dochollow Posted June 4, 2011 Report Share Posted June 4, 2011 why do some cranks have spots added to the sides, what is the logic behind this? thanks all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danderson Posted June 4, 2011 Report Share Posted June 4, 2011 why do some cranks have spots added to the sides, what is the logic behind this? thanks all! That comes from the "shad" fish. There are several different species of shad but they all have a spot. Some like the American Shad have more sometimes. Since we can do whatever we want when we paint sometimes we put the spot in different spots but I think it basically comes from the fact that shad have spots. There is a debate as to why the real fish has them. lol Some say it is an eye spot to trick predator fish. doesn't really matter, we just try to make our lures look like the real thing. Or at least sort of. haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blazt* Posted June 4, 2011 Report Share Posted June 4, 2011 (edited) I read an article not long ago that quoted one or more pros on this. They basically said baits with kill spots definitely produce more bass. I seem to remember the source and the pros quoted being very reputable but I can't remember the names. I don't have a preference based on experience myself as I haven't really paid any attention to it out on the water. It's difficult to fathom, but I believe bass somehow may have evolved to strike these kill spots. Bass and shad are both primarily southeastern US species, so they would have evolved together over millennia along with various other prey fish like bluegill - which also have the spot - like flap on the gill. A little patch of black would add a good bit of contrast in stained water, increasing visibility. Edited June 4, 2011 by blazt* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lure--Prof Posted June 5, 2011 Report Share Posted June 5, 2011 The "false eye" exists on prey to fool predators into believing that the the prey fish is larger than it actually is. When viewed from the side, the actual eye and the false eye may be an inch or so apart which would be representative of a much larger fish, as would be the case if its actual eyes were that far apart. Consider that a 7 pound bass may have eyes that are about 2 inches apart; and also consider that all fish have natural camouflage called countershading in an often murky world that is more often 1 or 2-dimensional, than 3-dimensional; and that survival depends upon split-second reactions, and little things like that make sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted June 6, 2011 Report Share Posted June 6, 2011 Baitfish that school, like shad, do it to appear larger as a group, and to disorient predators. Having an additional eye spot on it's side helps the shad in this disorientation. Shad don't feed in tight balls, but in larger, loosely connected schools, following the plankton. But when they are threatened by a predator, they form tightly knit balls. The same holds true for silversides, sardines, anchovies, and other similar schooling fish that feed on phytoplankton. Bass hunt by sight and by vibration detection. Obviously, a large school of bait, in a tight ball, offers a much larger vibration profile than a single bait fish. And the added spots in the bait ball provide additional visual disorientation. It's no accident that bass hang on the edges of bait schools, picking off individuals that stray from the main school, or drive them to the surface to break up the school and separate individuals, which are easier to catch. The eye spot on cranks imitates the eye spot on a shad, and makes the bait seem more realistic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
