How to catch fish with a crankbait.
The crankbait. How do fish one of the most productive baits ever? How do you determine what crankbait and color to fish during a particular day? Some use the water color to dictate the color. The clearer the water use a more natural color such as a shad or perch color, Try to match the crankbait color to the forage base of the the water you are fishing, For darker colored water use a brighter color crankbait such as a red , fire tiger, or orange.
Choose a crankbait for the depth you are fishing. Start by buying crankbaits for your tackle box that run at different depths. I particularly like the Rapala DT series of crankbaits. DT stands for dive to then there is a number for depth. Start with shallow running crankbaits. The Rapala DT6 will run down to 6 foot depth. You can still fish the DT6 in 2-3 feet of water by keeping your rod tip high and reeling slowly. You will know how fast to reel when you feel the lure ticking the bottom.
Another great shallow running crankbait I like is the Rapala original floating minnow which runs to 4-5 feet in depth. Many situations will call for shallow water fishing for bass. In late summer early fall a lot of the weeds have died off . In the early spring before the weed growth has started is a perfect time for using a crankbait on shallow feeding bass. The Rapala DT series comes in DT 6 , DT 8 , DT10, DT 12, and DT16. If you are fishing the bottom choose a crankbait that will just tick the bottom. That will give you the optimal action.
Retrieving a crankbait in shallow water depends on the water temperatures you are fishing. Many crankbait fisherman like a steady retrieve. In colder temperatures like the fall slow the retrieve down. As your crankbait nears the boat you want to speed up your crankbait and tilt your rod to one side. This change of speed and movement can many times trigger a fish to bite. When you hit weeds. Jerk the crankbait free. Many times the fish will bite after the crankbait frees from the snag. The same thing when a crankbait hits a tree limb or some other obstacle
Lets take an example of a situation you are fishing. Say you are fishing the shore line. Your boat is in 12 feet of water. You are casting into the shore with your crankbait. You watch the depth finder for fish. Say you start spotting fishing suspended in 8 feet of water over the 12 feet depth. You are catching a few fish from the shallow water. Maybe you note the fish are catching fish nearer the boat as oppose to the shore. You may be catching fish that are coming out of the deeper water as opposed to a fish following a lure from the shore. In this situation you may want to back off your boat into deeper water. Then put on a DT 6 or DT8 crankbait and fish those suspended fish. You want your crankbait to be slightly above the fish. Since fish eyes are located to look up on most game fish such as bass or crappie.
Weedline fishing. In early to mid summer here in Minnesota the deep weed edge is 10-12 feet. Choose a DT12 or DT10 crankbait. Position your boat off the weed line. Cast into the edge of the weed line. Another technique would be to position your boat parallel to the edge of the weed line and work the crankbait along the edge. Another technique to fishing a crankbait on the weed line is to position your boat in the the edge of the weeds and fan cast out into the deeper water. This a technique professional bass fishermen use. You should try this technique if you have not. Many bigger bass can be located in the deeper water outside the weed edge.
For a depth you are fishing. Another tip is to read the instructions inside the crankbait box to determine which weight line to use. Another tip have 3-4 rods with different crankbaits rigged to fish different depths. As an example during mid-summer you may want to have a DT6 Rapala crankbait rigged to fish shallow sandbars or rock piles. You have another rod with a Rapala DT 12 rigged for fishing the deep weedline. There you have it how to catch bass with a crankbait explained