Catching fish with crankbaits!

[Bassmaster-ND]

[black][size 3]What are some of your favorite crankbaits that you use to catch some fish[/size][/black]
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[Fishhound]

[black][size 3]That all depends on the species. Here are some examples of what I mean by that. [/size][/black]
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[black][size 3]For Small mouth, and Pike a Rapala Huskey Jerk or a floating minnow can really produce some great results - I like sizes 7,9,11 as a general rule with color depending on water clarity and weather conditions.[/size][/black]
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[black][size 3]For Large mouht Bass fishing in the grass, a Rattling Rapala or a Rat-l-Trap works pretty well as long as you keep the hooks needle sharp and use the right rod and heavy line. For in heavy wooded cover, I like Luhr Jensen Speed Traps and Brush Babies because of the lip design that allows them to bounce off structure more readily.[/size][/black]
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[black][size 3]For Trout, I've had great success with walley divers in perch patterns when the body of water has those fish in it as well.[/size][/black]
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[black][size 3]I could go on and on about crankbaits and/or surface plugs as they are an extremely potent bait for many if not almost all fresh water species. [/size][/black]
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[black][size 3]I should mention for folks that might just be starting out with cranbaits or plugs , that there are a few techniques involved with fishing them and a few adjustments in the tackle being used that should also be considered as well when using many of the hardbaits refered to as crankbaits in order to maximize success and minimize frustrations. [/size][/black]
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[TooPureToDie]

hey bassmaster
remember all those pike and walleye we'd catch with those crankbaits in our sectret creek[]
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[Bassmaster-ND]

These are some of the cranks I count on.

For largemouth bass in shallow grass or wooded areas I like to use The bomber from the bill dance series. [inline "Bomber Bill Dance Signature Series.jpg"]

I have caught countless bass in shallow wooded areas with this. I like the lip design because it's square which helps it bounce off of limps and stumps and its easy to rip away from the grass.

My go to lure for largemouth bass in shallow grass is the Mann's Baby 1-minus.
[inline "Mann's Baby 1-Minus.jpg"]
I love this little lure. I have caught so many bass with it. The retrieves I use with it is usually a stop and go or a reel-long pause-retrieve. Works everytime.

For largemouth in deeper water I love the Rapala DT series.
[inline "Rapala DT.jpg"]
I remember the first time I took the DT 10 in the perch color out, I caught a 5.8 lb bass out at Nelson. It was in the spring and I found a shallow flat with a very deep drop off. What I would do is throw the crankbait out past the drop off onto the shallow flat and would let it just dig into the shallow part then when it hit that drop off they would nail it every single time.
I also like to use it in deeper water with submerged trees.
This is a great all around bait that will work for any species.

For trout in North Dakota I love to use any jerkbait with a trout pattern. It can be rainbow trout or brown trout pattern they both work great. My favorite kind of jerkbait like that has got to be the Yo-zuri fingerling bass lure.
[inline Yo-Zuri.jpg]
It's trout pattern is so realistic and very reflective. Its a great lure to use on a sunny day or even a dark cloudy day. Only thing I dont like about it is the hooks are kind of small and bend easily. I replace them with the TX 3's. I dont lose very many fish after I switch the hooks. A problem with the lure is the weight. It doesnt wiegh very much so you will have to use light tackle to cast it farther.

Anybody else feel free to add your crankbaits![cool]
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[Fishhound]

[black][size 3]Here are a few of my actual Crankbaits - I just took out a couple of my Hardbait boxes, selected some baits and snapped some shots of them. [/size][/black]
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[black][size 3]Bass Cranks[/size][/black]
[inline "Bass Cranks.JPG"]

[black][size 3]Diving Cranks[/size][/black]
[inline "Diving Cranks.JPG"]

[black][size 3]Lipless Cranks[/size][/black]
[inline "Lipless Cranks.JPG"]

[black][size 3]Minnow Cranks[/size][/black]
[inline "Minnow Baits.JPG"]

[black][size 3]Small Cranks[/size][/black]
[inline "Small Cranks.JPG"]
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[tubeN2]

I use alot of the Mega Bait Goggle eyes, Rapalas in all colors depending on the water and location, jointed and straight, diving and suspending, floating and sinking.

Those all work for your average fish up to 12lbs. For the bigger dudes, I use the Castaic Swimbaits in the BlueGill, Threadfin Shad and the Rainbow Trout 9"or 12". I also use the Hudleston 8" Rainbow for the Super Hawgs.
[url "http://www.huddlestondeluxe.com/generic57.html"][/url]

The Huddle bugs work real well for the Smallies too.
[url "http://www.huddlestondeluxe.com/generic58.html"][/url]

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[Bassmaster-ND]

Wow you sure have a lot of crankbaits!! Thanks for sharing! Went to the store and picked up a handful of new ones today.
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[Bassmaster-ND]

What kind of rods do you use to throw around those 9" or 12" baits? salmon rods[][crazy]
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[Bassmaster-ND]

Do you keep switching crankbait colors until you find one the fish are biting? And if they arnt biting on a few colors how do you know you're just not in the right area?

I've always wondered about that.
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[jamesavp]

I feel that crankbait type is more important than color. In any one crank I have 3 types of colors, Shad, Craw, Chartuse. Thats all you really need. What I mean with types is Rattle trap, Deep runner, Fat vs slim, wide wobble vs tight wobble. That type of stuff. You can use crank baits about year round. Even if they don't want to eat a reation stike is possible. The key to crankbaits especially at Nelson is Rock contact. You have to bumb the rocks. Don't forget to pause here and there.
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[Bassmaster-ND]

Have you tried those salmo crankbaits? I hear nothing but good things about them? I was at scheels and was going to pick one up but I couldnt remember which one tony dean was using[] haha.
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