Crank Baits have become some of the most versatile tools a bass angler can have. From the short square billed ones for working thick brush and shallow water, to the long bill, deep diving ones. Crankbaits can cover almost all the water a bass can hind in, from the surface to the bottom.

The death at which a crankbait will run can be changed with the length of the cast and the line thickness. The larger the line the shallower the lure will run, at times when fishing thick cover I will use 30 pound test line and a medium running bait. With the heavy line I can pull the lure out from a snag plus the thicker line makes the lure run much shallower so I can work the cover better.

Short cast will also keep the lure from running it's designed depth. I have began to flip a crankbait in and around flooded trees, much the same as flipping a jig. This way the fish see a lure they are not used to seeing around trees and I can make exact cast into their hiding places.

As bass begin to move up in early spring a long thin minnow shaped crankbait will often be the most productive you can throw. By allowing it to float on the surface for a moment before retrieving it allows the bass to recover from its landing. Bass in shallow water are spooky and often will dart away from the splash of a lure but will return quickly to check out what just landed in their world.

As water warms up and crawfish begin to come out around the rocks, I may change to a short fat crankbait in brown or orange color. With most crank baits, other than the jerk bait style, I like to make sure it will dig into the bottom as I retrieve it back. Crawfish make a clicking sound as they feed and stir up the bottom as they make their way around. For this reason I like most crankbaits with rattles and as they dig into the rocks and mud they stir up everything around them alerting the bass to a possible food source. In rocks I will use a crankbait with a rounded bill while in brush a square bill will keep you from getting hung up as much. The round bills will bounce off rocks and dig a little better than the square bills will.

For most of my crankbait fishing, I use a medium light rod and 12 pound test line. Too stiff a rod and you can rip the hooks out of a bass as it fights, and the 12 LB. line gets me the right depth. I will mark a lot of my baits so that I know the depth they will run, this way I can pick the bait for the depth I am fishing. If I'm fishing in 6 foot I will use a crankbait that runs 6 to 8 feet. Always one that will run a little deeper than I am fishing.

Most of the time I will try to match what the bass are feeding on, if crawfish- a brown/orange. For shad a white or sliver color, in fall I like a blue back with white side and chartreuse belly. In spring one the of the best colors seems to be a clown color which doesn't look like anything in the natural world but bass love it.

Catch all you want, keep just what you need and release the rest for the future.