Squarebill Vs Roundbill

[drew03cmc]

Which do you choose and why, for everyday fishing, be it a lake/pond from shore, wading a creek, floating or fishing from a glitter machine?

[hoglaw]

Guess it's like do you choose dry flies or streamers.

Maybe that's a bit extreme, but for me a square bill (which I never used before trophyfishr turned me on to them) is a shallow water and wood bait. I prefer them around trees and fishing really tight to the bank.

[fishinwrench]

I'm not even aware of a "round bill" unless you are referring to the old Bomber shallow divers, or Humpback Rebels.

The big Strike King KVD has become a staple of mine.

The smaller version just doesn't seem to have the same mojo as the big one though so if I feel the need to size down I throw a Bandit 100, cuz that sucker has fish mojo in spades. SHORT fish mojo...but mojo nonetheless.

I have gotten to where I rely more on a 1/2oz. RedEye Shad instead of a square bill crank around shallowish wood cover and I think I do better with it. The ability to stop and drop after the bait crashes into a piece of cover seals the deal better for me than a brief pause with a floating crankbait.

[drew03cmc]

For roundbill, I was grouping everything else together that does not have a squarebill.

Are your preferences for lakes or streams or both?

[fishinwrench]

For roundbill, I was grouping everything else together that does not have a squarebill.

Are your preferences for lakes or streams or both?

Both. Water is water. But truthfully I don't think I've ever been on a good shallow crankbait bite when "current" was a factor.

Oh wait...the Rebel craw has a round bill, and that's another one that has some serious bass mojo!

I just don't know. I'm not sure the whole "square bill" classification is a useful thought process to get into.

It has become a buzzword, and nothing else.

[Al Agnew]

To me, crankbaits have two variables...depth, and how wide the wobble is. Shape of the bill doesn't matter to me. For river fishing, the only deep runners I use are Wiggle Warts and Norman Middle Ns. I think both have round bills. The only shallow runner I use is my homemade one which doesn't even have a bill.

[drew03cmc]

Have you posted a picture of your bait Al? I'd be fascinated to see it since it is sans bill.

[Al Agnew]

Here ya go, Drew...basic body shape and required hardware on it:Depending upon exactly how I shape the front end, it will run anywhere from 6 inches to 2.5 feet deep on a normal speed retrieve. Has a very wide wobble that waves the skirt widely as well. Without the skirt it still works, but must be fished much slower and will wobble very erratically. The two colors of body are about all I ever paint it, the skirt is usually either white or fluorescent yellow, though I have a few that are mostly black for fishing in very murky water, and once in a while I'll use one with a black and yellow skirt. If I reel it slower and keep my rod tip a little higher it becomes a wake bait that is one of my best lures for fishing clear streams on moonlit nights.

[drew03cmc]

Interesting design. I like how the face is tapered in lieu of a plastic bill. What size trebles do you routinely run on it? That conjures memories of old baits that I must have assumed were topwaters due to their lack of a bill. How does it do around stumps and rocks?

[Al Agnew]

Body is about two inches long, give or take a quarter inch. Hooks are #2. It's plenty snagless...at least as snagless as a billed crankbait. I love throwing it around wood in the streams and don't hesitate to cast it over logs. You're exactly right...lures like the old Lucky 13 and Bass Oreno were designed more as crankbaits than topwaters, and adding a skirt to such lures makes them do exactly what my lure does. Before I started making my own, I used the Midge-oreno and the Baby Lucky 13 with the skirt.