i was watching some pros fishing on tv

[fishbait]

as i said i was watching some angler telivision and noticed that a lot of anglers throw a lipless crank bait with success i have tried but seem to not have the retrieve down, need some instrucrion i nail most of my fish on traditional cranks and softies. using this lipless crank i feel that there is no control or feel that way, do to little experience. need some insite boys, this is why i joined lunkerville i respect the oppinion of fellow minded lunkerites. so lets hear it.

[Mike D]

i'm kinda like you: i have no confidence in the bait... but i think it's mostly due to not using it much and therefore i have no confidence... i am going to make an effort to pull one out the next time i have an active bite going, so that i can feel some fish hit it.

i'm sure wildbill has some good insights.

[Wild Bill]

Lipless Crank Baits
----------------------

I also never really had much success with this lure until I took a trip down to Lake Fork [in Texas] about ten years ago or so, and was fishing with a hired guide in the springtime. Yeah, before then I had had a little success buzzing 'traps' right over weedlines sort of like a spinnerbait, but no consistent bites that way, and nothing I had real confidence doing.

The guide mentioned in a phone call prior to meeting him, that there might be a "trap bite, and that I should get some red 1/2 and 3/4 ounce Rattle Traps in the red craw pattern prior to our day on the waters.

Well, he showed me that he used the bait to provoke bites from bass in [green, new growth] weedlines, and that red was used to simulate the craws found in weeds down there.

First he showed me how a certain [ducklike, but not a duck] black waterfowl down there would actually 'mark' the weedbeds as they floated around the weedbeds, because the birds would congregate over the weeds, as the brids would dive down to forage on the green new growth. Once we found a cluster of the birds he had told me about, the lure would be cast into the weedline, and let to sink down, until you made contact with the weed, then RIP it violently free of the weeds, and often that's right when the Bass would attack it, as the lure darted from the weed.

You work the bait, just on top of the weed tops, just letting it pause a moment or two enough to make contact with the weed tops, then RIP IT FREE again.
It requires a stiffer rod than normally would be used for conventional diving cranks, and a heavy line, so not to flex or stretch as much , so you could power the lure free of the weeds to provoke the strike.

I also use it again come the fall, when bass are chasing baitfish to gorge themselves just prior to winter, again, working the weedlines in coves or creek arms the same way, but with baitfish color patterns of the lure then.

I hope this helps you...

[Lpbassman]

Lipless crankbaits have typically been a springtime bait (at least for me) and Bill is correct as red craw is the color to use at this time of year. They can also be effective around rip-rap and fished either parallel or from the shore line out.

Another productive use of the lipless crankbait is on feeding fish. On several springtime trips to both Pickwick Lake in Tennessee and Bay Springs in Mississippi my buddy and I have spotted schools of bass bustin' shad on the surface. Once again the birds can help you spot this from a distance & you can easily see the surface disturbance if they are busting any where close to you. In this instance, use a more natural shad colored bait. Make your casts to outer edge of the attack zone and reel it right across at a fairly shallow depth. The bass will slam it.
This method has also worked for me up north for me on Candlewood Lake in Ct as well. Good Luck!

[Randall]

Bill, those ducklike birds are coots. They always know where the good grass is and I use them here the same way.
The best way to learn to use a lipless crank is to just use it and experiment with it. In time you will get used to how deep it is running at certain speeds. There is no wrong way to fish it and each day is different for me. Some days I let it sink to the bottom and rip it up and let it fall back, other days I just slow roll it back in deeper water , and others I burn it as fast as I can reel over shallow areas. What makes it so good is the fact that you can fish it at a lot of depths and different ways until you know what the fish want without changing baits. They also make a great bait when the fish are busting bait near the surface in deep water.

[fishbait]

thanks guys that a lot of help. the more info the better.

[penguin]

I have also watched the pros,it seem to me they are always on a weed bed or on a active bite,i never see them cruising up and down the lake.when you are out there and you've tryed all the others try this bait when you don't want to.

[grampa1114]

Interesting discussion...perhaps on the days that "nothing's workin'....it wouldn't hurt to tie one on and play a little .... maybe learn a little....who knows....might help...

[BassNut]

Don't forget you can also pop and drop them......Thats what I call it.
Cast it out, reel, then stop, let it fall, keeping contact with the lure, lift the rod tip and reel.
Do this all the way back to the boat or until BAM!!!!

[delman]

Living and fishing in South Fl. I use these a lot due to the amount of weeds in our waters. I like them cause YOU control how deep the bate runs. After I find the depth of the water on your sonar and see the underwater structure I throw the bate out, I count down to were I want to start my retreve I then reel & pull reel & pull reel & pull, I ajust the amount of reels and the pulls, again YOU control the bait, depth and the amont of pulls and reels thus attracting the strike. As to color I use the black/silver combo the most, I have many more colors but this is the go to color for me. I use the XR-50 from Xcalibur thats my choice there are many many more on the market that are a great lures & you will have to make that choice based on how much you want to spend. The reason I like the xcalibur bate is the finish is great it dose not chip off ! also the noise {rattle} it makes, and the price is a fair one. I hope this helps you to go out and try a lipless bates.