I am getting into large mouth bass fishing, and wanted to know what brands of crankbaits you guys use and colors. I am looking at some square bill designs.
Thanks guys.
-Scott
There are literally hundreds of brands of crankbaits out there and most of them are pretty good.
I use a lot of Norman, Rapala, Strike King, Bomber, Bandit...there are many more.
You might want to check out Bass Resource http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/ (http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/)
There are a great bunch of guys over there, many of whom know a lot more that me about bass fishing.
Good luck!
Tom
Bomber and Strike King work well Bomber for Crank bates and Strike King for spinner bates. Rubber worms work well,and Pig and jig. It's how you work those bates. By asking the tackle shop owner or fellow fisherman you will learn. Watching the Bass Pro Classic on TV will help with plenty of tips.
Joe
I like the old Bagley balsa wood crank baits for bass and pike, bomber for Walley, Strike King spinners are the best.
My son fished Laguna Niguel today (for the 3rd time this week) and caught a LMB, catfish and a 3# trout all on a Texas rigged creature bait. Yeah, a trout, really! I'll ask him what his favorite LMB crank baits are. I know he has at least 3 large square billed LC's for fishing Calicos that he got recently. He'll probably take them out tomorrow when he launches my boat at Dana Point with one of his friends. I'll spend tomorrow in a cubicle.
I asked him and he doesn't have a favorite because he catches few fish on them. Plastic worms, Texas rigged or drop shot, have always worked well for me in our clear lakes with lots of vegetation. My best was 8.5# in a tournament at Lake Mission Viejo.
I've used the Rattle Trap in chrome and blue with success....also 3" grubs in Smoke Salt and Pepper, on a 3/8 oz jig head, done better with the grubs than hardbaits.....Bill
Rapala fat raps #5 & #7 silver black back , crawdad or chartreuse. Bill Norman 22 chartreuse blue back, silver black back. But it depends. Shore fishing or boat? Numbers or big fish? What lb. test line? Baitcaster or spinning reel? Type of water or lake being fished and depth targeted. Ect. Ect.
rapala dt series, for instance dt-4 is for 4', dt-7 is for 7', etc
Rap alas use their numbering system to indicate size of lure, a floater could be a size 11, no way it dives to 11 feet being a small bill floater. Most crankbait makers use numbers to indicate the depth the lure runs at. Rap alas may even use this method, I'm not sure, but the ones I see use numbers to indicate the size of the lure.
Best bass crankbaits I ever used were the Bombers: what was commonly called the "Backwards Bomber" - a crawfish imitation and the "water dog" a salamander imitation. Most waters have crawfish, but I only know for sure that the Nor. Cal. Waters where I learned to bass fish had them. The Water dog colors seemed to be important, and Bomber nailed it. In any plug, I'm lookin for certain qualities: paint job&duribility, retrieve action&balance, hook&attachment strength and does it imitate or simulate the naturals well? I prefer floaters, but sinkers definitely have their times n' places.
Gfish
My favorite for bass is a suspending Husky jerk. Small, hj8 in a few different colors for different water clarity. I use small because the waters are subject to a lot of fishing pressure. Nothing like twitching it up to cover and then letting it suspend. Boom.
My biggest trout was on a Rainbow colored hot-n-tot. Conservatively 10lbs+. An estimate because I shook it off at the boat. Too pretty to kill.
Oh, and always on Maxima Chameleon 6lb. I've only been broken off once in all the years of fishing it, at night. The rod was almost pulled out of my hands and snap!
extremely important for crankbaits -- GET THE RIGHT ROD!!!
most modern rods favored for just about any other artificial FW presentation are too fast
many better crank-specific rods are intentionally glass or composite, for more moderate action
As stated above, get the right rod.
Square lip crankbait for bouncing off structure and round for everything else
Carolina and texas rig and jigs for large mouth, grey tubes and jerk bait for smallies.
Wacky rig senkos for both.
Oh yeah. You have to say "fishy fishy bite my hook. You be the dinner and I'll be the cook". Then spit in the water. Works every time. :D
try academy.com
they have their own brand of stuff that catches fish.
FYI:
I watched a guy drifting/slow trolling 12-14 ft breakline with a dropper rig and picking up some nice bass.
Unless I am trolling, dropper rigs are my go to now.
Quote from: Lunker Larry on February 14, 2020, 07:53:46 PM
As stated above, get the right rod.
Square lip crankbait for bouncing off structure and round for everything else
Carolina and texas rig and jigs for large mouth, grey tubes and jerk bait for smallies.
Wacky rig senkos for both.
Oh yeah. You have to say "fishy fishy bite my hook. You be the dinner and I'll be the cook". Then spit in the water. Works every time. :D
I'm going with this!
Rapala's jointed shadrap,,,,, :D on the river Rebel crawdads,,,,,, ;D
There used to be a very popular brand of crankbaits known as Suddeth Little Earls. Can't remember if they were made in here in Tennessee or the Carolinas, but they've been discontinued but can be picked up occasionally on ebay if you're lucky.
Bandits are also a local favorite.
One of the best casters is the Rapala Fat Rap, 1/4 oz and 2" length.
One of the worst casters, but most effective is the Storm Thin Fin. AKA the "flying potato chip." You'll need spinning gear and 6 or 8 lb mono for this lure, or light braid. The Thin Fin is one of my all time favorites because it's the first crankbait I ever caught a fish on.
Shad Raps, Flat Warts, and a host of local homemade flat balsa baits are also very good.
I can't believe you fellers resurrected a thread from 2016...but hey...I'm a crankbait guy too! Here are a few boxes I had easy access to. This might be 1/4th of the cranks I have hoarded. Before I turned into a Penn reel freak I used to scour fleabay for cranks. I have many custom painted cranks like the second pic...zoom and you'll see it's signed. Then there are specialty cranks like the "school of shad" in the third photo. The fourth pic is an alternative to that Thin Fin Chester mentioned. Heddon's version casts a lot better Chester, but still has that crazy erratic action that provokes hard strikes. 8)
Oops didn't notice the date. I didn't see his before tit so it counts as new to me!
it's a good resurrection...
SHOOL OF SHAD is the coolest lure I've ever seen
Thank you, I'm stealing the pic :)
Quote from: philaroman on February 15, 2020, 05:36:24 PM
SHOOL OF SHAD is the coolest lure I've ever seen
Check this one out Roman...same principal but a soft plastic swimbait.
They have since yellowed a bit, but still look really cool.
Coool! Who makes those school plugs Mo?
Festus, best sunfish imitation I've ever used was the Thin fin. Got my biggest LMB off one.
Quote from: Gfish on February 15, 2020, 06:20:08 PM
Coool! Who makes those school plugs Mo?
Festus, best sunfish imitation I've ever used was the Thin fin. Got my biggest LMB off one.
Livetarget makes them G. These newer models have a few more baitfish in the baitball than my prototype. https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/LIVETARGET_Yearling_Baitball_Crankbait_/descpage-KPJVGLM.html
Here's another alternative to that hard to cast Thin Fin...but this Bomber Speed Shad ain't the best casting plug either. Just a slight improvement...instead of a potato chip it's like a Frito. :D
Quote from: mo65 on February 15, 2020, 06:48:56 PM
Quote from: Gfish on February 15, 2020, 06:20:08 PM
Coool! Who makes those school plugs Mo?
Festus, best sunfish imitation I've ever used was the Thin fin. Got my biggest LMB off one.
Livetarget makes them G. These newer models have a few more baitfish in the baitball than my prototype. https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/LIVETARGET_Yearling_Baitball_Crankbait_/descpage-KPJVGLM.html
Here's another alternative to that hard to cast Thin Fin...but this Bomber Speed Shad ain't the best casting plug either. Just a slight improvement...instead of a potato chip it's like a Frito. :D
I have a couple of those Bomber Speed Shads, Mo. Also have a Cotton Cordell model that's very similar. Neither of those seem as effective as the original Thin Fin. Casting a Thin Fin is similar to pitching a knuckle ball. Some days it works, and on the days it doesn't, forget it, especially windy days. There are a couple spots on the Clinch River that the Thin Fin has been my go-to crankbait for at least 50 years. Both spots have culverts under roads, with usually a current going on, and if shad minnows are present, watch out. The Thin Fin would not be my crankbait of choice bass fishing from a boat casting toward structure. But in open water where shad are around, they are one of the best.
Kmart used to sell a 1-1/2" Shad Rap imitation. To my knowledge Rapala never offered those small ones. I had two, one black back, silver sides, the other was perch colored. Somewhere along the line I lost both of those and they were one of the best crankbaits I've ever used in ponds.
My favorite colors have always been shad, perch, fire-tiger, and crawdad. Rapala used to make a Fat Rap--blue back, pearl belly with some orange highlights. The box was marked "SPECIAL." They were always referred to as the "Watts Bar Special" in my neck of the woods, and most every bass fisherman had one. I still have one, but haven't seen them for sale in years.
I'm allways looking for vintage lures and they work good to,,,,,,, ;) heddon,creek chub,,Cisco kid,,,bagley,,,,,, ;D
Here are some of mine, still have a few Plano Over & Under tackleboxes in the garage that need gone through.
The first pic has one of those original Bombers that Greg (Gfish) mentioned earlier. I have a couple of those in the 2" size somewhere that are over 50 years old. The small ones will catch anything, crappie, smallmouth, largemouth, redeye, white bass, etc. In the upper right hand corner is a crude imitation of the Dalton Special topwater I whittled and sanded from an O'Cedar mop handle probably when I was in my 20's. Got a couple of local favorites also, the Little Earl, the Fat Rap Watts Bar Special, and a deadly balsa lure made during the 1980s by a Mr. Price. Mr. Price passed away several years ago and sold gobs of those balsas.
The original Big O fat crankbait was invented by Fred Young from Oak Ridge, TN. He lived about 10 miles from here and sold many of those. I see those on ebay sometimes, but am skeptical they are original. Don't have one of those but have been looking. https://www.chattanoogan.com/2005/1/17/61178/Big-O-Hails-From-Oak-Ridge.aspx
The lures in the last 3 pics aren't all crankbaits, I just snapped a pic of a few boxes stashed in a back room.
You got some very nice lures there,,,,,, ;D
are your longer, skinnier more-detailed patterns mostly Yo-Zuri/Duel?
if not & you've found a cheaper equivalent, please tell
(are Yo-Zuri still Japan-made, or only Duel?)
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love all the "schooling" baits: the commercial Baitball version
seems more structurally refined (bill) than the more artsy prototype -- is it?