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Soft plastic lures are without a doubt my favorite lures for catching bass throughout the season. But most days I will also catch my share of bass with some kind of crankbait.
Bass often hit a crankbait like train wreck, which adds some extra excitement. And there will be those wonderful days when bigger bass will blast a crankbait almost all day long, especially now that we are transitioning into fall, and I will gladly let them.
Even the best lure must be fished properly to catch fish consistently. Probably the single tactic that has upped my success rate with crankbaits is simply to slow down the retrieve. If you’re not getting strikes on crankbaits, try reeling about half as fast as you normally do and see what happens. Another trick is to crank the reel handle as fast as you can for three or four turns and then resume a slower retrieve. This erratic action will often provoke an ambivalent bass into grabbing the lure.
To consistently catch river bass on crankbaits, I like a bait that will get down and bang around on the rocks. That means using medium-diver crankbaits that are rated to run three to six feet deep. Most of the crankbaits in that class will be 2 to 2 1/2 inches long and weigh 1/4 to 3/8 ounce. Not every make and model of crankbait will run true in river currents, and some are much better at deflecting off rocks, logs, and other bottom structure. I’ve tested dozens of different baits and have found a handful of favorites that do the job.
For years, the Cotton Cordell Big O, in either 1/4 or 1/3 ounce, was about the only crankbait I used for river bass. I mostly used the smaller one and then mostly in the summertime. Big O’s are shallow runners and will only get down about two or three feet, which was fine for low water in the summer, but doesn’t cut it in deeper pools or higher water levels. The 1/4-ounce Big O is still a dandy little summertime bait, but I now throw bigger, medium divers most of the time. My favorite medium-divers are Bomber Model A’s, Bomber Fat Free Shad in BD4F and BD 5M, and the Strike King Pro-Model in Series 3. The Bass Pro Shops XPS Nitro Medium Crank is another great bait that comes in a bunch of colors and is reasonably priced.
For colors, I like an assortment of lures that match common baitfish color schemes along with a few bright ones like Firetiger for off-colored water. I have done well lately on color patterns that have vertical bars. Smallmouths really seem to like baits that have a bit of orange or red on the belly, so I’ll add a streak of those colors to some baits with a dab of paint or a permanent marker.
Although using the bigger, medium-diver crankbaits really make the difference for catching more and bigger river bass, especially during the spring and fall, I still find some of the smaller crankbaits to be best during the summer and early fall in low, clear water. In addition to the 1/4-ounce Big O, other downsized crankbaits frequently work really well. One sweet little bait that has caught a lot of nice bass for me in low or clear water is Bass Pro’s XTS Micro Light Mini crankbait, which is just 1/11 ounce and 1 1/4 inches long and comes in several decent colors. This lure was primarily designed for trout, crappies and other panfish, so it comes with tiny, size 12 trebles. Those small hooks aren’t quite as strong as I prefer for bass and can be difficult to remove from the tough jaw of a smallmouth bass. Therefore, I take the time to replace the factory hooks on these lures with standard, size 10 trebles, which hook and hold bass better for me.
I’ve also been replacing the belly hooks on almost all of my crankbaits with a red treble hook for eight or nine years now, and I’m convinced that small modification is well worth the effort. I estimate that some days I get 20 percent more strikes on baits with the red hook.
More important, however, bass seem to target the red belly hook most of the time when attacking the lure, resulting in solid hook-ups in the top of the upper jaw and a higher percentage of fish landed.
So if you like tinkering with your fishing tackle, I would recommend replacing the belly hooks on your crankbaits with red treble hooks and see if it makes a difference in your success.