Never caught anything on a crankbait :( anyone else ? 2024
Ksam1234 reply :
I know most people who fish have fished using crankbaits be that a squarebill, deep diving, shallow diving, wake bait or medium diving. I have fished all bill types. Silent or rattles and I have never caught anything on a crankbait .. lipless baits have worked and jerkbaits a plenty but that’s it. The lakes I fish don’t have docks or hard bottom. They have lots of grass and weeds of all kinds so crankbaits aren’t to good in them .. still in early Prespawn with no weeds the bass just don’t eat cranks! Anyone else deal with this? Would be fun to have a crankbait bite
Sam reply :
Keep trying.
Throw parallel to the bank or to and from the bank if you are in a boat.
Try to stay above the grass and be sure to fish any changes in rocks, grass, open areas, wood, and anything in the water that could hold bass. Clean any gunk or grass off crankbait before throwing it again.
Sooner or later you will hook one and have a good fight.
Ksam1234 reply :
On 10/8/2018 at 7:10 AM, Sam said:Keep trying.
Throw parallel to the bank or to and from the bank if you are in a boat.
Try to stay above the grass and be sure to fish any changes in rocks, grass, open areas, wood, and anything in the water that could hold bass. Clean any gunk or grass off crankbait before throwing it again.
Sooner or later you will hook one and have a good fight.
I fish from my canoe , have thrown parallel. I have squarebills 1.5 and 2.5 size. From multiple companies. Deeep divers and medium. I try ripping it from grass. Staying above grass. I they just never eat it! But I can throw a swimjig , spinnerbaits , chatter bait or pretty much anything else and they eat it.. crankbaits nope!
Harold Scoggins reply :
Great video with this article.
https://www.bassresource.com/fish/crankbaits.html
Ksam1234 reply :
On 10/8/2018 at 7:30 AM, Harold Scoggins said:Great video with this article.
https://www.bassresource.com/fish/crankbaits.html
I saw this and tried it. I think my lake just doesn’t like crankbaits lol. I can catch them and find them. They just don’t eat the crank ! Silly fish
Harold Scoggins reply :
On 10/8/2018 at 7:32 AM, Ksam1234 said:I saw this and tried it. I think my lake just doesn’t like crankbaits lol. I can catch them and find them. They just don’t eat the crank ! Silly fish
Maybe they've grown wise to the more popular cranks being thrown today. You could try switching it up with some "old school" cranks like shad raps, risto raps, or fat raps. You may change your luck throwing cranks that many find a hard time dropping the coin on like Megabass's S Crank or the Z Crank models. Are you throwing straight rattle cranks, silent, or both. Don't give up on your cranks, you'll figure out the code.
Ksam1234 reply :
On 10/8/2018 at 7:47 AM, Harold Scoggins said:Maybe they've grown wise to the more popular cranks being thrown today. You could try switching it up with some "old school" cranks like shad raps, risto raps, or fat raps. You may change your luck throwing cranks that many find a hard time dropping the coin on like Megabass's S Crank or the Z Crank models. Are you throwing straight rattle cranks, silent, or both. Don't give up on your cranks, you'll figure out the code.
I have silent and rattle. I have some from strike king , 6th sense , norman , berkley and live target. Oh I have one wiggle wart and some rapala fat DT
WRB reply :
Does your lake have a dam? If so is it a dirt or rock dam?
The reason I ask is all man made lakes have a dam, only natural lakes don't.
The dam and the area where it's biult should be the deepest water with the steepest bank. Crawdads live in around the dame area, crankbaits work better in that type of structure as a rule, cleaner water with less aquatic plant growth.
If you can catch bass on a spinnerbait or chatterbait, they will strike a crankbait.
Tom
haggard reply :
Yep. I've never caught anything on a frog, rat, spook, popper, squarebill, spoon, spinner or skirted jig.
Which is why I fish mostly soft plastics.
Which is why I never catch anything on a frog, rat, spook, popper, squarebill, spoon, spinner or skirted jig.
Ksam1234 reply :
On 10/8/2018 at 8:21 AM, WRB said:Does your lake have a dam? If so is it a dirt or rock dam?
The reason I ask is all man made lakes have a dam, only natural lakes don't.
The dam and the area where it's biult should be the deepest water with the steepest bank. Crawdads live in around the dame area, crankbaits work better in that type of structure as a rule, cleaner water with less aquatic plant growth.
If you can catch bass on a spinnerbait or chatterbait, they will strike a crankbait.
Tom
Yes there is a dam in 2 out of 3 of the places I fish. the main one is actuslly a lake made for a watershed project to protect farms from flooding. It is where I have caught my PB as it is stocked yearly with trout and has plenty of other fish. But the shallower area is full of weeds and is clear water about 5 ft. The dam has dirtier water but generally clear and around 12-15 ft deep. I have never caught anything by the dam but a friend of mine said a couple years ago he caught an 8 pounder in the spring fishing off the dam oh and it’s concrete
On 10/8/2018 at 8:24 AM, haggard said:Yep. I've never caught anything on a frog, rat, spook, popper, squarebill, spoon, spinner or skirted jig.
Which is why I fish mostly soft plastics.
Which is why I never catch anything on a frog, rat, spook, popper, squarebill, spoon, spinner or skirted jig.
Lol I have tried fishing crankbaits lots of times and just never end up with anything and go back to the usual power fishing tactics
BassWhole! reply :
No, a crank was one of the first lures I caught a bass on as a kid. But there is a place and time for different lures, and in some places lures with trebles aren't always a good choice. I would say if you want to fish with and get better with cranks (or any other lure) fish it when/where it is most productive. The worst thing one can do is try to force something that isn't working or isn't the right tool.
MickD reply :
Next time you go fishing don't take anything with you except cranks. Be sure to have a Rapala DT of appropriate depth rating. Force yourself to use only cranks and I expect you will find a way to catch fish on them. On my last SMB outing I caught fish only on cranks, although I tried a lot of other stuff.
You have to know that if millions of fishermen catch fish on cranks, you can too.
WRB reply :
I would target the dams at low periods with crawdad color diving crankbaits,high % for bass hunting craws. If the lakes don't have Shad or other school type baitfish then craw colors should work.
If trout are planted, a swimbait in trout colors should also work in the areas with brighter sunlight.
Lipless cranks is your better choice along weed edges, as bill types tend foul too easily and difficult to snap the weeds off.
Tom
Ksam1234 reply :
On 10/8/2018 at 9:14 AM, WRB said:I would target the dams at low periods with crawdad color diving crankbaits,high % for bass hunting craws. If the lakes don't have Shad or other school type baitfish then craw colors should work.
If trout are planted, a swimbait in trout colors should also work in the areas with brighter sunlight.
Lipless cranks is your better choice along weed edges, as bill types tend foul too easily and difficult to snap the weeds off.
Tom
Thanks I’ll have to try that. And no shad are present , trout and bluegill/pumpkinseed are the main forage
WRB reply :
On 10/8/2018 at 9:16 AM, Ksam1234 said:Thanks I’ll have to try that. And no shad are present , trout and bluegill/pumpkinseed are the main forage
Forget bluegill and pumpkin seeds as prey outside the cover, they rarely leave it until the cover dies off in the winter. Focus and crawdads imatators which means the cranks need to be very close to the bottom or structure.
Tom
Ksam1234 reply :
On 10/8/2018 at 9:32 AM, WRB said:Forget bluegill and pumpkin seeds as prey outside the cover, they rarely leave it until the cover dies off in the winter. Focus and crawdads imatators which means the cranks need to be very close to the bottom or structure.
Tom
Thank you I never knew that. I would always throw crankbaits to imitate bluegill and such and try not to hit bottom. I’ll focus on craw imitations and see how that goes.
bigbassin' reply :
On 10/8/2018 at 9:35 AM, Ksam1234 said:Thank you I never knew that. I would always throw crankbaits to imitate bluegill and such and try not to hit bottom. I’ll focus on craw imitations and see how that goes.
If you're trying to not hit the bottom that might be part of your problem. In my experience, which seems to be backed by most of what I've read and watched, crankbaits work the best bumping off any hard cover or gravel bottom you can find.
Ksam1234 reply :
On 10/8/2018 at 10:30 AM, bigbassin' said:If you're trying to not hit the bottom that might be part of your problem. In my experience, which seems to be backed by most of what I've read and watched, crankbaits work the best bumping off any hard cover or gravel bottom you can find.
I try to in the spring but once summer
comes all my lakes are covered in weeds unless it’s like 40 ft deep.. I fish smaller lakes bc I only have a canoe. I have never bumped bottom in the smaller lakes I fish like Tom mentioned so I’m going to try that
Sifuedition reply :
One of the most productive actions of a crankbait is what they call "seeking" behavior. Each crankbait "wiggles" in a specific frequency. A quality not all crankbaits share, however, is some will "seek" which is the term for when they randomly path back and forth. For an example of this notice the old-style wiggle wart (from before Rapala bought out the pattern) in this video. The idea with bumping a crankbait on the bottom or off of structure is to cause some of this random pathing.
Also, stopping and starting randomly has triggered the most strikes, in my experience. I try to have the most random, erratic behavior I can create.
Viewing my post today, it looks like my link to a youtube was removed....
OCdockskipper reply :
On 10/8/2018 at 8:21 AM, WRB said:The reason I ask is all man made lakes have a dam, only natural lakes don't...
Being a resident of Southern California, I thought you would know that isn't true. Most of the private "development lakes", those small man made lakes with homes completely around them, built to enhance the value of the homes when they were initially built, have no dam. They are more like a swimming pool than a lake, with an inlet consisting of a pipe and an outlet that goes into the storm drains.
Small crankbaits often work well in these lakes, either squarebills along the retaining walls or deep divers in the few offshore spots.
WRB reply :
West lake has a dam, man made with homes all around the parimeter and every other similar lake has dam, if your lake doesn't it's uncommon construction as severe rain could over flow the residents. Not saying there are bowl carved out and made like a natural lake, just few and far between.
The op says no or few docks, didn't mention retaining walls and dought if any exist or any outside rock piles that would attract bass.
Tom
Bluebasser86 reply :
While I've caught lots of fish on cranks, and can if the need arises, I don't enjoy fishing them.
Ratherbfishing reply :
On 10/8/2018 at 7:05 AM, Ksam1234 said:I know most people who fish have fished using crankbaits be that a squarebill, deep diving, shallow diving, wake bait or medium diving. I have fished all bill types. Silent or rattles and I have never caught anything on a crankbait .. lipless baits have worked and jerkbaits a plenty but that’s it. The lakes I fish don’t have docks or hard bottom. They have lots of grass and weeds of all kinds so crankbaits aren’t to good in them .. still in early Prespawn with no weeds the bass just don’t eat cranks! Anyone else deal with this? Would be fun to have a crankbait bite
Am splitting hairs here but take solace in knowing that lipless baits and hard jerkbaits are merely subsets of crankbaits. So you HAVE caught fish on crankbaits. But if you insist on distinguishing them differently, if you keep at it, you'll eventually connect. Try trolling one sometime. They cover a lot of water and (medium and deep divers) are great for suspended fish.
Bankbeater reply :
Crankbait fishing has been very slow around here this year. I usually catch between 1/2 and 1/3 of my bass each season on crankbaits, but this year I don't think I have caught 10 bass fishing with them.
Edited by BankbeaterI need to learn to spell
YoTone reply :
Same here. Maybe it because i dont have a depth finder so i dont know how deep of water im in so im not sure on which crank bait to choose from.
scaleface reply :
I' fish from a boat with a depth finder and hunt out deep structure and cover so yeah , crankbaits see a lot of playing time .
Munkin reply :
Like any other bait they have their time and place. I second Tom's recommendation of fishing crayfish colored cranks around dam RIP rap. In lakes with a lot of weeds I like a bait that runs just overtop of them. This can mean a 10' bait running over weeds 11' deep or a Mann's baby 1- running over 2' weeds.
Allen
Ksam1234 reply :
On 10/9/2018 at 8:02 AM, Munkin said:Like any other bait they have their time and place. I second Tom's recommendation of fishing crayfish colored cranks around dam RIP rap. In lakes with a lot of weeds I like a bait that runs just overtop of them. This can mean a 10' bait running over weeds 11' deep or a Mann's baby 1- running over 2' weeds.
Allen
Never heard of the Mann’s ? I’ll have to look those up
MickD reply :
I might have missed it, but don't see mention of varying speeds. Seems to me that with "fat cranks," very slow retrieves are often the best. Coupled with the already mentioned stop and go.
J Francho reply :
On 10/8/2018 at 8:52 AM, reason said:No, a crank was one of the first lures I caught a bass on as a kid.
Same. Crankbaits were more cost effective than plastics. A $3 Rebel craw could catch a 100 fish, where a $1.50 bag of plastic grubs might be a dozen or so.
The main thing with cranking for me, is not to just haul water. You should hitting, banging, deflecting, and snagging things underwater. You say there are weeds, then pick a bait that runs list a little lower than the tops of those weeds. Start your retrieve, and when the bait hits the weeds, kill it and give some slack. A diver will back up out of cover as it rises. Give the rod a moderately firm snap after a few seconds, and star your retrieve again, repeating the process.
Boomstick reply :
Odd. I can usually catch bass on a crankbait in pretty much any lake. Last year, I didn't catch too many on a crankbait but this year I fished them more and made a killing.
the reel ess reply :
The Rebel Deep Wee R was the first hardbait I ever used. For years, I only used it and the 6" purple worm. My dad believed most baits caught fishermen, not fish. He would only buy me what he used.
MrFrost reply :
Do you have any rivers near you? I know that I am doing well with cranks right now fishing a river near me. Like some have mentioned, the side to side motion is what I like best about the Cabela's "Dig It" shallow diver. Orange is the hot color, at least by me right now. I have yet to throw any cranks at my local pond/lake due to the grass/weeds/pads still being too thick, but it getting closer to when that should all start clearing up.
Ksam1234 reply :
On 10/9/2018 at 9:33 PM, MrFrost said:Do you have any rivers near you? I know that I am doing well with cranks right now fishing a river near me. Like some have mentioned, the side to side motion is what I like best about the Cabela's "Dig It" shallow diver. Orange is the hot color, at least by me right now. I have yet to throw any cranks at my local pond/lake due to the grass/weeds/pads still being too thick, but it getting closer to when that should all start clearing up.
I have a few rivers about an hour away but never been one to fish rivers really.
MrFrost reply :
On 10/9/2018 at 9:43 PM, Ksam1234 said:I have a few rivers about an hour away but never been one to fish rivers really.
I wasn't either. I had a buddy pushing me, and I finally gave in, tied on a crank and threw it for the first time. Took about an hour, figuring out the best retrieve speed and the right diving depth, and next thing you know I was catching 'em on a crank. Only reason I won't be hitting the river today, is because of all the rain, it's up probably five feet and the current is ridiculous. The current alone was pulling drag on me, lol. But I am addicted to river fishing now.
Ksam1234 reply :
On 10/9/2018 at 9:51 PM, MrFrost said:I wasn't either. I had a buddy pushing me, and I finally gave in, tied on a crank and threw it for the first time. Took about an hour, figuring out the best retrieve speed and the right diving depth, and next thing you know I was catching 'em on a crank. Only reason I won't be hitting the river today, is because of all the rain, it's up probably five feet and the current is ridiculous. The current alone was pulling drag on me, lol. But I am addicted to river fishing now.
I’ll have to give it a try. I mean I do have the Niagara river right by me lol
MrFrost reply :
On 10/9/2018 at 9:54 PM, Ksam1234 said:I’ll have to give it a try. I mean I do have the Niagara river right by me lol
Hahaha, I have found that either near dams, or where there is slack water near flowing water to be most productive.
NYWayfarer reply :
On 10/8/2018 at 9:35 AM, Ksam1234 said:Thank you I never knew that. I would always throw crankbaits to imitate bluegill and such and try not to hit bottom. I’ll focus on craw imitations and see how that goes.
Don't count out the Sunfish pattern crankbaits and surface fishing them. One of the main forage in the rivers I fish is Redbreast Sunfish. I fish this Rebel Bluegill crank quite often by casting it out, waiting for it to float then cranking it a couple of turns, stopping and letting it surface. This Smallmouth smashed it on that type of retrieve.
scaleface reply :
On 10/9/2018 at 10:47 PM, NYWayfarer said:Don't count out the Sunfish pattern crankbaits and surface fishing them. One of the main forage in the rivers I fish is Redbreast Sunfish. I fish this Rebel Bluegill crank quite often by casting it out, waiting for it to float then cranking it a couple of turns, stopping and letting it surface. This Smallmouth smashed it on that type of retrieve.
I have that crankbait but only made a few cast with it . It has barbless hooks . Did you try it with the stock hooks ?
NYWayfarer reply :
On 10/9/2018 at 11:35 PM, scaleface said:I have that crankbait but only made a few cast with it . It has barbless hooks . Did you try it with the stock hooks ?
Yes, and that's the reason I swapped them out for the ones you see on it now, Eagle Claws Laser Sharp red barbed trebles.
I had a Smallmouth leap and shake the barbless ones...
WRB reply :
The cadence a diving lure is retreived is just as important as how deep in runs. With bottom bumping crankbaits as soon as it makes contact stop reeling, then try different number of turning the crank from 1, 3, 2, 4, 1 etc and a rod pump vary that cadence until you get strikes. Strikes can be the lure feels it's gone, the wobble stops, could a bass or weeds, I just crank and rod sweep, if it's a bass thr fights on, if not and the lures action feel right keep working it or retrieve it and clean off whatever fouled it.
Just casting and winding a lure back without any cadence may work, but not for me, I like to work lures.
Tom
scaleface reply :
On 10/10/2018 at 12:36 AM, WRB said:
Just casting and winding a lure back without any cadence may work, but not for me, I like to work lures.
Tom
I will try a straight retrieve , at times it is effective but I catch more fish after the lure hits something , or after a pause . Dredgers will suspend , float slowly or sink slowly , they are not all alike . I get a lot of strikes pausing them from followers .
TBAG reply :
On 10/8/2018 at 3:20 PM, Bluebasser86 said:While I've caught lots of fish on cranks, and can if the need arises, I don't enjoy fishing them.
Just curious as to why not?
Ksam1234 reply :
On 10/10/2018 at 12:36 AM, WRB said:The cadence a diving lure is retreived is just as important as how deep in runs. With bottom bumping crankbaits as soon as it makes contact stop reeling, then try different number of turning the crank from 1, 3, 2, 4, 1 etc and a rod pump vary that cadence until you get strikes. Strikes can be the lure feels it's gone, the wobble stops, could a bass or weeds, I just crank and rod sweep, if it's a bass thr fights on, if not and the lures action feel right keep working it or retrieve it and clean off whatever fouled it.
Just casting and winding a lure back without any cadence may work, but not for me, I like to work lures.
Tom
That might be another reason bc I usually just chuck and wind, no real work on my end ..
Bluebasser86 reply :
On 10/10/2018 at 12:50 AM, TBAG said:Just curious as to why not?
Generally there's always more effective baits in our lakes. An abundance of muck, algae, and zebra mussels tends to make fishing a crankbait difficult. They just don't seem to work that great very often here either. It's been years since I've had someone in the boat with me that was doing better with a crankbait than I was with other baits. Then there's the fact that I just don't enjoy fishing them, squarebills in particular. I don't mind mid to deep running baits as much. There's a lot of days through a fishing season that I don't even have a cranking rod on the deck.
Bass_Fishing_Socal reply :
Can I say that I never caught any fish on crank bait? ????
Hillbilly Bennett reply :
On 10/8/2018 at 10:34 AM, Ksam1234 said:I try to in the spring but once summer
comes all my lakes are covered in weeds unless it’s like 40 ft deep.. I fish smaller lakes bc I only have a canoe. I have never bumped bottom in the smaller lakes I fish like Tom mentioned so I’m going to try that
Each lake is different and maybe yours just aren’t conducive to cranking. Throwing a crank is one of my strengths and there are a few lakes around here where I just don’t do well cranking. Don’t try to force this issue and feed the bass what they will eat. I think that to build confidence in a Lure you need to go to a lake, pond or river where you know there are tons of fish and get out of your comfort zone. I hated to fish Jigs until a recent trip to Guntersville where I made myself throw one all day after the topwater bite died. I caught a ton on it and I gained confidence in a Lure I didn’t trust. A jig now stays on my deck at all times and I use it religiously. Now about how I crank. I love to fish them, especially in the prespawn through early summer, and I consider cranking one of my strengths. In the early spring I catch most of my crankbait fish by bouncing squarebills off of wood and by grinding crawfish colored medium diving cranks on areas with a hard bottom. As the fish transition to their summer haunts I break out my deeper divers and do well on them until the bite slows in July and August. I use 10-12 pound test line for my deeper cranks to get them down to make contact with the bottom. If you aren’t making contact with something when you crank you probably aren’t getting bit. In the grassy lakes you fish I’d start by trying to throw a rattletrap style crank and pop them out of the grass. I would think that would be your best bet.
Russ E reply :
I use a crankbait around 5 percent of the time. most times around here there are more productive baits to use.
most of my crankbait fishing is searching for fish. once I find them I often switch to something else.
At least for me,cranking in Eastern Kansas catches more drum and catfish, than bass.
clh121787 reply :
My pb came on a big ol crankbait
Munkin reply :
On 10/9/2018 at 10:47 PM, NYWayfarer said:Don't count out the Sunfish pattern crankbaits and surface fishing them. One of the main forage in the rivers I fish is Redbreast Sunfish. I fish this Rebel Bluegill crank quite often by casting it out, waiting for it to float then cranking it a couple of turns, stopping and letting it surface. This Smallmouth smashed it on that type of retrieve.
For some reason I cannot catch SM on a bluegill pattern bait in our rivers. The lake LM crush them but river SM just seem to prefer baitfish and crayfish to the point I quit using them.
Allen
burrows reply :
On 10/14/2018 at 1:17 PM, JustJames said:Can I say that I never caught any fish on crank bait? ????
Yeaaah rite...... I definitely don’t believe you ????
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