Cranking my style - part 1

All Bass fishermen have some time or another thrown a crank bait, some with success and some have just given up fishing cranks. I never really enjoyed crank bait fishing throughout my entire years of bass fishing, up until the last 3 years. The most important aspect of crank bait fishing in my opinion is having the right tackle and also understanding what your crank bait is doing in the water. Crank baits originated in the 1930's by a man called Laurie Rapala, who had started carving his first wooden Minnow. Rapala was one of the biggest names when it came to crank baits. Today we have hundreds of different models and name brands, and with technology so advanced. We have different types of finishes which look very realistic, most of them have built in rattles, different types of bills for fishing different situations and structure and a variety of colors. The best thing about crank baits is the "dive to" technology, which makes crank baits dive to different depths. This is very important when fishing at different depths, but my style of cranking maybe different..I will explain later. Crank baits in my books are the best reaction type of baits because of its close resemblance to a bait fish. Most beginners tie on a crank bait, throw and wind. Sometimes it works and sometimes all you get is a good arm workout.lol, this is why anglers need to learn on how to fish them. Ok let me enlighten you on how I do it.

My Tackle

Reel and rod combination 1

My favorite and all round crank bait rod is the g-Loomis cbr 843c, its line rating is 8-14 pound and can handle a lure weight from ¼-5/8 ounce. Bill Norman's dd22 is a rather large lure but weighs around 5/8 ounces. The reel that I have paired with this rod is a currado b3.8.1, some would maybe laugh at this because of the reel ratio. I use 10pound double X monofilament line and sometimes right up 20lb and would not use anything else because of its high abrasion.
Ok let me explain why I use this combination...

The Rod

This is one of the lightest and most sensitive rods that I have come across..Why the sensitivity? It is very important to feel every move your lure is making in the water, [i.e. mainly around structure, weed and grass to ensure that you are making contact]. The importance of this is to know when to reel and when to pause. The aim here is to imitate a feeding bait fish, but at different times and seasons a constant retrieve would work better.

The Line

Most anglers don't understand the need for using the correct line. Monofilament - the buoyancy is very important. Why? It's needed for the lure to float up faster.

Fluorocarbon line sinks so the lure would take longer to float up, but this would also depend on the depth and structure you are fishing. Another example of the need for buoyancy in line is when fishing the Zara Spook and most top water action lures. My personal line preference when fishing a zara spook would be 20lb monofilament, this would ensure the lure floats high. The walking side to side action requires the nose of the spook to be up at all times, to ensure it glides across the water smoothly. In the figure below it shows how a zara spook is fished.


Another example of a Pop R being fished with a clip on swivel which would effect the lures action because the nose of the lure is not high enough.This is a good example of how fluorocarbon line would effect the lures action.


The Reel

Anglers normally retrieve crank baits at a steady pace, and most of the time need to stop the retrieve to avoid hang ups in structure. I find that with the slower reel ratio, one can retrieve the bait constantly without having this problem, but a faster retrieve ratio is good in deeper water in order to get the bait deeper quickly. So yes there are advantages and disadvantages to a slower retrieve ratio, but I feel in 14ft of water or less, a slower reel works better, and if some of you have doubts... YES it can keep up when you have a fish on.
In the next part I will explain on how to modify a zara spook, the different types ofcrank baits and how I fish them, the principles of crank bait designs and lots more.

Mumro
Bassing.co.za Pro Staff Member

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