Hot weather, deep water?? Go with a crankbait.
Crank Deep When the Weather’s Hot
Tag: crankbait
Six Pre-spawn Lures I Never Leave The Dock Without
Before we get into the actual lures I use we need to talk a little about the pre-spawn. I define it as somewhere between the middle to upper 40 degree mark on up into the upper 50 degree mark. Another thing is that the bass are feeding right now. Once they go to their beds eating isn’t so important anymore. The final thing I want to mention about the pre-spawn is that the fish can sometimes be hard to find but when you do find them they’ll be all grouped together. You can catch a ton of them from one […]
Top Secret! The Eel Rig
OK, this is a great rig for when the bite is a little slow and they’re short striking your lure. Basically it’s a cross or a hybrid between a Neko rig and a chicken rig. That sounds crazy, I know. But as you read on and figure out what I’m doing it’ll all make sense to you. Here’s what you’re going to need to build one: A snap swivel or a snap and a swivel. I use VMC Crankbait Snaps for this. They’re a little wider so they work a little better. And I like black. It’s less intrusive. A […]
The Best 6 Baits Every Serious Bass Angler Should Own
There must be a thousand fishing lures on the market. Choosing only six of them for this blog was no easy task. But sometimes we need to downsize so I did just that. I’ve listed the baits below in no particular order. The first three are power fishing lures. The last three are more in the finesse category. A crankbait This is a great bait because you can cover a lot of water with one and because they search out the bass. It’s almost like they’re calling the fish in to them. Although there are hundreds of them available, picking […]
The 2019 Bassmaster Classic, Part 2: Lure selection
Last time we talked mostly about the conditions and where I fished. Here’s the scoop on what I fished with, and why. My best spot, among equals, was the natural flat rock I talked about. My lure choice for that was a Rapala DT 6 in Caribbean Shad. It’s a fairly small crankbait — 2-inches, 3/8-ounce — and it’ll dive in the 6 foot range which was perfect for what I was doing. Remember that I said the rock was between four and six feet deep. I wanted something that would strike the rock easily and deflect off of it […]
My Second Favorite Winter Bass Bait
Last time we talked about jerkbaits, my favorite bait in the winter. This time I want to talk about my second favorite, the Rapala Rippin Rap Lipless Crankbait. But you should know this: Just because it’s my second favorite doesn’t mean I don’t use it all the time. In fact, when the water’s cold I never leave the dock without one tied on and ready to go. I fish this little jewel two ways. The first is with a traditional yo-yo type retrieve. I just cast it out, let it fall to the bottom and then make it lift and […]
The Absence of Color
Have you ever wondered why so many bass fall for a black or black and blue jig? I have, and I think I know why. Black, along with black and blue, is really the absence of color. It’s nothing more than a shape or a silhouette to the fish that’s looking at it. They really don’t see much of anything when it comes to color. At the same time, though, they see everything. The silhouette gives them what they need to aim and to time their attack. I also think that a part of the attraction is that almost every […]
Fish Wake Baits This Spring
Wake baits are seriously underfished. I really don’t know why because they are super good in the early spring and the late fall. The forage is up in the water column. That means the bass are up, too. Wake baits are an obvious choice. My idea of a wake bait is any lure that runs right under the surface on down to about a foot or thereabouts. Hundreds of lures fall into that category, but my favorites are the Rapala DT Fat Crankbait, the Rapala BX Balsa Waking Minnow and the Storm Waking Crank. All three baits give you a […]
My ICAST pick: The Rapala BX Brat
Most anglers who fish a lot with crankbaits like balsa. It’s buoyant and has a unique vibration in the water. The thing is, though, it also has drawbacks. Handmade versions are expensive and not every one reacts the same. Buy a dozen and you’re sure to get a few duds. Buy two or three and you might not even get one you like. Another thing is that balsa is soft. Make a 50 foot cast into a rock that’s only 30 feet away and you’ll often see a military-like explosion. At that point there’s little you can do other than […]
My Sleeper Crankbait
Every so often I think about a lure that everyone who want’s to catch a bass should know about, and so it is with the David Fritts designed Rapala DT Thug. It’s a small balsa crankbait — 2-1/2 inches long with a weight of 3/8 of an ounce — that’ll dive to between 4 and 8 feet on a normal retrieve. It has a hard, wide wobble, is hand tuned and comes in 15 colors. I don’t care where you live or where you fish you can match the local forage with one of them. What really makes it special, […]