boondocks

Love them all. I'm a big crankbait fanatic in general. Storm cranks probably are my second favorite. I have way to many cranks that I never even use but keep buying more.

Peter, I also went to the Rapala website after reading the guys post to see If I couldn't get my hands on one. Didn't see one either. The guy made it sound like it happened quite a while ago. You never know, it could have been any old crankbait. Up in this neck of the woods I'v heard many people refer to any slender looking crank as a Rapala. Kinda like Kleenix instead of tissue. Further down the thread from this guys post, another fella chimed in and said he seen an add on Ebay were a guys was advertising that he made lures with fiber optic red eyes.

Something that I'v noticed while fishing topwaters also is that if you have a fish blow up on your lure and go through the whole cast back technique(with the same lure or a different one) and you still are not able to get a bite, give the fish a little time(10 minutes should be plenty) and go back through with the topwater that originally got its attention, and WHAM zzzzzz zzzzzzzzzz ohh thats a BIGGUN!!!

I was on another talk forum were something similar came up. There was a post about a guy was fishing along some rocks for walleyes and not catching a thing when down the shore from him a guy cuaght his limit in no time. He started talking to this guy and he ended up letting him use his special lure. The lure was a battery operated rapala that had red lighted eyes. Theres gotta be something to these red lights. Anyone know where I can get some rapalas with red eyes?

Thanks for all the tips. I have a subscription to infisherman already, and I am also a multi species fisherman. As long as its considered a game fish I'll fishing for them. I kind of go through streeks were I'll really get into a fishing for a certain fish, for instance big pike in the early spring, then walleye and bass(both large and smallmouth) late spring and summer, then salmon and trout in the fall, then ice fishing for walleye and pike. And also bass(theres a power plant lake about 30 miles from where I live that I fish all winter) especially Jan and Feb. But I'd really like to target bass more in the spring and summer and hone my skills a tad. Im leaning toward Inside Line. I looked it up on the internet looks like a good mag. Once again thanks for the tips. Also I'd like to add that this is by far the most informative and well run website on fishing a particular fish that I have ever seen. None even come close. I'll also add that the respect everyone shows to each other on here is unbelieveable. Awsome site you guys have here.

Sometimes the obvious is overlooked.Maybe your hooks need a good sharpening.

The key to cranking for bass is definately running your lure into to whatever cover you are fishing.Where I fish there are a ton of weeds.I will pick a crank that will run right over the tops of them, occasionally getting hung up. And thats the ticket you want it to hang up.You want a crank that is pretty bouyant for this.When it gets hung up, stop reeling and shake your rod tip a little. Sometimes the bait frees itself, sometimes it won't, but that doesn't matter.Either way you give it good rip(or two or three) after trying to free the lure to snap off any remaining weeds that may still be attached. The key to this technique is to always try to bring your lure back weed free. You would be amazed at how weed free a crank really is when using this method. Its works wonders. I don't know if its the lure jiggling in the weeds, the pause, the rip or a combination that makes them bite but it works wonders. Always try different retrieves with rips, pauses, twitches. Rarely does a straight retrieve work for bass, although sometimes it does. Its a matter of mixing it up till you find something that works. Don't give up on them, cause you'll be missing out.Cranks are my favorite lure to fish, whether it be bass, walleye, or pike. Oh yea, for this to work your gonna need braided line.Good luck!

I love braid for the sensitivity and strength and use it alot.I also do a lot of river walleye fishing in waders.I cast husky jerks out in the current and let the lure play the current and reel it in slow.The strikes are vicious.Especially for walleyes.When you do catch one you are not only fighting the fish but the current as well. When using the braided line I would lose alot of fish.I switched to mono, problem solved.Something I should note here is the rod I was using was a stiffer 6ft model and I'm sure that had a lot to do with it.A longer rod is a good idea for braided lines IMO.Being there is no stretch.

I have had the single lense version for about 4yrs now and very rarely use it during the open water season.I probably would but the water gets a little murky.As far as you can see your lure in the water is as far as you aqua-view will see.If you fish fairly clear water I would say definately buy one.If you do any ice fishing I'd highly reccomend one.Brought a whole new entertainment element to my ice fishing.I no most of the southern folks on here probably cringe at the idea of ice fishing, but I have story to show you the educational value of an aqua-veiw.Before I had one, while ice fishing, I used to jig with big 1 to 1 1/2 ft lifts. Well when I got a hold of the old aqua-veiw I learned that the BIG jigging action was fine to attract them but once they moved in to investigate it actually scared them off.If the fish were already in the area and you jigged aggresivly you'd scare the bejesus out of them.But once you knew they were there the best thing to do is just wiggle the jig a little,they couldn't stand it, they had to eat it.There was anoth time I seen a smallie hanging around my set-up and it wouldn't respond to anything, but as soon as I started jiggling my jig off the bottom stirring up silt, the fish was on it instantly, ferociously.Very educational the aqua-veiw.

The action on the blade dancers are a lot like Jaw Breaker spoons made by Northland Tackle.I can't catch a d**n thing on them either.Love the action but the fish don't.

Has anyone on here ever used the Jaw Breaker spoons made by Northland Tackle?This is another one of those lures that has excellent action, but the fish don't seem to think so from my experiences anyway.I originally bought one in the frog pattern and I loved the action but never cuaght nothing.I then seen one about a year later in firetiger that looked pretty tasty(I think the bait monkey attacked me this time) so I bought that one and still never cuaght a thing. Not even a pike.So I retired it from my tackle box into the crappy lure box.Anyone have any luck with this lure?

I have my best luck with topwaters in late spring, summer, and early fall.Early mornings, whether sunny or cloudy are best from my experiences.Topwaters are a good bet all day on warm cloudy days.On sunny days I would lean toward other options, except in the morning(can't stress the early moring enough).Topwaters can be deadly early in the morning on a hot summer day.

Anyone have any ideas for a good bass mag to subsribe to.It would be nice if they featured both large and smallmouth bass.If the subsription threw in some new lures that would be a plus too.Just kidding.Thanks for the help ahead of time.

First ones luck, second one is coincidence, third one is a pattern, whether it be lure, lure color, depth, speed, type of cover,.For instance if you catch 3 different fish all on different lures, but they came out of 6fow along a rocky shoreline, you have a pattern on depth and structure but not lure choice.Now if that was me, I'd fish them rocks at that depth for a while trying different lures and retreives.I can't tell ya the exact time I would spend on that peice of structure.It all depends on how long it takes to try several different presentations.

Did they say what its weight is?

Up here in North Dakota they have a paddle fishing season.Its only a month long(May).The only way to catch them is to snag um with 10ft(stiff action) fishing poles using 40lb mono, 5oz weights, and huge treble hooks.You can only shore fish for them.Its quite a site to see a hundred people standing along the bank sweeping their rods back and forth trying to snag these monsters. When you catch one,there are caviaer companys that will clean them for you if you give them the caviaer.There's a certain way they need to be cleaned cuase there is meat that is unedible in them(you'll get sick if you eat it).But the meat that is edible is delicious grilled with a little butter and seasoning.

Oops I meant write not wright.hehehe

Walleye for sure!

Thats not uncommon to catch a walleye in the fall with eggs.They start developing eggs shortly after they release them in the spring,you just don't notice them all summer long because they ain't that far along in the development stage.By fall you will start noticing them.

This may sound a little atypical for bass fishing but its worth a shot if nothing else is working.Try long lineing some cranks at different depths.Troll where ever you are graphing fish.It works for walleyes.Might work for bass.Could be just a matter of covering water,weeding through the non biters.If they are scattered all over the lake at different depth, trolling might be the answer.

Oh how I love fishing crankbaits.Whether I'm fishing for bass, walleye, or pike.Don't matter what kind, lipless, deepdiving, shallow diving, jointed, straight, suspending, or floating.A lot of the time I find myself fishing them a lot longer than I should be when they aren't produceing simply cause I like fishing them so much.I plan on changing that in the near future though.Gotta learn to fish those Senkos.I hear nothing but good things about them.

I had a couple trips this last year where the wiggle warts really out shined other crankbaits for smallies and large mouth.I'v actually grown a little partial to them cause of the luck I have had with them.They will always have a place in my tackle box.The Storm Hot N Tots are another story though.I 've had a little success with them but nothing to wright home to momma about.

Gameover, how exactly are you fishing these lures?Is there a trick to them.I bought some last year, after reading In-Fisherman mag, it seems every issue they came out with they were ranting and raving about how these lures catch fish.Not just bass but pike and walleye too. I havn't had so much as a bite on them.I don't even have them in my tackle box anymore,beings I'v lost all confidence in them.Is there something I'm missing?Do you swim them,drag um,jig um or hop um?I just can't get bit.

Well said and much agreed.

Thanks for the info fellas