| Envision your favorite crankbait. It looks just | | | | motionless. Repeat as long as there is cover to |
| about as obvious as the Goodyear blimp, doesn't | | | | come through. |
| it? Now take that blimp and add action - broad | | | | Many zone 2 and zone 3 crankbaits are also very |
| sides rolling, bold colors flashing, tail strutting briskly | | | | buoyant. In general, these buoyant ones are the |
| back and forth, head bobbing, bottom-gouging like | | | | best types for digging along bottom. The rod tip is |
| a mini bulldozer, deflecting up and over every | | | | usually held pointing down at an angle that |
| obstruction in its path. Let me also ask you, | | | | telegraphs a strong throb. Get a good long cast. |
| "What's your favorite crankbait color?" Is it "fire | | | | Hold the rod down. Sweep the tip slowly once or |
| tiger", a pop art concoction of bright blazing | | | | twice to help pump the crank down and reel |
| orange, glaring fluorescent green, hot yellow | | | | steadily until the crankbait starts bumping along |
| chartreuse with bold black bars and stripes | | | | bottom or pounding into obstructions down there. |
| thrown in all over? We're not soaking a skinny, | | | | Pause the retrieve a bit when you start striking |
| drab-colored pumpkin or watermelon worm here | | | | into stuff. If it's a troublesome snaggy spot your |
| anymore! | | | | crankbait's gotten into, lift the rod tip a bit to |
| So that's the first thing about a crankbait - a | | | | alleviate line pressure, thereby causing some slack |
| crankbait makes an obvious target. It's bulbous, | | | | line for the crank to float up. The high buoyancy |
| billboard-sided, much bulkier and more | | | | helps keep you from snagging. Slowly resume |
| conspicuously painted than most any other lure in | | | | reeling when you feel you've floated far enough |
| your tackle box. | | | | up so that you've lost all bottom contact and |
| Second, if you can feel a crankbait throbbing in | | | | you're not hitting anything at all. Then resume |
| your rod tip from 50 feet away, just imagine | | | | regular reeling or sweep the rod tip until you start |
| what kind of excitement your crankbait's throb | | | | hitting stuff again. |
| ignites in a fish's lateral line! Now crankbaits just | | | | Repeat bumping and backing off until the lure gets |
| assault these two senses - eyesight and the | | | | close enough that the shortened line distance |
| lateral line. All that's built in right out of the box - | | | | prevents your crankbait from reaching bottom |
| big bulk, bold color and throbbing vibration. | | | | any longer. Both the end of the retrieve (when |
| Third, you want a crankbait that casts far. Over | | | | the crankbait no longer reaches bottom) and the |
| the course of a few seasons as you try different | | | | beginning of the retrieve (before the crankbait |
| ones (hundreds of crankbaits are on the market), | | | | reaches bottom) are typically unproductive. A |
| keep in mind that castability counts. One that | | | | surprising amount of your crankbait's overall time |
| casts well for you because it matches with the | | | | distance can be spent in the unproductive |
| rod and reel you use without overpowering it. If a | | | | beginning and end of the retrieve. That's why a |
| crankbait waffles in the wind, dies and drops | | | | long-casting crankbait is desirable - to extend the |
| short, you don't need it. The farther you can | | | | middle part of the retrieve when the bait is in the |
| throw a crankbait, the more water you can | | | | strike zone. |
| cover, the more fish you can attract, the deeper | | | | Other types of zone 2 and zone 3 crankbaits are |
| it will go and the longer it will be in the strike zone | | | | not buoyant at all but are designed to be neutrally |
| the farther you can cast it. | | | | "suspending" crankbaits. They are precisely |
| Speaking of depth, you'll need three different | | | | weighted so that they will hover and hold their |
| kinds of crankbaits that work well for you in | | | | depth when you pause the retrieve. Cast way |
| three different zones: | | | | out, crank them down to get them bouncing |
| Zone One: 0 to 6 feet | | | | bottom, then pause the retrieve. They'll practically |
| Zone Two: 6 to 12 feet | | | | suspend and hover just off the bottom, rising |
| Zone Three: 12 to 18 feet | | | | very slowly if at all. At this point you should |
| No crankbaits go deeper than that. It's fairly easy | | | | suspend reeling too. Rod manipulation comes into |
| to find crankbaits that fit each of these zones. | | | | play now. Your mission is to find any manner of |
| Look at the lip. As a rule of thumb, if the lip is | | | | twitching, longer jerks or abrupt ripping that may |
| much shorter than an inch and angled vertically, | | | | trigger a strike - always with lots of pausing. Do |
| it's going to stay in zone one. If the lip is | | | | whatever it takes with the rod tip to trigger that |
| approximately an inch and angled less than 45 | | | | first response from the fish. Then repeat that |
| degrees, that's zone two. If the lip is much longer | | | | over and over again, fine-tuning the "trigger key" |
| than an inch and practically horizontal, that's zone | | | | you've found a bit better upon each repetition. |
| three. A wide lip usually makes a wide wobble and | | | | That's called "catching" and not always an easy |
| a lot of rod resistance. A thin lip usually creates a | | | | thing to do...but so very rewarding when you |
| tight wiggle with less resistance. Those are general | | | | make it happen! |
| rules of thumb. | | | | Another use for zone 2 or 3 suspending |
| Zone 1 (0 to 6 feet) Zone 2 (6 to 12 feet) Zone | | | | crankbaits is where your electronics show bass |
| 3 (12 to 18 feet) | | | | suspended or feeding in the open water column. |
| Zone 1 crankbaits are usually very buoyant. In | | | | Cast far enough beyond the fish so you can reel |
| zone 1 you will typically encounter weeds, reeds, | | | | the bait down to their water level. Same story |
| wood and other kinds of cover - solitary cover or | | | | here now. Hover your crankbait in mid-water |
| acres of it. Cast into open water beyond the | | | | amidst the suspended fish. Experiment with rod |
| cover and reel the crankbait right up to it. If you | | | | draws, twitches and generally using the rod to |
| think you can bounce off the cover without | | | | evoke that trigger response from bass at |
| fouling, hit the crankbait right into the side of it | | | | mid-depths in open water - always with plenty of |
| and stop reeling. If you fear getting fouled, just | | | | lingering in-your-face pauses. |
| stop reeling an instant before contact. In either | | | | I can't think of what else to say. That's basically it |
| case, let the crankbait float up. Most of these | | | | about crankbaits. Find the few that work for you |
| zone 1 types are highly buoyant and will bob up to | | | | and you'll never run dry of fresh water where |
| the surface like corks. Then do nothing. Bass will | | | | you can throw them down and pull in a big bucket |
| belt them as they rise, and they'll even boil up to | | | | of bass! |
| swat them off the surface as they float | | | | |