Crankbaits with square bills are best for running in the shallows from 1 to 4 feet, while a plug with a 1-inch bill will dive to about 10 feet deep. Crankbaits featuring longer bills have the potential to reach depths down to 30 feet .
How deep does a deep diving crankbait go?
Crankbaits with square bills are best for running in the shallows from 1 to 4 feet, while a plug with a 1-inch bill will dive to about 10 feet deep. Crankbaits featuring longer bills have the potential to reach depths down to 30 feet .
How do I know if my crankbait is deep diving?
The first thing you will notice about crankbaits is the lip or bill on the front of each one designed to plane through the water and get the lure down in the water column. The diving depth of the lure can be roughly determined by the size of the bill ; the bigger and longer, the deeper it will dive.
How do you get crankbaits down deep?
You can make a crankbait run deeper and even suspend by simply adding larger and heavier hooks . Mustad’s KVD Elite Trebles with heavier gauge wire are good examples. Another trick is to stick Storm SuspenStrips or Dots to the underside of the crankbait lip.
When should you throw crankbaits?
Crankbaits work best in the spring, summer, and fall , except during the few weeks a year fish are spawning. Use medium-diving crankbaits when waters are about 50-60 degrees. As the season moves along and the fish start moving from the banks toward deeper waters, use a shad-colored crankbait.
How fast should I reel in a crankbait?
The correct speed of any crankbait reel is 21 inches of line pick-up per turn of the reel handle . Most of that information is on the internet or on the packaging. If it isn’t, measure what your reel is doing with a ruler. It’s that important.
Do crankbaits have to hit bottom?
For professionals like Skeet Reese, Todd Faircloth and Mark Menendez, mismatching crankbaits to water depth — especially in the shallows — has become less an exception and more the rule. “As a general rule of thumb, you want a bait that will be in contact with the bottom at all times .
What kind of rod is best for crankbaits?
A 7 to 8-foot cranking rod will cast the bigger medium and deep-diving crankbaits much better than a 6′-6” rod will. The longer length allows energy to load up into the rod, making long casts easier. On the other hand, a 6′-6” cranking rod will be a better choice when fishing smaller crankbaits.
What is the best line for crankbaits?
The best multipurpose line is monofilament . It has been an all-around great bass fishing line for years and is affordable. Monofilament has more stretch than fluorocarbon or braid so it is ideal for running shallow-diving crankbaits through wood or rocks.
Can you add a weight to a crankbait?
You can alter the performance characteristics of hard baits like jerkbaits and crankbaits by adding weight to them. ... Making a lure suspend, rise slowly or even sink can come in handy when you want the bait to stay in the strike zone longer. But, adding weight can also change the action of the bait .
Do crankbaits catch big bass?
By Walker Smith · Aug 23, 2016. There’s a reason why so many top bass fishing professionals favor crankbaits—they’re known to catch big bass when other lures and techniques fail . ... Crankbait fishing is a lot more than just mindlessly reeling a lure, however.
What is best bait for bass fishing?
Nightcrawlers, leeches, shad, bluegill, and crayfish are all effective bass baits—although this method of fishing doesn’t allow for an active retrieve you can achieve with lures.
How do I make my lures deeper when trolling?
If you need to go deeper, just let out some backing until your target depth is reached . On the lure end of the line, remove a short section of lead as before and tie on a size 18, or smaller, barrel swivel. Now use a 10 to 15 foot mono or fluorocarbon leader to tie on the lure.
Do crankbaits work year round?
Crankbait
If it wasn’t for jigs, crankbaits would probably hold the crown for best “year-round bait .” By changing your crankbaits with the seasons and water conditions, you can always find bass willing to bite. In winter, slender profiled cranks with flat sides and a subtle wobble reign supreme.
Where can you use crankbaits?
Ideal places to throw shallow crankbaits are around rocks, docks, submerged wood, and shallow grass lines . The key with shallow-diving crankbaits is to fish them with no regard to getting them hung up.
What action is best for crankbaits?
Rod Action vs Power
The majority of bass lures are best fished with a fast or extra fast action tip, but crankbaits perform best with a slow or moderate-fast action tip . This measure of speed is just how long the tip goes from being bent to being straight when released in a catapult style.
Should I use a swivel with a crankbait?
Never use a swivel or angled snap when fishing crankbaits . This type of terminal hardware makes it more difficult to tune lures. Even worse, avoid tying crankbaits directly to the fishing line using common knots like the clinch.
Are deep diving crankbaits good?
While some lures work well early and late in the day during summer, deep-diving crankbaits provide round-the-clock action. ... A deep-diving crankbait is a really good search bait and a real good big fish bait. If you hit the right zone with it you can get well in a hurry on it.
What is the best color crankbait?
Whites, silvers , and anything flashy that resembles a shad works wonders when it comes to crankbait fishing. It is always a good idea to have several shad-pattern crankbaits ready to go. Bright shad patterns like white excel in both clear and dirty water, and the more translucent shades are best for ultra-clear water.
What’s the difference between a crankbait and a jerkbait?
Crankbaits are generally shorter and fatter , while jerkbaits are slender and longer. Jerkbaits mostly have three treble hooks, while crankbaits have two. The most common types of bills for both jerkbaits and crankbaits include square bills, diamond-shaped bills, and rounded bills.
How big should a crankbait be?
| Species Approximate Crankbait Length | Largemouth Bass 2-5 inches | Smallmouth Bass 2-5 inches | Walleye 3-6 inches | Northern Pike 4-9 inches |
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Is a medium heavy rod good for crankbaits?
Medium Heavy Fast will work for crankbaits, and many people prefer that rod for shallow running square bills. I recently got a dedicated crankbait rod that is a medium-heavy moderate action. It really is more suited to crankbait fishing.
What rod does KVD use for crankbaits?
The most versatile crankbait rods in VanDam’s rod box are 7-foot medium and 7-foot medium-heavy models . He favors the 7-foot medium for cranking small to medium diving plugs and relies on the medium-heavy action for running lipless crankbaits through grass.
Is braid good for crankbaits?
Braided line is a great choice when bass fishing with crankbaits.
Is Mono good for crankbaits?
Monofilament line will give you that very important split-second delay that’s needed for suitable hook penetration. In addition, bass will often swipe at crankbaits out of pure reaction; many times their mouth won’t even be open. Again, monofilament will give you more forgiveness in this situation.
Can fish see braided line?
While there are many benefits to using braided line, being undetected by fish is not one of them. ... Fluorocarbon is the line that is most invisible underwater, while braided line is the strongest, yet most visible above water . The same can be said about highly visible colors such as yellow and red.
How far behind a boat should you troll?
For bigeye use a flatline about 40 feet behind the boat . They want it in the prop wash. The longer the lures are the more careful you have to be when making turns. You also have to make sure your lures are running straight or you will get nasty tangles.
What’s the biggest bass ever caught?
Official Largemouth World Record: George Perry’s Undefeated Bass. On June 2nd, 1932, George Perry caught the current world record bass out of Lake Montgomery, an oxbow lake off the Ocmulgee River in southern Georgia. The fish (the whopper) weighed 22 pounds, 4 ounces . At that time, world records for fish didn’t exist.
How long is a 10 pound bass?
| Length Smallmouth Bass Largemouth Bass | Weight Weight | 14.5′′ 1 lb. 7 oz. 1 lb. 10 oz. | 15′′ 1 lb. 10 oz. 1 lb. 13 oz. | 15.5′′ 1 lb. 12 oz. 2 lb. 0 oz. |
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What are the deepest diving crankbaits?
Weight: 7/8oz – Diving Depth: 17/30ft
The Salmo Freediver is truly a revolution in super deep diving crankbait fishing. Capable of diving over 40′ while trolling, the Salmo Freediver is the deepest diving lure available on the market today.
What fish is like a crankbait?
From cold water species such as trout and salmon , to warm water fish like bass, pike, walleye, perch and panfish, a properly selected crankbait can often be one of the most important lures in an angler’s tackle box.
Do crankbaits work for trout?
Another appeal of using crankbaits for trout is that they tend to attract a little larger fish on average than do most flies, jigs or spinners, and they are among the best lures for targeting trophy trout.
