 My
first introduction to lipless crankbaits, was when I won
twenty of them in a raffle on Lake Cayuga in upstate New
York.
The following week, I tried in vain to catch fish with
this noisy, skinny looking object. What I did catch was
wood, weeds and rocks. So the lures remained in the bottom
of the tackle bag collecting dust like so many baits that
I believed were for catching fishermen, not fish!
Two years later, I was fishing a tournament in Alabama
with another angler who was catching so many fish I had
to stop to see what he was throwing. When I saw the rattletrap
on his line, I watched how he would change the retrieve
constantly and move the rod tip from left to right and
well as up and down.
Have you ever heard the expression, "the light suddenly
came on"? Well I realized that the lures I had won
all that time ago could actually catch fish, but I still
needed a lesson in how to use them correctly.
I tied a "trap" on the line and tried to mimic
his retrieve tactics. Once again I hooked wood and weed.
Maybe it was just me, but I could not get the damn thing
to run the way he did! Then I realized that the reel I
was using had a retrieve speed of 5.1 to 1. I looked at
his reel to see that he was using a 6.3 to 1! Click! On
went the light (again) and I switched to a high retrieve
reel. After the second cast, I hooked and landed my first
"trap" bass, a nice three-pound fish. I caught
4 more fish that afternoon and placed well in the tournament
standings for the day thanks to this bait.
So, here are the tools you will need and a few tips on
"working the lure".
I prefer a six to six and a half-foot medium action rod
with a high gear ratio (6 to 1 and above) baitcasting
reel for larger baits. A spinning reel will work better
with the smaller sizes but again, check the ratio.
Perhaps for those of you who are not familiar with gear
ratioÕs I should explain. When you turn the handle
of a fishing reel one complete turn, you will have gathered
a certain amount of line back as the spool turns. The
higher the speed ratio, the more line you bring back on
each turn. For crankbaits, spinnerbaits and lipless crankbaits,
a high retrieve is excellent. Of course there are situations
when you may need to slow down a spinnerbait or regular
crankbait, in which case you should choose another reel
with a lower gear ratio. However, for the lipless variety
of crankbaits, a high-speed reel is the key.
Line diameter and breaking strain should be your next
consideration, Heavy line with a larger diameter will
keep the bait higher in the water than a thinner and less
pound test line. Situations dictate what line you can
use, but as a rule of thumb, if the water is deep, you
want the bait to run deep. Use ten to fifteen pound line
with little or no stretch. This type of line will allow
you to "feel the bait" as it runs through the
water. Do not use a braided line unless you feel comfortable
using it. To me, the monofilament or co-polymer lines
are excellent for this particular style of fishing. In
skinny shallow water presentations, choose a fifteen to
twenty pound test line which will allow you to muscle
fish out of shoreline structure without too much difficulty.
Lure size selection! Well they come in many sizes, so
try to match the size of the baitfish in the area. If
you do not see any bait fish to "size up with",
start with a small quarter of an ounce offering and change
up until the fish bite. As for color selection, try chrome
and blue, chrome and black and the white with a green
or red back. All these work for me in most situations.
Of course, your lake or river may need another color,
so do not be afraid to experiment.
Finally, as you retrieve your lure, speed up and slow
down. Also move the rod slowly as you retrieve from left
to right. Then on the next cast, up and down. Try to remember
when you fish any artificial bait that it is supposed
to imitate a fish, and fish do not swim in straight lines!
So why would you just throw a lure and turn the handle
of your reel until it comes back?
Tight Lines!
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