Crankbaits & Tournaments

[RPM]

Question for the historians sorta. What was the last tournament that came down to a win or duel with crankbaits as the major factor? I had a buddy come by today and while talking he asked why I spend so much time working on crankbaits and it got me thinking, so I thought I'd ask and maybe a few of the original OG Members could supply the info. As far as a fisherman I'm a Jig guy, always have been, then I reach for soft plastics, then crankbaits. But! the reason I build crankbaits is they facinate me and I have been beat many times by a guy fishing a crankbait while I was not. Last year we fished a club tournament where I fished all day sat with crankbaits and bites were few and far between, then Sunday the weather changed and the wind blew and the crankbait bite got much better, my partner and I were able to squeak out a win. He was fishing shakeyheads and texas rigged baits and helped tremendously to add to our total weight, we won but not in dominating fashion, only by ounces.

I've often said to be competative today you must be versitle enough and not get locked onto one style of bait. But that was not the case a few years ago, meaning some lakes, conditions set up for certain baits over others? Today's anglers seem to throw everything at them and dont seem to be locked onto a certain style of fishing. But it was not to long ago when guys would enter a tournament, known for thier strength and they finished accordingly to how well that style of bait performed.

My neighbor which I've mentioned many times is a crankbait guy, thats all he threw, kinda lived by the sword ( plug ) if you will, but he claims he won his fair share ( and more than most ) with a crankbait. Are those days gone? have the bass became conditioned, or are we just influenced by other factors? and if so what would you say they are?

My journey is interesting, I've always fished, then got involved in tournaments and in 2010 I was beat handily by a guy who fished crankbaits, leading me to where I am today. On the final day of the tournament I was in contention to win, but the guy who won fished nothing but crankbaits and beat the field fairly handily. I vowed to become a better crankbait fisherman and it led me to focus more on crankbaits, fishing them and understanding them.

David Fritts is known as a crankbait guy, Jerry Lohr, Gerald Beck, Paul Elias, heck even Kevin Van Dam all crankbaits guys, I dont recall when a crankbait dominated like it used to? Am I missing something, or has the Bass become conditioned to crankbaits and have we over used our secret lures and conditioned bass? I'm only asking because for the first time since 2012 I'm considering joing a fishing association and testing my skill against other anglers around here and wandering have I focused to much on the wrong presentations? I guess I'm asking for an honest evaulation, and honest opinion of what you guys are seeing in your perspective areas? I know this is a loaded question but it's really not that hard when you break it down. Also Travis asked me to provide him with a event or season where a crankbait guy dominated and won a Pro series handily. Any input would be greatly appreciated in my personal fishing evaulation.

Guys sorry to get philosopical but the weather here is horrible and us anglers, lure builders are grasping at straws, trying to come up with something to argue over amongst freinds, because that seems to be what we do. Lol

Have a great weekend, stay safe and warm.

Rich       

Edited February 13, 2021 by RPM

[JD_mudbug]

Crankbaits still dominate some tournaments. There are so many different types of baits out there and many different styles of fishing. I don’t see any bait consistently dominate today.  Ott Defoe won the 2019 Classic mostly throwing a DT4 and Storm Arashi lipless crank.  He also threw a chatterbait on the last day. A lot of the anglers threw cranks that tournament. Jacob Wheeler came in second mostly throwing a DT6 and the Storm Arashi lipless.

I think fish can be conditioned to a lure in the short term. Long term, I don’t know if they have the brain power to remember they got caught on a crankbait or any other lure before. Several times I have caught a bass on a lure and had that same lure type stuck on the side of its head which had not rusted out yet. I once had a fish snapped me off on a 1-minus crankbait. I caught the fish 2 weeks later in the same shallow cove on another 1-minus in a different color and got my original lure back. I have caught bass on soft plastics that were gut hooked with a similar soft plastic bait.

When I have read articles on the major tournaments, most of the successful anglers used a handful of different baits. On multi-day tournaments, the angler finds concentrations of fish in a few areas and milks those areas for the whole tournament. This means they may throw certain baits on day 1 and 2. Then because they have hammered the areas with the same bait, they switch to a different lure and keep catching bass.

With some exceptions, a crankbait has a chance to dominate a tournament just as much as any other lure. As always, it depends as always on the angler’s skill, weather and water conditions, and a bit of luck. If you are fishing a weed choked lake, a crankbait may be little use. If someone like KVD used only crankbaits and fished against me in typical conditions and I could use anything, he will still beat me most, if not all, of the time.

Back in the day, an angler may have only known a couple of techniques and could be successful. Cranks, jig, Texas rig, spinnerbait were the popular techniques.  There are a lot more different lure types on the market now.  Everyone can go to YouTube and see tons of videos on different techniques.  The competition today is more skilled. A good angler has to be more skilled and versatile to give them the best chance in a given situation. The electronics of today also compound this. Today, you can spot fish anywhere with side scan. There are contour maps on the web. The fish are easier to find. Having versatility to target those fish no matter where you find them is what makes an angler successful.

The pros are also sponsored. So, their job is not only to win the tournament but to push their sponsors’ products. If they catch 4 out of their 5 bass on a crank not made by their sponsor and they catch 1 bass on a soft plastic made by their sponsor, they will say they won using the soft plastic bait. You have to find the longer detailed articles or see the actual videos to see what happened. The commercials will typically just hype one bait used by the winner.

When I used to fish tournaments, I would start with moving water coverage baits first like cranks, spinnerbaits, lipless, chatterbaits, even spooks or ploppers. I would look to target active fish and get 5 quick fish in the boat. I would always have a weightless soft plastic on a spinning rod for misses and followers. If the moving baits produce quality fish, I would just stay with them. If not, I would go to the slower stuff like jigs and Texas rigged baits. Even when I am fishing moving baits, I would always take a quick cast to the usual obvious targets with a jig or Texas rigged bait.

Edited February 13, 2021 by JD_mudbug

[Hillbilly voodoo]

Fishing lures and styles vary in popularity all they time. They fade away and then come back years later 

I don’t pay attention to what others use or what wins tournaments. Instead I believe in being versatile and adjust as needed 

As for crankbaits that is a huge variety of lures and actions. Many are not really used by the bass crowd either. 

I bet you could reproduce old lure designs most think are obsolete theses and go out and still catch bass

My opinion you are over thinking it 

[Travis]

https://www.bassmaster.com/tips/top-lures

 

 

[JD_mudbug]

A couple of weeks ago at the MLF Toyota tournament on Sam Rayburn, Derek Mundy used an 8xd for a 39 lb 7 oz bag with a 13 lb 10 oz kicker on day 2.  He had another fish over 10 lb on day 3.  He won the tournament by 14 pounds.   Second place guy used a 6xd and an 8xd for his big fish. Most of the big fish were caught with cranks.

https://majorleaguefishing.com/series/top-10-baits-from-sam-rayburn/

[RPM]

Thanks guys, Like I said it just had me wandering. B.A.S.S. has a big tournament this weekend I'll be watching to see how many are fishing crankbaits, surely there will be a few ? I cant remember the last time I've seen an angler on TV fishing offshore throwing a crankbait, I know theres been some but just stating it seems to me that the younger guys are fishing other lures & tactics. Anyway thanks for the replies, we shall see. Anyone interested in watching Fox Sports One has quite a few hours of the BASS Coverage on today & tomorrow Live. 

Have a great weekend. 

PS, The date in my first post should be 2001, not 2010 sorry guys I guess I fat fingered that and didnt catch it.

Edited February 13, 2021 by RPM
Corrected date, Thanks

[Big Epp]

Not related to pros, but related fishing...

There's a little pond here in town I fish a lot and use to test my lures.  In general I like using hard baits.  The pond is right on the edge of town and there are often 5+ trucks parked around it throughout the weekend.  I slammed bass there last summer, including 3 that were 20+ (20, 21, 21) inches.  When I walk by other guys fishing they are typically either throwing senkos or some smaller plastics or they are targeting panfish.  One guy I talked with has lived in town a long time and didn't even know there were bass in the pond!  I realized I'm throwing something different at them they aren't used to.

Conversely, I once fishing in a boat with two guys who were pretty dedicated to cranks.  I threw a spinner-bait and smoked them!  That day I caught some pike, walleye, smallmouth and even a rockbass on a 3/8 oz (probably) terminator spinner-bait.  I don't think they caught more than two fish between them both.  

I would imagine fish get used to seeing the same pokey things and begin avoiding them.  Finding something different, which could be part of why many of us make our own lures anyway, helps give an angler an edge.  Maybe sometimes it's just a matter of throwing a different shaped bait, different color scheme, or something like that.

[RPM]

Big Epp I do agree and I'm not one for giving the fish a bigger brain than it has, but I do think there is something about showing them something different or something they have not seen alot of. My buddy seems to think fish ( bass ) especially do get conditioned and he thinks even more so when treble hooks are involved? guess it could have some merrit if a bass bites a crank real good and gets multiple hook points in him. Thanks for your insight, and like I said I know why I spend so much time building crankbaits, it's because I get alot of enjoyment out of catching bass on them or seeing others catch bass on them, and I like tinkering with them. I was just wandering what others thought about the trends in bass fishing, and yes there has been tons of trends that come and go. I get that, but watching Patrick Walters yesterday and recently he has shown a new trend using his 360 Live Electronics and catching suspended bass on jerk baits off shore so I guess I answered my own questions. lol if we are to consider a jerk bait - crankbaits?

Have a great weekend stay warm and safe, the temp here is in the 20's and going down into single digits tonight and tomorrow.

[Hillbilly voodoo]

I agree with the last two posts 

Big fish in pressured waters in my opinion do get a custom to the local favorite lures and start becoming reluctant to take that presentation 

Years ago I stop following the trend on what was the “hot” lure or presentation. Using less common lures or presentation/lures not intended for that species or combination of the two has done wonders for my fishing over the years. This is also why I have little interest in duplicating lures and build my own style 

Most fisherman just follow others, pro’s, magazines ex. The portion that truly think outside the box is very limited 

thinking outside the box can make a big difference 

one trick that was deadly for salmon, trout, walleye and smallmouth in rivers was bottom bouncing floating worm harness style spinners. I tipped them with worms, roe, or minnows depending on the species. It controls your depth, you can bounce it slow in current, control the bounce speed by changing your weight or lifting your rod tip, you can hold at the front of a hole and let the current provide spin, and a light leader on the weight limits the loss of hooks. This has produced a lot of fish out of rivers for me and lead to a lot of funny looks too lol

I have a simple theory in life you can’t become truly great following others but if you take your own path you may become the next leader/trend setter

 

[Outlaw4]

Lures are tools. Good tools lead to efficiency. Efficiency leads to better results. Having the right tool at the right time is priceless. Sometimes, that's a crank bait.

[eastman03]

I blows my mind watching these tournaments how intelligent and knowledgeable those anglers are.  They know the difference between all the grasses and weeds and movements of the fish and tiny ledges down 20 feet deep (or maybe they are just bs'ing me, but it worked).   

What is more amazing often is that in the same day on the same tourney, guys fishing with plastics in 1 foot of slop can slay bass at the same time as a guy fishing a 20 foot ledge with a rattle trap slaying bass.  I need to take that fact and apply it more to muskies and all other fish.  There is often a 'trend' or rut that you get stuck in - in july fish are only shallow (for example).  When in reality, on any given day, there are active fish in several different depths and ecosystems.  

[azsouth]

Truly what sets the pros and non-boaters apart is tweaking the baits to get intended results. This is where it comes down to just changing hooks, snap rings to different size. Along with changing paint schemes.

If I am throwing any mass produced bait, it is modified in some way shape or form.

[exx1976]

36 minutes ago, eastman03 said:

I blows my mind watching these tournaments how intelligent and knowledgeable those anglers are.  They know the difference between all the grasses and weeds and movements of the fish and tiny ledges down 20 feet deep (or maybe they are just bs'ing me, but it worked).   

What is more amazing often is that in the same day on the same tourney, guys fishing with plastics in 1 foot of slop can slay bass at the same time as a guy fishing a 20 foot ledge with a rattle trap slaying bass.  I need to take that fact and apply it more to muskies and all other fish.  There is often a 'trend' or rut that you get stuck in - in july fish are only shallow (for example).  When in reality, on any given day, there are active fish in several different depths and ecosystems.  

While on the surface that sounds a fine plan, I'm less certain it holds true in practice.  The density of bass in a given body of water is FAR greater than the density of musky - especially at the sizes we are usually looking to catch.  Not to mention their different size, tolerance to water temperature changes, metabolism, feeding habits, etc...

[eastman03]

You got that right for sure.  Far fewer "positive reinforcement" moments for muskies compared to most other freshwater fish.  I'm lucky enough to spend enough time on the Winnipeg river to come across a few patterns of open water and deep current edge muskies in July/august when most guys are ripping blades in the shallows (which obviously works good too).  I've learned a lot from John Bondy there, who also fishes a big river system. 

 One thing that probably helps al these anglers is the insane electronics that is available.  I've fished with the livescope system now, and seen muskies on spots that no one in 100 years has probably fished, us included.  But, you can see fish clear as day when exploring these areas.  Areas with almost no discernable structure that fish use to stage, or travel from spot to spot.  Now we see a lot of Muskie guys targeting fish way out from traditional areas on LOTW (the massive weed loss of recent years is also to blame for sure).   I can only imagine how useful these technologies are to the pros when scouting and pre fishing a lake.