hey guys!

i was wondering if you could give me some tips on lipless cranks such as:

when to fish them

where to fish them

favorite technique to fish them

and favorite lure

I've got a big collection of clackin raps from rapala....anyone have personal experience with them?

I do use some clackin' raps as well as Red eye shads. I use lipless cranks probably 80% of the time during pre spawn and a little bit post spawn when the bass or chasing bait fish. That can be more productive than just about anything that time of year. During the summer it gets really warm in my area and weedy in some areas so i tend to use swim jigs or shallow cranks over rock where i would throw lipless baits in the spring. once the fall feed starts i start using the lipless cranks again. i've been most successful either with a high steady retrieve with a stop/rip or stop/fall/go or burn/stop/burn etc..yo yo ing works well too but i found the previous methods more productive in my area. "ticking" the top of grass burning them can be very effective as well.

As iabass8 mentioned these baits can be awesome in the spring in the fall, I've caught bass in water as cool as 42 degress with these baits. In addition to what he mentioned regarding technique I would add slow rolling in cooler water. The Spro bait really excels for that type of retrieve. Don't rule them out for the summer, lately have some success slow rolling the 1 oz Xcalibur knocker bait and picking up a few fish.

Starting to expieriment with even heavier baits to fish even deeper. Picked up a Sebile Flatt Shad XH SK 96 which weighs over 2 oz to fish deeper than lipped deep divers and to give the fish a different look.

thanks guys great tips....also will they catch fish in the summer or do you recommend another bait?

thanks guys great tips....also will they catch fish in the summer or do you recommend another bait?

Yes, both lipped and lipless crankbaits catch fish during warm water periods.

Lipless can be very versatile. You can burn them, crawl them, jig them and do other things at various depths. You're limited only by your imagination.

do they work well in weedy lakes?

Lipless cranks are fantastic in weedy lakes or non weedy lakes. Earlier in the year, a stop and go retrieve, ticking the tops of the grass is the way to go. When it hits a weed, rip it away. This technique will work all year, though I speed it up once the water is warmer than the low 60s. I almost always use a varience of stop and go. The fact you can fish them slow or fast, shallow or deep, is what makes them such great baits. When ripping grass, using braid and a medium fast or fast rod will help you get free of the grass better.

work them near the out side edges of weed beds works great in mid morning. my fav color is chrome with blue

Lipless cranks are fantastic in weedy lakes or non weedy lakes. Earlier in the year, a stop and go retrieve, ticking the tops of the grass is the way to go. When it hits a weed, rip it away. This technique will work all year, though I speed it up once the water is warmer than the low 60s. I almost always use a varience of stop and go. The fact you can fish them slow or fast, shallow or deep, is what makes them such great baits. When ripping grass, using braid and a medium fast or fast rod will help you get free of the grass better.

I hear this a lot but I have a question about it: how do you keep from picking up weeds on the treble hooks? I've tried it, but always get a straggler weed tip and it kills the action of the lure. Or is that because I have cheap cranks lol?