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| Being one with the presentation of the crankbait I believe is the factor that put fish in the boat. Being able to feel the crank work in and out of structure can make or break a cast. With todays superlines and excellent quality rods we can figure out what our crankbait is going through. There is so much to just casting out and reeling in cranks. A Crankbait can be a great learning tool to figure a body of water out and trigger neutral fish.
What do you guys think is most important in the presentation of crankbaits? |
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| I'm definatly no long timer at the sport or anything and just getting in to it, and yes i'm into it[:bigsmile:] . A personal belief of mine and I'm not sure how other people would agree but is that most crankbaits shouldn't be just straight retrieved. I think its more effective to do different trigging techniques w/ the bait. For instance twitching, great action and you can tick right over the weed tops w/ this method. Another one is a fast ripping action that kind of darts the bait to the side. Ripping has worked very well for me. Another one that I may suggest, and I took this from musky hunter (good article you should read it), is Raking. At the end of the retrieve with the lure a couple feet down pull up the rod hard and wait a few seconds till theres slack and reel that in and then do a big O to end your retrieve. |
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| I agree with David. Twitching, Ripping and the boatside lift are all dynamite crankbait techniques. A couple of more of my favorites are the surface pop and rock crashing. Both are big fish techniques.
Surface Pop - let the bait sit stationary on the surface, FORCEFULLY twitch the bait down, time the next twitch so you pop it just as the bait is coming back up and hits the surface. The bait will "sploosh" and splash. Keep timing your twitch so the bait makes all kinds of noise on the surface.
Rock Crashing - great for fishing rock bars. Get the bait down to the rocks as quickly as possible. Once you make contact, keep making downward sweeps with the rod so the bait makes contact, backs off, makes contact, backs off. Works well at night too! |
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| I fished many times with a Northwoods legend, Dick Rose...as much of a luny tunes as he could be, he was a crankbait master.
He used Hellbenders quite a bit, casting them perpendicular to the boat as he ran across the lake with the electric. He would have us reel like madmen, then stop as the lure made the turn behind the boat, then RIP the lure to the surface. Most of the strikes came at the stop, or as the bait came to the top, and stopped again.
This is a great technique where one cannot troll because of terrain, or regulations. It is also alot of work! |
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| I also agree with the twitching and raking technique. Being that I fish Cranks about 80% of the time I have found the best ways to work them. For me it is much more than a twitch. During the retrieve I usually stop a few times to give the lure 1-2 quick "jerks" to get the lure to shoot out to the side. The fish usually hit right after the "jerk". If you feel nothing at all after the "jerk", reel up fast and set the hook! I have had this happen to me a few times.
Another great method is ripping the cabbage. It's not a new trick by any means, but not many people do it. |
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| In known fishholding areas, a great technique is to cast out, let the crank sit there for maybe 30 seconds to a minute, and just start reeling like crazy, violent strikes!
MJB |
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| I too believe in the twitch but there are times when a straight retrieve is more effective. One example is a body of water I fish with very low visibility. I fish it for suspenders and I have far more hook ups when straight retrieving vs. twitching in the open water. My personal theory is that the straight retrieve gives the fish a better chance to zero in on the bait using the lateral line by reducing the randomness (twitching) of the baits path back to the boat. This water is clearly not a place for visual stimulus at a distance.
Straight retrieves work better, sometimes, in dark water/night fishing applications so don't forget about it altogether.
Just my $0.02.
Jono
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| I like to bring thru submerged trees where Muskies suspend in very deep water, ripping them as they go thru while trolling. This means that I must hold the rod to avoid hangups. |
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| Anyone ever twitch cranks in and out of the slop pockets in shallow water? |
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| YUP, I do that with deep divers. Talk about getting funny looks.... tossing a deep diver into the slop is a WAAAYYY overlooked technique.
jlong |
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Crankbait control