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John N. Felsher's Bass Fishing Adventures
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With multiple protruding treble hooks and little protection from entangling
snags, crankbaits often wait in the box as people fish the rough stuff.
However, to catch bass, anglers must first reach them. For a largemouth,
that may mean breaking into to the nastiest, thickest cover around. Not known
for speed, bass seldom run down prey in open water. The use their splendid
green and black camouflage for short, quick lunges to ambush prey in thick
cover. Sometimes, anglers need to almost knock bass on the nose to provoke
a strike.
In many Florida lakes and rivers, anglers don’t find many places without
thick cover, so that eliminates throwing crankbaits. Or does it? Sure, people
won’t run long-lipped crankbaits through a shallow, weedy lagoon, but with a
little patience and daring, anglers can fish crankbaits almost anywhere.
“Some crankbaits hang up more than others,” said David Fritts, a former
Bassmaster Classic champion from Lexington, N.C. “The key to catching fish
on a crankbait in heavy cover is learning when the bait is coming into cover
and being able to adjust the speed of the bait to get around that cover.”
Thick weeds create the most imposing obstacle to fishing crankbaits --
and the dominant cover in many Florida bass honey holes. Crankbaits can’t
run through thickly matted vegetation or a raft of water hyacinths. Even here,
though, crankbaits can entice bass in narrow pockets and channels.
“People are amazed at how weedless crankbaits really are when fished
properly,” said Alton Jones, winner of the 2008 Bassmaster Classic. “People
get into trouble when they reel too fast or jerk a bait as it hits hit cover. I throw
as close to cover as possible and fish very slowly to feel the lip hit the cover.
Pause a second to let the lure float up. Walk it through cover by moving the
bait with the rod instead of the reel.”
Many weeds grow just beneath the surface. With practice, anglers might
work the water between submerged weeds and the surface. Let a crankbait
dance over the weed tops, just ticking down enough to make contact to draw
lunkers from the salad.
“When fishing around weeds or grass, fish a bait that tilts a lot,” Fritts
said. “Try to barely touch the grass by controlling the depth of the bait. Hold
the rod up and use bigger line. Bigger line doesn’t cut through water as well,
so it stays higher. Once while fishing heavy grass in Florida, I changed from
10-pound to 14-pound line and held my rod high. I moved the bait two feet
higher with the line and two feet with the rod.”
Wood comprises another dominant cover and a major obstacle to
crankbaiting. Standing timber, fallen trees, old logs, brush piles and stumps
require slightly different tactics to probe ambush points. With long lips partially
protecting dangling hooks, most crankbaits move surprisingly well through
woody cover.
“In brush, logs or other visible cover, I choose a crankbait with a really
wide wobble so bass can feel it coming,” Jones said. “Sometimes they hide
under logs and feel the lure vibrating. When they do, bass come out to
investigate. Often bass in shallow water want a big crankbait. I might take a
crankbait that dives 12 feet deep and fish it on 30-pound line in five feet of
water.”
Around sunken logs or brush piles, “pick” the way through snags very
carefully. Allow crankbait lips to bump into logs or branches, bouncing the lure
backward. That reverberation alerts bass to look in that direction. Pause the
retrieve after hitting an object, allowing the lure to rise over the snag.
Sometimes, bass can’t resist a crankbait if it looks like a shad or bream that
smashed into a log and stunned itself.
“In heavy cover, use baits with a lot of float, not suspending baits,” Fritts
said. “One of my favorite baits is a No. 9 Risto Rap. It’s a wooden bait with
good floating properties. In woody cover or around rocks, a Wiggle Wart is
pretty effective because it is really erratic with a wide action. The nose hangs
down and it slips through cover pretty well.”
Similar to woody structure, rock or concrete riprap provides shady nooks
that attract bass, usually with good access to both deep and shallow water.
Just like around wood, crank lures fast until they hit something and them work
them slowly. Allow them to ping and pause off rocks and probe every cranny.
A slight hesitation may provide too much temptation for a bucketmouth to
refuse.
Crankbaits work because they look like something bass should eat -- a
bream, shad or crawfish. Anglers anywhere can use these plastic morsels to
tempt Ol’ Mossbacks by getting where bass lurk -- if they don’t mind losing a
few lures to particularly obstinate snags!
snags, crankbaits often wait in the box as people fish the rough stuff.
However, to catch bass, anglers must first reach them. For a largemouth,
that may mean breaking into to the nastiest, thickest cover around. Not known
for speed, bass seldom run down prey in open water. The use their splendid
green and black camouflage for short, quick lunges to ambush prey in thick
cover. Sometimes, anglers need to almost knock bass on the nose to provoke
a strike.
In many Florida lakes and rivers, anglers don’t find many places without
thick cover, so that eliminates throwing crankbaits. Or does it? Sure, people
won’t run long-lipped crankbaits through a shallow, weedy lagoon, but with a
little patience and daring, anglers can fish crankbaits almost anywhere.
“Some crankbaits hang up more than others,” said David Fritts, a former
Bassmaster Classic champion from Lexington, N.C. “The key to catching fish
on a crankbait in heavy cover is learning when the bait is coming into cover
and being able to adjust the speed of the bait to get around that cover.”
Thick weeds create the most imposing obstacle to fishing crankbaits --
and the dominant cover in many Florida bass honey holes. Crankbaits can’t
run through thickly matted vegetation or a raft of water hyacinths. Even here,
though, crankbaits can entice bass in narrow pockets and channels.
“People are amazed at how weedless crankbaits really are when fished
properly,” said Alton Jones, winner of the 2008 Bassmaster Classic. “People
get into trouble when they reel too fast or jerk a bait as it hits hit cover. I throw
as close to cover as possible and fish very slowly to feel the lip hit the cover.
Pause a second to let the lure float up. Walk it through cover by moving the
bait with the rod instead of the reel.”
Many weeds grow just beneath the surface. With practice, anglers might
work the water between submerged weeds and the surface. Let a crankbait
dance over the weed tops, just ticking down enough to make contact to draw
lunkers from the salad.
“When fishing around weeds or grass, fish a bait that tilts a lot,” Fritts
said. “Try to barely touch the grass by controlling the depth of the bait. Hold
the rod up and use bigger line. Bigger line doesn’t cut through water as well,
so it stays higher. Once while fishing heavy grass in Florida, I changed from
10-pound to 14-pound line and held my rod high. I moved the bait two feet
higher with the line and two feet with the rod.”
Wood comprises another dominant cover and a major obstacle to
crankbaiting. Standing timber, fallen trees, old logs, brush piles and stumps
require slightly different tactics to probe ambush points. With long lips partially
protecting dangling hooks, most crankbaits move surprisingly well through
woody cover.
“In brush, logs or other visible cover, I choose a crankbait with a really
wide wobble so bass can feel it coming,” Jones said. “Sometimes they hide
under logs and feel the lure vibrating. When they do, bass come out to
investigate. Often bass in shallow water want a big crankbait. I might take a
crankbait that dives 12 feet deep and fish it on 30-pound line in five feet of
water.”
Around sunken logs or brush piles, “pick” the way through snags very
carefully. Allow crankbait lips to bump into logs or branches, bouncing the lure
backward. That reverberation alerts bass to look in that direction. Pause the
retrieve after hitting an object, allowing the lure to rise over the snag.
Sometimes, bass can’t resist a crankbait if it looks like a shad or bream that
smashed into a log and stunned itself.
“In heavy cover, use baits with a lot of float, not suspending baits,” Fritts
said. “One of my favorite baits is a No. 9 Risto Rap. It’s a wooden bait with
good floating properties. In woody cover or around rocks, a Wiggle Wart is
pretty effective because it is really erratic with a wide action. The nose hangs
down and it slips through cover pretty well.”
Similar to woody structure, rock or concrete riprap provides shady nooks
that attract bass, usually with good access to both deep and shallow water.
Just like around wood, crank lures fast until they hit something and them work
them slowly. Allow them to ping and pause off rocks and probe every cranny.
A slight hesitation may provide too much temptation for a bucketmouth to
refuse.
Crankbaits work because they look like something bass should eat -- a
bream, shad or crawfish. Anglers anywhere can use these plastic morsels to
tempt Ol’ Mossbacks by getting where bass lurk -- if they don’t mind losing a
few lures to particularly obstinate snags!
Long-lipped crankbaits can actually
run through some pretty rough cover
run through some pretty rough cover
TOP: Mark Menendez, a
professional bass angler from
Paducah, Ky., pulls a bass
out of a fallen treetop while
using a crankbait. BOTTOM:
With long lips that can brush
aside woody cover and shield
the hooks, a crankbait makes
a surprisingly snag-resistant
lure for fishing in thick cover.
professional bass angler from
Paducah, Ky., pulls a bass
out of a fallen treetop while
using a crankbait. BOTTOM:
With long lips that can brush
aside woody cover and shield
the hooks, a crankbait makes
a surprisingly snag-resistant
lure for fishing in thick cover.
