I have moved to silicone and flat if I can find it. It gives in my opinion the same action as the rubber. Some of the old river men around here still won't use anything but rubber.

[RSBreth]

I don't do the belly hook skirt thing (but I still need to try it) but I do put hackle on the tail treble of a lot of tighter wobble cranks (like a Shad Rap or Salmo Hornet) I think it does get a few more fish versus the plain hook version.

[Mitch f]

24 cans of beer in a case,,,24 hours in a day........coincidence?

JoeD u crack me up.

[Flysmallie]

24 cans of beer in a case,,,24 hours in a day........coincidence?

I think he's a wine cooler kind of guy.

[Seth]

I guess that part of the problem is that most of the areas I fish are loaded with wood cover so I am constantly getting hung up. The Osage is mainly chunk rock so I don't get hung up very often with crankbaits. I've tried the KVD 1.5 squarebills and it doesn't take long before it gets hung up and I get frustrated and cut it off.

I'll just have to save them for areas without so much timber and try them again. There are a few spots I have in mind where a deep diving crank SHOULD work but who knows. With Gasconade flirting with record flood levels it is going to be a while before I get the chance to find out.

[Flysmallie]

I guess that part of the problem is that most of the areas I fish are loaded with wood cover so I am constantly getting hung up. The Osage is mainly chunk rock so I don't get hung up very often with crankbaits. I've tried the KVD 1.5 squarebills and it doesn't take long before it gets hung up and I get frustrated and cut it off.

Try a different bait. Some of them have a tighter/different wobble and will get hung up a lot less. You also have to feel what your bait is doing. Most of those hangups can be avoided by easing it through the tough spots. You can drag a flat wart through a brushpile if your careful. Bumping those crank baits around is what creates the bites. Don't give up.

[Al Agnew]

Chief, those are some good points about the skirt on the belly hook. The old timer who first showed me the trick with a Midge-oreno usually fished it by casting it out and letting it sit until the rings from the landing totally settled. Then he'd twitch it very gently once or twice and let it sit another 30 seconds or so. Of course, fishing from a canoe as he did, by that time the canoe had drifted so far that the lure was way behind him. When he couldn't let it sit any longer without the canoe movement dragging it downstream, he'd start reeling. It drove me bonkers fishing with him, because I was in the back of the canoe trying to slow it down so he could let that thing sit a little longer. I didn't have that kind of patience and still don't, so I mostly just cast mine out and crank it in, but I do use some little twitches and such during the retrieve at times. There have been a few times during all the years I've fished those types of lures that the fish really did want it sitting still on the surface and wouldn't hit it at all if you started the retrieve immediately, though...and maybe more times than that, when I wasn't catching anything on it by immediately cranking it but didn't bother to try the sitting still method.

On mine, the flat rubber skirts didn't work well because the base of the skirt, with that thick rubber insert, was too bulky. What I always used was vinyl skirts, which you can't find anymore...I bought a pile of them and still have a few, but not in my best colors anymore. As they came, they were a little too bulky, but you could actually start at the base and peel some of the skirt off. Thin silicone with the rubber rings to attach them would work for a while, but the silicone was too flexible and would soon get tangled up so badly they didn't wave well anymore and started messing up the wobbling action. I now use the flat silicone skirts like the Terminator skirts, as well.