Crankbait Basics Part 1

As a guide on Lake Guntersville and being known for fishing crankabits in the grass I thought I would give a little advice on what I know about crankbaits. As most anglers have done, I have stood in the isle of alot of tackle stores looking at thousands of styles, colors, and types of crankabits wondering "which one should I get?" Well I wanted to write an article that might help save alot of time and money for anglers just getting started fishing one of the best baits on the water.

First lets start with the styles of baits. There are two main styles of crankbaits, wood and plastic. Both of these are great and do alot of the same things but at the same time each have thier own application. One of the main things that make these two types seperate is the ROR or Rate of Rise. This is dealing with the bouyancy of the bait. I make this a huge factor in choosing a bait for a specific lake or condition. The wood or Balsa bait most of the time have a faster ROR than plastic baits. The biggest downfall with alot of wood type baits are they are lighter and less weighted making them harder to cast in windy conditions. One other thing alot of anglers will notice is the cost. Most of the better Balsa crankbaits come with a cost. I have several of these baits that cost up to $100.00 per bait but are well worth every penny. Most of the better baits run around $25.00-$50.00.

When looking at plastic crankbaits there are tons of brands and choices. The prices also vary alot. I have seen baits that range from $5.00 up to $50.00. Now don't think a $5.00 bait does not catch fish because they will. I get alot of calls asking what the biggest thing is between the high dollar baits vs. the lower end. Well to me what makes a crankbait is the components. I look at the hooks, swivels, weighting system inside the bait, and paint. This to me make a crankbait good, or bad. If I was forced to say there was one thing that made me choose one over another it would be the weight system inside the bait. This controls the way it cast, the way it tracks in the water, reacts when hitting cover, and makes casting more accurate. I have found baits like the Jackall Muscle and MC series have everything I look for in a crankabit. You can pull one out of the box and use it without making any changes to it.

One other huge thing on baits is the bills on the front. Now everyone knows short bills run shallow and long ones run deep but one factor in the bill style is the angle they are placed at. The angle makes the bait dive faster or slower than others. Also the type of material the bill is make out of makes a difference in the way it dives. I have found "circut board type bills tend to dive sharper than thicker plastics. Also this type bill tends not to break as often when slammed against structure. Now don't get me wrong, plastic bills work well and hold up when fished hard into rocks, this is another thing that sets the higher priced baits over cheaper versions is the type of plastic used in the bill.

In part 2 I will discuss the next major thing in buying the right crankbait, color selection, size and shapes. I hope this will help anglers get started on choosing a crankbait. Thanks to all of you for your comments and be sure to check out the WAAY 31 TV site(www.waaytobetterfishing.com) for upcoming events and articles. Also we have on water updates from tournaments and guide trips on our Twitter account there. Be sure to check it out and sign up as a follower.