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Old 10-08-11, 12:08 PM   #1
Crankbait
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Default Matching the Hatch

Always hear match the hatch. Was fishing a lake that had be dredged. Water was muddy and on this lake my white cranks would kill…….good shad population. Wasn’t catching any and finally decided to go red…..normally don’t do that except in spring late fall. After about the 8th bass it became apparent why all of a sudden I was on them. Bass spit out it last meal and i was amazed how similar the crank was. I’ve always heard that shad offer the most nutrients for a bass but was curious whether the bass were on because crawfish move slower and in that muddy water they were just an easy slower prey?
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Old 10-08-11, 07:45 PM   #2
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Wow, that is a good match! And an easy meal for a hungry bass!
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Old 10-08-11, 09:27 PM   #3
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Good article about crayfish/crawdads:

By Jaison Annarino
bassmaster.com
Jan 26, 2010


Whatever you call them — crayfish, crawdads, mudbugs or whatever — crawfish are popular with bass. With nearly 400 species nationwide, the crawfish is practically everywhere, and it's a nearly perfect bass bait.

Ken Cook, former Bassmaster Classic champion and former Oklahoma fisheries biologist, knows a lot about crawfish and how bass feed on them. In his eyes, crawfish-imitating lures can be go-to baits, even in the coldest water.

"There are a lot of misconceptions about crawfish," says Cook. "One of the misconceptions many fishermen have is that crawfish are active when the water is near 50 degrees or below. There is some variability due to geographical location, of course, but being cold-blooded crustaceans, crawfish are generally dormant during winter. Unless there is a strong warming trend, they're just not crawling around."

The good news is that bass don't care.

"Crawfish are a highly preferred diet item," Cook explains. "A bass doesn't know crawfish are supposed to be dormant. Bass are also very opportunistic predators, so when he sees a craw lure, he sees an easy, nutritious meal."

In essence, a slow moving, crawfish imitating bait, such as a jig, is a good way to lure a lethargic bass into believing he's stumbled across a chance to expend limited energy to get a lot of nutrition.

According to the pro, another misconception is the idea that crawfish have seasonal colors. An example would be the common notion that most crawfish are red in spring.

"It's a bunch of hooey," claims Cook, "There are no hard and fast rules about crawfish colors. In any given large body of water, the most important factor in crawfish coloration isn't seasonal, it's environmental. Different species may have different coloration, but the best way to match any seasonal color is to match the color of the habitat.

"Although each kind of crawfish will have their own coloration, each species ends up pigmented like their environment, no matter what season it is. The key to matching crawfish color depends on when and where a particular species molts. Immediately after craws shed their old shells, they lose their color and get clearer. Crawfish build and strengthen their new shells with the nutrients and minerals from their environments. A craw in a grassy, weedy environment will take on a green color. Red clay bank craws assume a rusty color, and crawfish living around dark rocks become dark gray or black."
Cook says that even crawfish of the same species might have dramatically different coloration depending on where they live when they molt.

The 14-time Bassmaster Classic qualifier offered a final tip for fishing a crawfish-type jig: Pay attention to the pinchers.
"Most craws will have some color on their claws, especially the tips. In some areas they commonly have a little chartreuse or even red. In other places they have blue tips. I've had great success fishing a jig in cold water by selecting a skirt with a few strands of color and matching that color on the claws.

"In clear water, it's very important have the jig look as natural as possible, so I match the color of the habitat and add a little chartreuse. You should shoot for realism. In stained water, shoot for visibility by using a darker jig like black and blue. Even then, though, consider tipping the claws with some red or orange."

Cold water bass fishing can be tough, but with a better understanding of forage, the pursuit is made easier.
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Old 10-08-11, 10:13 PM   #4
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When it comes to plastic craw imitations, how do y'all rig 'em? I only bring this up because I read that 99% of us are rigging them wrong, as well as the industry for the most part designs them wrong...rather than rig so the claws trail in the water when retrieved, the more realistic way would be to rig the opposite way, like a craw moves, or craws along the bottom, rather than swims(which we all know, is backwards).
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Old 10-09-11, 09:32 AM   #5
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I've tried rigging them frontwards and backwards and don't see much difference either way, but 99% of the time I'm using them as a jig trailer and pitching them into laydowns and such and fishing them real slow. Might be different in I was into the swim jig thing.
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Old 10-11-11, 01:09 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dogmatic View Post
When it comes to plastic craw imitations, how do y'all rig 'em? I only bring this up because I read that 99% of us are rigging them wrong, as well as the industry for the most part designs them wrong...rather than rig so the claws trail in the water when retrieved, the more realistic way would be to rig the opposite way, like a craw moves, or craws along the bottom, rather than swims(which we all know, is backwards).
Craws swim backwards when scared, that´s what you are doing, matching the hatch ---> the craw is trying to escape and that should trigger a strike, so nobody is rigging them "wrong".

Matching the hatch is not about having baits that look like forage in every little detail ( those are meant to catch you ), matching the hatch is about you making your bait imitate in every detail the behavior of forage that signal predators that it´s an easy meal.
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Old 10-11-11, 06:22 PM   #7
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@Raul. Might want to talk to Bill Siemantel about that one. Don't get me wrong, I was out today, with craws rigged t-style and as trailers the way I have always rigged 'em, backwards.
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Old 10-13-11, 05:40 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dogmatic View Post
@Raul. Might want to talk to Bill Siemantel about that one. Don't get me wrong, I was out today, with craws rigged t-style and as trailers the way I have always rigged 'em, backwards.
I hear you dog but think about this as well. Crank baits rattle and how many baits do you know that rattle?
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Old 10-13-11, 08:36 PM   #9
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I think the rattle is suppose to simulate the natural "crackling" that baits produce(?).
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Old 10-14-11, 02:31 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dogmatic View Post
I think the rattle is suppose to simulate the natural "crackling" that baits produce(?).
I’ve got to get underwater to hear shad/crawfish…..don’t get me wrong I throw cranks 97% of the time and it is because of this that I’m looking into silent cranks. I was drilling out cranks and removing their bb’s years ago but didn’t like how it sometimes affected their action. I’m now glad to see silent ones….it’s on Bass!!
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Old 10-14-11, 07:18 AM   #11
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A couple weeks ago we were trying this with jerkbaits. For some reason we didn't catch anything on this combo:

Maybe a Pointer 78 would have been a little closer in size, but this seemed pretty close.
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Old 10-14-11, 08:08 AM   #12
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Isn't that the bluegill pattern, you obviously needed the perch pattern? LOL. Like the OP, it doesn't get better than that! When does the philosophy of "match the hatch" give way to "giving them something different"?
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Old 10-14-11, 09:35 AM   #13
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Nonono bender your set ups all wrong. You have to havee a new bait that just came out it has fins on top it makes all the differencee.....lol
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Old 10-14-11, 11:27 AM   #14
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Nonono bender your set ups all wrong. You have to havee a new bait that just came out it has fins on top it makes all the differencee.....lol
Haaaaaaaaaaaaaa
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Old 10-14-11, 03:56 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dogmatic View Post
When does the philosophy of "match the hatch" give way to "giving them something different"?
When you have specific spawns for shad, minnows, or bluegill and bass are specifically targeting one species then I'd try to match the forage.

"Give them something different" takes effect when the above fails to produce....
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