Fall is time when smallmouth are feeding veraciously preparing for the long lean winter. It’s also a time of rapidly changing weather that effects smallmouth location and feeding behavior. This means anglers will need to be ready to fish a lot of different types of water and depths. Here’s a quick run down of baits that will enable you to fish in a variety of depths and water conditions. During the fall, it is particularly important for river smallmouth anglers to have the ability to cover the top,middle, and bottom of the water column.

#1 Soft Jerkbaits (middle of the water column)
Soft jerkbaits are extremely versatile and therefore are one of my favorite fall baits. You can use soft jerkbaits to catch smallmouth that are chasing and attacking baitfish aggressively by skittering it across the top of the water or using fast jerks with a low rod tip. When smallmouth are in a more neutral feeding mood, the bait can be deadsticked with excellent results. Bottom line, this bait can be fished extremely fast, at medium speeds, at variable speeds or with no movement at all. That’s why it gets the number one spot!

Some common soft jerkbaits are the Slug-go, Zoom Flukes, and my favorite Winco’s Darter series of soft jerkbaits. The weight of the Darter series baits makes them easy to cast. Long casts are critical in the clear waters that typically comes with fall fishing.

#2 Tube Baits (bottom of the water column)
Sometimes fall smallmouth will move into deep ledge trenches and go into a more neutral feeding mood. When this happens anglers need a presentation that can get down deeper and be fished very slow. Enter the tube baits. There are a variety of rigs you can use but I usually keep it simple and rig mine on a 1/8 oz. internal tube jig head. The bait can be crawled along the bottom mimicking a crayfish. No self respecting smallmouth will pass up this presentation!

Many soft bait companies make tube baits. Companies like Venom, Strike King, Yum, and Winco’s Custom Lures offer some great tubes. Winco’s new Tasty Tube Jr. is worth a look. It has thinner profile than most tubes on the market and is great when a more finesse style presentation is needed.

#3 Walk-The-Dog Baits (top of the water column)
I was never a big fan of walk-the-dog lures for smallmouth until four years ago when I started using what I call “hybrid” walk-the-dog lures. This is really my terminology but it refers to baits that have a slightly concave face similar to a popper. The concave design makes a subtle splash during the w-t-d presentation that drives smallmouth crazy.

Remember to try varying retrieves when using these baits. Sometimes a constant w-t-d presentation is the ticket. Other times a few walks and letting the bait sit will draw vicious strikes. Very few companies make ‘hybrid” walk-the-dog baits. Two of my favorites are Storm’s Chug Bug and Winco’s Wink’s Walker.

Of course, I take a few more baits along with me when I fish. I jokingly call my kayak the “floating tackle shop”. One thing is for sure, I always make certain these three baits are tied on or within quick reaching distance when I hit the river in fall!

When it comes to lures, the number one topic of discussion is almost always centered around color selection. How many times has another angler asked you, “What color are you using?”. This question often becomes more complicated when you are talking about river fishing for smallmouth bass.

The river environment is very dynamic and water conditions can change in a matter of a few hours.  Based on much of the research I’ve reviewed, smallmouth tend to be sight feeders. As a result, color selection is high on my priority list.  Factors like scent, profile, and action are certainly part of the tube equation but in the spirit of keeping it simple, I”m going to focus on color. Here’s a quick and easy breakdown that can help you narrow your color choices quickly.

In the rivers I fish smallmouth have two primary food sources, crayfish and various minnow species. The most coveted is the crayfish. Of course a tube bait is a great crayfish imitation. Water clarity is my litmus test for choosing a tube color.

In clear water conditions, I’m looking to “match the hatch” and use more natural colors. Smallmouth in clear water seem to shy away from unnatural colors. There are exceptions to every rule but I find this statement to be accurate far more often then not.

If  I’ve decided to throw a tube in clear water, I’ll select colors that match the color of the crayfish in the body of water I’m fishing. When I’m fishing familiar waters, I typically know the color of the crayfish. If I’m fishing unfamiliar waters, I’ll turn rocks and observe a few crayfish then look at my tube selection to find the closest color match. Colors like pumking, carolina pumpkin, and various shades of green or brown work well in clear water. Laminated two color baits can also be great choices because often the bottom of a crayfish is lighter than the top.

Once the water crosses the line to stained or muddy, I start looking for colors that will provide contrast. Again, I’m trying to appeal to the smallmouths sense of sight. In muddy water, I may also go to a tube with a slightly bigger profile. The goal is to make the bait stand out in stained water. Great contrasting colors are dark greens, black, and dark browns. If the water is dark, but the sun is shining I may choose a bait with red, gold, or silver metal flake…sometimes all three!

This quick and easy guide will get you on your way to success with tubes in various water condition. The key is to be aware of changes in water clarity. I’ve been around fishing long enough to know that there are very few “hard and fast” rules and I know that conditions can change rapidly. As fisherman, we need to be aware of those changes and make the right choices. Color is just one of them!

I’m a huge fan of top water baits; All kinds of top water baits such as poppers, prop baits and walk-the-dog baits. If there’s a good top water bite on, you can be rest assured that I’ll be tossing one of these baits. In particular, prop baits and walk-the-dog baits are among my favorite lures. I typically don’t like to take a lot of time to customize top water baits because many are great right out of the box. That being said, I’m certainly not apposed to making simple modifications that will increase effectiveness.

Over the years, I’ve observed that some of my most effective top water color patterns have one thing in common. Regardless of the type of bait, the best producers have some shade of red on the underside of the lure. When shopping for top water baits, this has led to some frustrations. Sometimes the color patterns with red are sold out. Other times there’s a color pattern that I like but it has no red in it. Still other times I find a great top water bait with a unique action but the manufacturer does not offer a color pattern with red in it.

My solution? It’s pretty simple. When I get a new top water lure that I want to modify, I take a red sharpie and color a dot under the head of the bait. I always put the dot under the head. Smallmouth seem to lock in on the red dot and this results in more front treble hookups.

It is best to color the baits well in advance of fishing to allow for drying time. Sharpies work but the color eventually does come off. This is particularly true with plastic baits. Wood baits, on the other hand, hold the color much better. Another rather inexpensive option for coloring your baits is Do-It Quick Coat Pain Markers. This is definitely a more durable, permanent solution.

I don’t color all my top water baits. If I have 3 baits with the same pattern, I’ll usually only “red dot” one of the baits. Just in case, however, I have a red sharpie stowed in my gear for water-side modifications or in the event I need to touch up a bait. Remember to dry the bait thoroughly before touching it up.

Making simple color modifications to baits is certainly nothing new but I’m surprised a lot more anglers don’t do it. It only takes a few seconds and can help you put more smallmouth in the boat. In my mind, that’s a great trade off!

Summer smallmouth fishing has arrived or is just around the corner for much of the country. Yes, it is time to think about patterning those smallmouth bass during the hot long days of summer. We also need to think of the baits we’ll be tossing at those aggressive summer smallmouth bass. I took a quick assessment of my lure choices and found that I could probably boil the vast majority of my summer arsenal down to five baits. These five baits can cover a lot of water conditions and all of the water column from top to bottom. Lets take a look!

1. Soft stickworm - fantastic bait down to about 8 feet depending on rigging. This bait though really shines in the shallow clear summer waters. Smallies love them!

2. Soft jerkbaits- Summer brings renewed baitfish activity and the young of the year. Smallies will actively and aggressively chase soft jerkbaits. These baits are available from a variety of companies and in a variety of sizes starting at about 3″. Match the size and coloration of your localbaitfish for best results in clear waters.

3. Prop baits - One of my favorite in this class of baits for smallmouth bass is the tiny torpedo. Prop baits are versatile baits. They can be “popped” on top with short jerks or even “dragged” to make abuzzbait like presentation. Aggressive summer smallmouth will annihilate the baits! Prop baits are great during the first hour or two of daylight in the summer but can be an “all day” bait if there is cloud cover.

4. Tube baits - Tube baits can be fished shallow or extremely deep depending on how you rig the bait. I like tube baits in the summer when presented with rising water conditions, cold front conditions, stained water, or when it just seems the bass are holding on deep current breaks. This is a great old standby. Try to match the color of local crayfish for best results. In stained water, go with something dark.

5. Crank Baits - Depending on design, crankbaits can cover water from 1 foot to 20 feet which is probably good for any smallie chaser! I like crankbaits in the summer when water conditions are rising on the rivers or when I encounter stained water. Some of my favorite color patterns incrankbaits contain crayfish colors such as reds, browns, oranges, black, chartrues. If your chasing smallmouth on lakes, you might want to match the baitfish colors and patterns.

Most of the time when I’m on the water, other fisherman will ask the age old question “what bait were you using when you caught your fish”. I’m always glad to tell them but surprisingly very few fisherman follow up with what should be the second question. “What type of presentation were you using?”. This always amazes me because beyond locating the fish, presentation is such a critical piece of fishing success.

Another upside of focusing on presentation is that it can extend the effectiveness range of a bait. Lets take for example the very popular soft stickbait. Most fisherman see this as a shallow water bait that is effective in 4 feet of water or less and in fairly open water. I would argue that by changing up your rigging approach you can extend the “effectiveness” to a much wider range of depths and cover. Lets take a look at just three of my favorite rigging techniques and possible applications.

Nose hook

Al Winco's Custom Baits 3" Baby Stick Worm rigged on a Gamakatus 1/0 drop shot hook

A nose hooked soft stickbait can be used in open water, rock, or around sparse cover. I typically nose hook my baits on a circle hook or a finesse style drop shot hook. The great thing about this rigging technique is that it adds very little weight to the bait which allows for a very slow fall. A nose hooked bait presentation is great to use when you encounter smallmouth that are in a nuetural to negative feeding mood. The slow fall and natural drift created by this rigging technique are the ticket for triggering strikes from less then enthusiastic smallmouth.

Weedless Whacky Rig

Al Winco's Custom Baits 4.5 inch Stick Worm Jr. rigged on a 1/0 Gamakatsu Finesse EWG Weedless hook

Rigging a soft stickbait on a weedless circle hook can take the bait to all new places. You can fish the bait by pitching it between lilypads, drop it into holes in weed mats, and flip it into wood. This is a more vertical style of fishing but presenting a stickbait in cover like this can be extremely effective. Most fisherman don’t even think about using a soft stickbait around this kind of cover therefore in heavily pressured waters it definitely gives fish a look at something they’ve never or rarely seen. Hold on to your rod on this one!

Jig Head

Al Winco's Custom Baits 3" Baby Stick Worm rigged on 1/8 oz. jig head

If you want to go deep with your soft stickbaits there are a number of ways to accomplish this. One of the simplest is to rig the bait on a jig head. This is a great rigging technique for presenting the bait in deeper water or bouncing the bait along rocky river runs where smallmouth may be feeding. It definitely changes the action of the bait but you still have that great soft stickbait profile that smallmouth love. If I’m going to rig a soft stickbait on a jig head it will  almost always be the 3″ size on a 1/8 oz. jig head.

Wrapping It Up

Time has proven that soft stickbaits are not a craze. They flat out catch fish. My primary fishing mantra is “It is not one big thing that makes a good fisherman, it is a lot of little things that come together to make a great fisherman”. Focusing on presentation and increasing the types of cover and depths you can fish soft stickbaits effectively will certainly help you become a better fisherman.

Rigging Soft Plastics for River Smallmouths (part 1)

Rigging Soft Plastics for River Smallmouths (part 2)

The materials needed from left to right are:

1. Brown rabbit hide cut ¾ inches by 2 ¾ inches with the hair trimmed for claws and triangular back shell. (You will have to purchase uncut pelts instead of the strips of rabbit pelt, and cut them yourself.)
2. Large brown chenille for the collar.
3. 3/8 oz weedless arkie or football style jighead
4. Black round rubber cut into 5 inch segments.

After cutting the hide and trimming the hair, start tying by attaching a single 5 inch long strand of black round rubber.

Wrap the square end of the rabbit hide to the collar of the jig.

The brown chenille does more than finish off your collar wrap. It helps the finished jig stand up when resting on the bottom.

After finishing up your wrap, cut a hole in the hide to insert both the hook point and doubled over black round rubber antennae.

This pattern stands up in a defensive stance when it comes to rest on the bottom. There is no need to pump this jig. The subtle motion of the round rubber and rabbit hair tell the fish that this rabbit hair craw jig is alive!

Jeff “Yakfish” Little is owner of Blue Ridge Kayak Fishing LLC , which provides kayak fishing instruction for river smallmouth bass, tidal largemouth bass, and reservoir bass in Maryland and Virginia.

By: Jeff Little, Originally Published: 9-2-06

Blue Ridge Kayak Fishing LLC
Website: www.blueridgekayakfishing.com

I first learned about blade baits, specifically the silver buddy, about 8 years ago. I had launched my kayak in Mattawoman Creek, a tributary of the tidal Potomac River to catch some largemouth. Unfortunately, the skunk must have hopped aboard my kayak that early December morning. But I did get a chance to learn something by talking to some other anglers. They reported catching several chunky largemouth on the lip of a drop off next to the channel. While bobbing up and down in my kayak beside the big bass boat, I asked the two anglers if I could see what they were using. It was a gold silver buddy.

Later that week, I purchased several of these heavy, clunky baits. The next opportunity I had to try them was on the upper Potomac near Hancock, Maryland. Using them for the first time, I thought back to remember how the tidal largemouth anglers had jigged them. I recalled a short cast, a pendulum swing, and regular short rips up off the bottom. I tried this out, and snagged on almost every cast for the next half hour. Then I tied on a tube and forgot about the lure that aggravated me so much. Fast forward almost 8 years to early November of this year. On the reservoir, I had found recent success with crankbaits, catching several nice smallmouth, and two 22 inch largemouth. From mid October though early November, I was able to connect at least 3 times a day with a decent largemouth or smallmouth. More importantly, I had overcome my aversion to crankbaits. I knew that they caught big fish, but previously would not throw due to the frustration of snagging and having so many fish throw the bait. I was able to land almost every fish thanks to having the right tool for the job: a 7 foot fiberglass crankbait casting rod. Before this fall, I had used the wrong rod for crankbaiting: medium heavy graphite jig rods. The fiberglass rod threw the big deep divers a long way, and bowed to a hooked fish which prevented the frustration of seeing a big hooked fish get off. I had a new confidence bait in the deep diving crankbait.

While throwing the big white Norman crankbait parallel to a 45 degree rocky shoreline, I noticed an electric boat angler nearby. His fishing line angle was steeper than the contour of the bank I was working. He would cast a short distance, let the bait fall, and then pop his rod tip upward a short distance and repeat. I started paddling across the reservoir to a point I wanted to fish when this angler started motoring in my direction. As we passed, we greeted each other and eventually stopped to talk about the day’s patterns. While talking, the angler mentioned that come December, the only bait he will throw will be the blade bait. He showed me a tray full of them in many different colors. He poured, painted, and assembled them himself. He also explained the technique for fishing them:

Cast out a short distance, let the bait fall on a taught line, waiting for the feel of the bait hitting the bottom, lift the rod tip up quickly, but stop as soon as you feel two of the vibrations that the bait makes while it swims. Follow the lure back down to the bottom with your rod tip on taught line. This drop is usually when the bait gets nailed, so make sure you don’t drop your rod tip faster than the lure sinks. Any slack in the line may mean a missed hit. If the lure stops short of where you remember the bottom being, set the hook because the silver buddy is in a fish’s mouth! He emphasized several times to only let the lure vibrate two times on the rip upward.

I skeptically asked if they were worth the effort. I explained that I had tried them before, and like crankbaits, I got frustrated with how often they snagged. He leaned down to his carpeted boat deck, and picked up a thick little chunk of lead with a paper clip molded into it. He explained that he did snag routinely, but they usually come off easily under their own weight. But if they did not come free on their own, the little chunk of lead slid down the line would knock it free every time. He mentioned a few times that the casting angle has a lot to do with how often you snag. Steeper line angles mean fewer snags. That is probably what I was doing wrong on the upper Potomac 8 years prior. It’s probably not the best lure for shallow river fishing unless you cast and retrieve like a spinnerbait. I plan on trying just that next spring with a few of the lighter weight blade baits, as the action resembles that of a rattle trap.

Knowing that I would probably snag several of them permanently, I decided to make the blade baits expendable. The following week, I ordered the lead pouring mold for blade baits. I had to use my dremmel tool to open the bottleneck of the pour funnel on the mold. With the plate coming so close to the opening, I did not get good pours initially. I eventually poured enough so that I would not worry if I lost a few. Along with the plates and mold that I ordered from Barlow’s tackle, I purchased some adhesive scale tape for added reflectivity. I also ordered short shank trebles in the hopes that a shorter hook would snag less.

Pouring your own blade baits makes them expendable.

After pouring the lead onto the plate, apply reflective scale tape or glittery paint, a line tie clip, split rings, short shank trebles, and paint the eyes.

As Steve, the electric boat angler mentioned, casting angle played the biggest role in how often you snag. The first day using them, I only had three of them with me. My order from Barlow’s had not arrived at that point. I had two gold ones that I was able to dig up from 8 years prior, and one that Steve had given me. I thought for sure that I would be out of them in the first hour or so. As it turned out, I used the same one all day and never lost it. I did bring a stump up from 53 feet, but I did not lose a single bait in over 8 hours of fishing. I snagged every few minutes all day long, but they usually came free as soon as I jiggled the rod tip, or changed my line angle a little bit. Although I did not lose a bait that first day, I also did not catch a smallmouth with one.

On the more difficult snags, the lead weight and paperclip bait knocker did a good job knocking the bait free. What was nice about this home-made plug knocker was that it was inexpensive, and you didn’t need to worry about an attached string to tangle up in your boat. From Steve’s brief description of how to make the blade bait knocker, I was able to make a few. His directions were: drill a 2 inch deep hole in a 2 x 4 with a 1 inch bit, pour hot lead into the hole, and hold the paperclip in the hot lead with pliers, making sure that one end of the clip is bent out so you can slip the weight onto you line. I had to bang on the 2 x 4 with a hammer to get it out.

Homemade bait knockers help free snagged blade baits without the tangles of a standard plug knocker.

The next day on the reservoir, I stuck with the blade bait even though I had been skunked a week prior. By then I had poured, decorated, and assembled several blade baits from 3/8 oz to ¾ oz. That day it was windy, so I used the heavier ones to keep the line taught and stay in contact with the bottom. During the prior week, I did a Google search on blade baits and read several articles. One of them said that most anglers rip blade baits too hard and too far. I decided to tone it down a little. It paid off, as I caught four smallmouth, the largest being a 16 incher.

The next weekend out, I ended up catching seven smallmouth, and a few largemouth. None of them were very big, but seven smallmouth in a day was one of my better numbers days this year on the reservoir. I found myself making the pop off the bottom shorter and shorter. Some of the hits came on slow, gently lifts four inches or less off the bottom. I got used to what “normal” felt like in terms of the cadence of lift, lower, clank on rock, lift, lower, clank, lift lower, clank…. When something felt a little bit different, I set the hook.

This 18.5 incher thumped the blade bait on a short quick hop off the bottom.

I got into a rhythm of lift, lower, clank, and the lifts became smaller and smaller until I just felt like I was trying to get as many close bottom touches as possible. I wasn’t dragging it as I would drift and drag a tube, but it was seldom more than an inch or two off the bottom. It reminded me of what my friend Brook Hoover does with a ball head jig and soft plastic when winter fishing on the Susquehanna River. He gets the jig to the bottom, settled against a rock, and shakes his rod tip rapidly on a taught line. The rod tip does not move back and forth more than 2 inches, and the bait stays in place rattling and clicking its lead against the rock, drawing in fish.

The next fish hit so softly that the only difference I felt was an interruption of my tiny lift, lower, and clank. I imagined the bait laying on its side, then the plate going upright without leaving the bottom, and then laying back down. I didn’t feel it lay back down. Not sure if it was a fish, I set the hook. Honestly, I fully expected to feel the rapid vibration of the bait ripping several feet up off the bottom. Instead, I felt that the lure was snagged. Then the snag throbbed, my rod tip dipped, and my drag went ZZZZiiiing!

After the 20 inch reservoir smallmouth dipped the first few inches of my spinning rod into the water a few times, I netted the fish and headed toward the shoreline to take a picture.

This 20 inch reservoir smallmouth softly took a 3/4 oz blade blade bait that was jiggled on the rocks of a mid reservoir ledge peak 40 feet down.

Although I have only four full days of blade bait fishing under my belt, this simple yet effective bait is my confidence bait of choice for fishing deep reservoir structure. But I have to wonder, is this just a cold water bait, or will it work next June after the spawn wraps up? I plan on finding out.

Jeff “Yakfish” Little is owner of Blue Ridge Kayak Fishing LLC www.blueridgekayakfishing.com, which provides kayak fishing instruction for river smallmouth, tidal largemouth, and reservoir bass in Maryland and Virginia.

By: Jeff Little, Originally Published: 1-4-07

Blue Ridge Kayak Fishing LLC
Website: www.blueridgekayakfishing.com

Top Water Baits
Tiny Torpedo: 1-7/8″ length, 1/4 oz, #6 hook size
Heddon® Zara® Spook® Puppy: 3″, 1/4 oz., 1/0 hooks
Excalibur ® Spit’n Image ™: 3″, 5/16 oz., #6 hooks
Floating Rat-L-Trap®: 1/2 oz., #4/#6 hooks
Yo-Zuri ® 3-D ™ Series Bass Lure - 3-D Popper 2-1/2″ , 1/4 oz.

Crankbaits
Bill Lewis Rat-L-Trap® Mini-Trap®: 1/4 oz.
Bomber® Model “A”® Shallow Crankbait: 2 1/8″, 1/4 oz., dives 3′-5′, #6 hooks
Excalibur® Fat Free Shad™ Series Hardbaits
Rebel ® Wee Crawfish ™: Dives to 7′, 2″, 1/5 oz., #8 hooks
Yo-Zuri® Hardcore Lures - Hardcore Shad: 2-3/8″ 1/4 oz.

Soft Baits
Case Plastics Magic Stik - 4.5″
Case Plastics Sweet P - 3.75″
Case Plastics Salty Tubes
Case Plastics Magik Stik / Senko
Mad Man Mad Crawfish Worm
Gene Larew Finesse Floating Craw
Bass Assassin® - Shad Assassins: Baby Assassin - 3″
Zoom® Tiny Fluke: 2-3/4″
Zoom® Tube: 3-1/2″

Spinnerbaits
Stanley Jigs® Tunable Titanium Spinnerbaits
Strike King® Compact Premier™ Pro-Model® Spinnerbaits
Terminator® T-1 Spinnerbaits - Tandem
Terminator® Tiny T Spinnerbaits

Jigs
1/8 oz. Rabbit Hair Jigs
3-4″ SingleTail Grub
NetBait Paca Chunk

I guess every Bass fisherman has a “Go To” lure that they have more confidence in than any other. To some it’s a jig, to others its spinner bait or a worm. I have a good friend in Louisiana that fishes oxbow lakes that are full of Cyprus tress. Nole says “If I’m going to catch anything I’d rather it be on a buzz bait”. You have to have confidence in what you’re throwing, and by far my “Go To” lure, my “Confidence Lure” is a crankbait.

My father introduced me to crankbait fishing many years ago as just a young boy. Dad and I bass fished with lures named “River Runt” “Lazy Ike” “Mirr O Lure” “Cast Master” “Sparkle Tail” and many more. I must admit that I became a crank bait junkie long ago. One of the first tags crankbaits were labeled with was “Idiot Lure”. You just throw it out and crank it in. But through the years things have changed dramatically-to days crankbaits in the hands of a skilled crankbait fisherman is a high tech fish catching tool that can add big numbers and quality to your fishing success.

But for the beginning crankbait fisherman where do you begin? When you go into a large fishing tackle store you are confronted with dozens of crank bait manufactures that produce baits in hundreds of different colors and sizes, with prices running anywhere from $3.00 to $10.00 or more. Some baits float, while others sink. Some rattle and some don’t. Some crankbaits because of their buoyancy rise quickly when you stop cranking while others suspend. Some baits have short lips-some long and others none at all. Just choosing the right baits to get started with can be not only mind boggling but costly if you make a mistake.

Where are you going to fish most?
My suggestion would be this, determine first where most of your fishing is going to be. If you are going to be wading creeks and rivers or fishing ponds from the bank you may need shallower running baits. If you are fishing lakes from a boat your variety in color and depth selection will be greater because of varying depth and water colors. (We will cover more on depth in a minute) Once you have determined where your going to fish the most you then can move on to colors.

Color Selection
I’ve learned the hard way over the last 30 years when it comes to colors. I have a cork board in my boat barn that has well over 100 crankbaits stuck to it that I never use now. Some never ran right, while others were the result of “It Looked Good To Me” when I was at the store but it sure didn’t look good to the fish when I used them at the lake. Through the years (and several $$$) I have settled on some very basic colors that produce over and over again.

I have 6 basic colors that I rely on over and over again. In clearer water I use Texas Shad-Chrome and Blue and Chrome and Black. In stained and muddier waters I use Firetiger-Chartreuse and Crawdad. All the baits in the picture at the left are manufactured by Bandit Lure Company and will give you a good idea about colors. But if I had to choose ONE COLOR ONLY to fish month in month out on our area lakes it would have to be a shad pattern. Once again remember “It’s a confidence thing”.

Depth Selection
Under most circumstances I use a crankbait to search out cover and structure looking for a reaction bite. At times I will “Burn” or crank it as fast as possible, other times I “Ease” the bait through the structure. To be able to do this I always try to select a crankbait that will run deeper than the water depth that I’m fishing. If I’m in 6 feet of water I want a crankbait that will run 8 to 10 feet deep. If I’m in 10 feet of water I want a crankbait that will run 12 to 15 feet deep. I want to make sure that I’m keeping in contact with the bottom at all times bouncing off as much structure as possible. ONE EXCEPTION to this is when I’m fishing grass so I select a crankbait that will just barely touch the tops of the weeds. You may say “If I throw a crankbait in structure I’ll get hung up and may loose my bait”. That’s what a good lure retriever is for. If you are not willing to throw into structure you might as well be fishing in your living room. Most crankbait manufactures will list the depths their baits will run, but remember that (1) Reel Speed-I prefer a reel with at least a 5:7-1 ratio (2) Line Diameter- I prefer to fish 6lb to 10 lb max (3) Rod Length- I prefer at least a 6½ foot rod-7 foot is better and (4) cast distance will play a big part in how deep your crankbait will run.

Crankbait Action and Sound
Here’s a couple of tips on how you can determine what kind of action a crankbait will have just by looking at it. If the line tie is closer to the end of the bill that crankbait will run shallower than a bait the has the line tie nearer to it’s face. If the bill of the crankbait is angled down it will run shallower that one where the bill is straight. The closer the line tie is to it’s face the tighter the wiggle. Baits with a wider body will have more of a wobble where thinner baits will have more of a wiggle. Lipless crankbaits like a Rattle Trap have thin sides and the line tie is on the top-these types of baits have a very tight wiggle and are very effective when retrieved at high speeds.

Another important part in achieving good lure action is making sure that your crankbait has a adequate size split ring (I change all baits with small rings) and in my opinion the use of a good quality snap not a swivel . This is probably the most hotly contested area in crankbait fishing. Many will never use a snap and will always tie directly to the baits split ring. Over years of experimenting I have found that if you use a good snap and attach it directly to the baits split ring it will enhance your lures action dramatically. I have fished side by side with many that won’t use a snap and I will have numerous more strikes in a period of the day’s fishing using a snap. Will CHEAP SNAPS FAIL? Yes…but so will cheap line-reels-rods. Spending a little extra on good snaps in my opinion pays off big time throughout the year.

Many crankbaits have rattles in them. I have found that rattles are very helpful when (1) there is limited visibility because of muddy water (2) the structure is very heavy (3) the bass are actively feeding. But on the other hand I have found that rattles can be a hindrance such as in clearer lakes when bass are moving up to spawn and at times in the late winter/early spring in colder water. This is the time that I opt for a #5 or #7 Shad Rap. I have watched this hold true over and over again on Old Hickory Lake early in the year.

The great thing about crankbaits is that here in the south you can throw them all year long. You will have to change presentation-structure-depths and line weight to make them work for you. But if you will be diligent in learning you can add many pounds of bass to you years catch. Don’t go out and load your tackle box down with dozen of colors and sizes–take your time and find out what will work for you best.

By: Rick McFerrin, Originally Published: 4-07-2004

Tennessee Bass Guides
Website: www.tennesseebassguides.com

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