Plugs, bodybaits, stickbaits, jerkbaits, and a host of other more colorful names are used to describe what are known in angling circles as crankbaits. As a lure group, crankbaits have a reputation for being fickle. No other artificial lure requires the kind of routine adjustment, maintenance and downright patience to use as these minnow imitators.
Despite the fact that crankbaits often require a lot of tuning, tweaking, and testing, these lures are amazingly productive. Among the best possible lure choice for those seeking trophy fish, crankbaits routinely produce larger than average fish.
Cranks also offer anglers an unlimited opportunity to add a personal touch to their lures. Painting, weighting, adjusting, or otherwise fine-tuning these lures into fish-catching machines is half the fun.
Tuning
Making sure a crankbait is "in tune" or running true can not be over emphasized. Think back to your own on-the-water experiences. How many times has a one particular lure out-produced other similar baits? A crankbait that is even slightly out of tune won't produce as many fish as one that's tuned and working properly.
Lure manufacturers claim their baits are tuned and ready to run when you purchase them. In reality, many new crankbaits don't run properly out of the package. Crankbaits also go out of tune with use. A hooked fish thrashing in the net, accidentally stepping on a lure, or slapping a lure on the water to free weeds from the hooks are common causes of lures getting out of tune.
Both new and used lures require periodic minor adjustments and in some cases major tune-ups to bring out the lure's maximum fish-catching ability.
A properly tuned crankbait should dive vertically into the water and run in a straight line. Lures can be checked for their tune by making a short cast and retrieving the lure with the rod tip pointed directly at the bait. You can also test the tune of a crankbait by trolling and letting approximately six feet of line out the back of the boat. If you check crankbaits while trolling, be sure to hold the rod a little to the side so the lure isn't running in the turbulence of the prop wash.
Also, keep in mind that certain lures aren't designed to run at high speeds. It may be necessary to slow down the retrieve or boat trolling speed when tuning certain lures.
Cranks often run slightly left or right of center causing the bait to tilt slightly on its side. To the unknowing eye these baits appear to be working fine. However, if the bait runs a little left or right it can't achieve it maximum diving depth and is more likely to "blow out" and come to the surface when retrieved at a fast pace or during turns.
If two or more untuned lures are trolled next to one another they are likely to fowl each other, causing tangle headaches. Furthermore, if a lure is out of tune it isn't giving off the vibration or action it was designed to provide.
Crankbaits usually feature an eyelet that comes straight out the nose of the lure, an eyelet that mounts in the diving lip, or a wire connecting link. Lures such as the Storm Hot 'N Tot series that feature a wire connecting link can be tuned by bending it slightly with your fingers. Eyelets that are connected to the nose or lip of the lure must be bent with needlenose pliers. When tuning a crankbait, never bend the lip of the lure. If the lip gets bent, chances are the bait will be rendered untunable.
Adjust cranks that run to the left or right by slightly bending the line tie or eyelet in the opposite direction the lure is running. Bend the eye tie slightly and test the lure again. If a lure that was running left now runs right, you bent the line tie too far. Make small adjustments until the bait dives straight down into the water.
How a lure is attached to the fishing line can also make a difference in bait tuning. In most situations the best way to attach a crankbait to monofilament line is with a loop knot or a small Duolock-style snap. These loose connection methods allow crankbaits to enjoy full freedom of movement.
Never use a snap swivel or ball-bearing swivel when casting or trolling crankbaits. This extra hardware can influence the action of the lure and make tuning the bait more difficult.
If the lure features a split ring attached to the eyelet, the line may be tied direct to the split ring with any quality knot. If the lure features a small snap attached to an eyelet, tie directly to the snap. Never attach a snap on a line to a snap on a crankbait.
Certain lures such as shallow-diving stickbaits usually feature a wire line tie that comes out the nose. If an angler ties a knot directly to the eyelet the lure action can be modified by positioning the knot at the top, middle, or bottom of the eyelet. When using this method, the knot must be repositioned as each fish is hooked and landed.
Tweaking
Once a lure is tuned there are a number of modifications that can be done to change the lure's action, appearance in the water, or function. Anglers have been trying to improve upon the natural fish-catching action of crankbaits since the early days of sport fishing when these lures where hand carved from wood.
Drilling holes and filling them with weight is a common method used to change the action, running depth, and orientation of a crankbait. For the record, anglers who drill holes in crankbaits usually end up with more discarded experiments than fish-catching creations.
However, with a little care and patience floating lures can be weighted to suspend or sink in the water by carefully drilling holes and filling them with lead shot. Wooden baits such as the Fred Arbogast Snooker, Rapala Minnow, or Bagley Bang-O-Lure are excellent candidates for drilling and adding weight. Depending on where the hole is drilled and the weight added, these lures can be made to have a nose-down, level or nose-up orientation in the water. Small BB sized lead shot are pressed into the hole and a dab of epoxy glue used to fill the hole.
Storm Lures offers a less labor-intensive method of adding weight to a crankbait. A lead tape that can be stuck on crankbaits makes it easy to change the weight, balance, and action of wood and plastic crankbaits known as SuspenDot and SuspenStrips. The dots are lighter and best suited to minor changes. The strips are slightly heavier and suitable for making major changes or working with very buoyant baits.
The best place to position these lead dots or strips is on the belly or lip of crankbaits. Placing a strip or two along the diving bill of a crankbait causes the lure to have a nose-down orientation in the water. When fished in a darting motion near bottom, these lures closely imitate foraging baitfish. The nose-down orientation causes the bait to dive deeper and also positions the hooks up and away from potential snags.
A few dots positioned along the belly can turn a floating lure into a suspending or slowly sinking bait. Bass fishermen who fish jerkbaits have found this trick enables them to gain a little extra depth, slow down their presentation, and fish in the face of bass living in heavy cover.
Cranks can also be weighted by wrapping lead wire around the treble hooks or by adding tiny sinkers to the split rings on the treble hooks. Both methods enable the angler to fish jerkbaits deeper and to change the action of these productive lures.
Simply adding a split-shot a few feet ahead of the lure is another simple way to transform a floating bait into one that sinks. Anglers who troll at night for walleye often use a couple split-shots to take their lures down deeper. Also, the shot stops debris that may slide down the line and fowl lures. This trick is especially useful in the summer when weeds are thick and in the fall when leaves floating in the water frequently catch on the line and foul trolled lures.
Replacing Hooks
The tweaking of crankbaits doesn't stop with weighting tricks. Many anglers improve the hooking ability of their favorite lures by replacing the factory hooks with high-performance after-market trebles. Ultra-sharp, ultra-strong and ultra-light treble hooks can transform an ordinary crankbait into one that sticks any fish that touches it.
Several hook manufactures offer treble hooks that offer improved sharpness and hooking ability. The Mustad Triple Grip, Heddon Excaliber, Owner Tournament Treble, and VMC Vanadium are premium-quality hooks that are significantly better at hooking and holding fish than ordinary trebles.
When replacing treble hooks select models that are the same size or one size larger than those equipped at the factory. Using treble hooks one size larger is a common trick among pro fishermen who demand maximum hooking and holding power from their lures. If too large a hook is used, the action of the bait may be destroyed.
The hooking ability of most treble hook equipped lures can also be improved by bending the hook point out slightly with a pair or needlenose pliers. This trick works best with wire hooks that are easy to bend. Don't bend open the hook gap on premium-quality hooks. Many of these hooks have been engineered with offset bends that hook and hold effectively.
Several crankbait manufacturers install premium hooks on their most popular lures. Popular lures available with these high-quality hooks include the Bomber series equipped with Heddon Excaliber rotating treble hooks, Fred Arbogast Mud Bug armed with Mustad Triple Grip hooks, and Reef Runner Lures with VMC Vanadium hooks.
Premium-quality treble hooks are expensive; often costing a dollar a piece. Replacing all the treble hooks on a collection of crankbaits could run into money. Instead, most anglers replace the hooks on their favorite or most productive lures. Another option is to add one premium hook to each crankbait. When only one hook is replaced, change the back hook and make sure the other hooks are sharpened to a razor edge.
Every hook on a crankbait should be honed to a sticky sharp edge. A file or stone is the age old way of sharpening hooks. Hone or file the hook on three sides to create a cutting-style edge and a point free of burrs. A time-consuming task, the effort put into sharpening hooks pays great dividends in landed fish. Even premium quality hooks may need a touch-up after they have been used.
Improving the Finish
The finish on a crankbait can also be easily customized. Paints, die coats, and flash tape are three easy ways to change the color or add flash to lures. It's best to purchase paints in small bottles. Hang cranks on a string over a layer of newspaper, paint as desired, and let the baits hang overnight until dry.
Die coats apply like paint, but they dry quickly and the translucent colors allow base colors to show through. Most die coats dry in a matter of seconds and can be removed with a rag soaked in solvent. An excellent way to add color to the side or lip of a crankbait, these unique products are available in every color of the rainbow.
Adhesive-backed flash tape is another quick way to add a touch of color or flash to a favorite lure. Available in sheets that can be cut with scissors or in pre-cut shapes, flash tape is available in countless colors and pattern choices.
Minnow imitating crankbaits do a wonderful job of fooling fish right from the package, but many anglers can't resist adding their own personal touches to their favorite lures. A minor adjustment here, a little paint there and an ordinary crankbait can be turned into a fish-catching machine.
Copyright (c) 1997 Mark Romanack. All rights reserved.
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