Crankbaits on a lake without shad?

[IowaBasser]

Here in Iowa I'm on the fringe of largemouth country. If you go further north, smallmouth and walleye become popular. It makes sense that most of the people who post here are from the South (and yes, in Iowa some people consider Missouri "the South.") When talking about crankbaits, frequently the crankbaits are made to replicate shad, a major food source for southern bass, however many of the lakes I fish don't have shad.

I was hoping to hear what type of crankbaits people use when fishing a like without shad.

[96ecss]

I fish a few lakes that don't have shad. I catch fish on many different colored crankbaits including, bluegill, yellow perch, baby bass and crawfish colors. I also do well on classic Rapala colors like silver/black and silver/blue.

What type of baitfish are in the lakes you fish? You can "match the hatch" and use colors that match the forage in your lakes but you don't have to. One of my favorite colors is firetiger, which really doesn't look like anything in the lakes I fish, but it produces well for me some days.

Dave

[96ecss]

I just read your post again and I realized you asked about crankbait type, not color. My first reply was all about color, not type.

Even in lakes without shad, I still fish the same cranks. I experiment until I find what works. I don't really think it matters if the lake has shad or not. I'm interested to hear some other opinions on this subject too. What has been successful for you in the past?

Dave

[keithdog]

I've fished my area lakes that contained no shad for years with crankbaits successfully. Did very well on cranks in fact. I just used cranks that more closely matched the size and color of what fish were in my lakes that the bass feed on as 96 already said. But you'd be suprised what choices of crankbaits will produce, even if they don't match the hatch. Bass are preditors, and if it looks edible they'll be interrested. Last year one of my lakes suddenly showed up with lots of shad for the bass to feed on. Not sure where they came from or how they got there. Interrestingly, my crankbait catches dropped in number in that ]lake. Instead I was catching most of my fish on a popper.

[BigBassin144]

There are no shad in most of the places I fish, and crankbaits are one of my go to baits. Use whatever crankbaits you like. I use a lot of Bandit crankbaits, in various colors. From bluegill, to sexy shad, to Tennessee shad. A white crank with a grey or black black and a shad spot produces for me as well.

Take a look at a crankbait from behind (as a fish that's trailing the bait would see), or how about from below. Does it look shad colored? does it look bluegill colored? Baby Bass colored? Probably not. What you can see probably isn't enough to determine its color, so it probably won't be enough for a bass to do so either.

BB

[96ecss]

Originally Posted by BigBassin144

Take a look at a crankbait from behind (as a fish that's trailing the bait would see), or how about from below. Does it look shad colored? does it look bluegill colored? Baby Bass colored? Probably not. What you can see probably isn't enough to determine its color, so it probably won't be enough for a bass to do so either.

BB

Very good point BB.

Dave

[HarveysMinnow]

Originally Posted by keithdog

But you'd be suprised what choices of crankbaits will produce, even if they don't match the hatch. Bass are preditors, and if it looks edible they'll be interrested.

I'm becoming more convinced all along that the colors and detailed patterns on crankbaits are intended more to entice the fisherman to purchase them than they are for the appeal they may have to the fish. Overall shape, action, retrieval speed, and how hungry Mr. Bass becomes, are probably more important factors. If the fish gets hungry enough, it will hit anything that moves, provided it's not too large to fit into its mouth.

[IowaBasser]

The lake I fish most of the time is private and has no traditional bait-fish other than perhaps blue-gill. It's a man-made lake with only blue-gill, crappie, walleye, bass and catfish. (They did intorduce a small number of Musky this fall) There are strict rules prohibiting fishing with live bait except for worms and leeches so forgage fish don't get introduced. I did OK this fall with catching bass on a wally-diver. The wally-diver is traditionally thought of as a walleye crankbait - at least that's how I think of it - however my dad caught so many bass on it trolling for walleye that I started casting it for bass. The chrome&black back seems to produce the best. I also have tried rapla shad-raps with limited success in silver&black and in fire-tiger. I've tried a few lipless cranks like the rattle-traps, but never had any luck with them.

[CamG]

Bass are bass no matter where they're located. I've fished a lot in Iowa and have caught numerous fish on crankbaits. 3 Mile in Iowa is where I cut my crankbaiting teeth.

Don't get hung up on colors - buy yourself some Bandit 200's and some Storm Wiggle Warts and get after them!

[walkeraviator]

Yeah, I will second storm wiggle warts. Bone and fire tiger colors...

[Marty]

Science tells us that a lure needs to appeal to a fish's senses and doesn't have to imitate food. We have no shad here and all colors work, including shad, which is an excellent color.

[MississippiBoy]

My theory is that bass see something small, moving, and making noise. All those together = something alive, so that means it's edible, to them. It's a reaction strike, most of the time...your crank goes flying by, and the bass has just a couple of seconds to decide whether or not to go after it. They don't stop and think, "Hmmm, that looks like something I could eat, but I've never seen a fish around here with that color/banding/appearance before. I better not eat that." They see something that's a good size to eat, and it's moving, so they go after it.

[walkeraviator]

That all sounds right, but there is a little bit of color info to remember... if thw water is real clear and there is no wind on a sunny day, that fish is gonna get a good look at it, so try to be subtle in teh color. glass minnow is a good color.

when the watre is cloudy, or you are in low light conditions, you gotta do what you can to make the bait more visible... so brighter colors do help. Now you dont need a high def paint job with real scales on em and all that. BUt a chartreuse paint job has to help when you are fishing 20 ft deep on a cloudy day...

[keithdog]

One thing I would like to mention has to do with ratles. Most of my cranks have rattles, but some do not. In off colored water I think rattles are very helpful in the bass locating the lure. However, in very clear water, rattles can actually startle bass and cause them to shy away. Not always, but some days cranks without rattles are the way to go, especially in clear water.

[islandbass]

I would say to start your collection. Those cranks will work, shad or not. I can recommend with confidence Rapala, Cotton Cordell, and Bombers cranks. They are also reasonably priced. While matching the hatch and forage is a good thing in general, it is not set in stone. Because these bass haven't seen shad, I would be willing to bet a floating rapala minnow that this could very well be to your advantage.

Crankbaits are a blast to fish.