Crankbait Article

[Fish On]

Crankbaits-By David Scott

Fishermen all over the world use crankbaits to catch many different species of fish. Ever since I was little, I loved the crankbait and discovered that it is one of the most versatile and productive lures. The crankbait can be fished fast or slow, deep or shallow over and around a wide range of structures.
Crankbaits are available in many color combinations and finishes from flashy solid colors like chartreuse,orange, and chrome, to more natural finishes like baby bass, perch, and crayfish. The crankbait can be identified by a plastic, or metal lip, a body, and usually two to three treble hooks.
The most important part of the crankbait is the lip. The size and shape of the lip will determine the depth that the lure can swim down to, and the swimming action that the lure will have as you troll or retrieve it. For example, if the crankbait has a small narrow lip, it will run shallow and have a tight vibrating action. If the lure has a large wide lip, the lure will run deeper and impart a more side to side swimming action. The lip can be tuned by bending it to run either more to the right, or more to the left. You should check the lure before fishing it to make sure the lure will run straight and true. if adjustment is needed, you can bend the lip to correct it.
Body shape also affects how the lure swims and what it imitates. A long streamlined shape will imitate a crappie minnow, or a small shad, while a stubby fat shape may imitate a bluegill, frog, or crayfish.
The hooks on your crankbait are very important. They should always be kept sharp, and checked to make sure that they are not bent. Replace the treble hooks if they become dull or distorted from use. Usually there are two to three treble hooks on a typical crankbait. Often fish are hooked on the back treble, but if you get a good hookset, the fish will get two treble hooks in him resulting in fewer lost fish. A new idea in fishing, is the red treble hook. This imitates a bleeding minnow and the red treble should replace the forward treble hook to attract the fish to hit the head of the lure.
Techniques for fishing crankbaits are many, but some of the basic ones that I use have served me well.My favorite is a steady retrieve with a pause and a small jerk. The steady retrieve gets the fish to followthe lure with it's natural swim action, the pause and jerk will trigger the strike. Another good technique is called "burning" in which you reel in extremely fast to cause a reaction strike. Burning imitates a minnowfleeing from a predator. Another effective technique is the stop and go retrieve. This works great for floating and suspending crankbaits. This will entice a fish following the moving lure to commit to a strike when the lure stops. Finally, there is "jerking" this works great for topwater bass. Cast out a shallow diving floating crankbait then give it an occasional jerk. Let the lure float up to the top and jerk it again this will entice an explosive surface strike from a hungry bass.
Structures to target can be endless. When I fish crankbaits I love drop offs. I will use a crankbait which dives to the depth of the deepest part of the dropoff. Another great area to target is weed edges. Often big bass will wait on an edge of a weed bed and wait for prey to pass by. When the prey passes the bass will strike! I will also target logs in the water and hit every angle around the logs. Finally I will fish crankbaits around and into docks. Often big bass will be waiting for a meal and when they see a crankbait they smash it.
Time of year for a crankbait is during the summer when bass can be most active!
When I fish a crankbait I prefer a 6.5 foot rod. When it comes to power I prefer a medium-heavy or heavy!
Now that you know some crankbait basics, you can start fishing one of the best lures around. Try these techniques the next time you go fishing and keep tight lines!

Article published on www.protackle.net
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Please post comments and etc. I plan on fixing this up and making a 2nd version