I was wondering the best way to fish lipless crankbaits for springtime bass in shallow clear water?

Reading up on the lipless crank articles will help. Along with watching some videos. Seems like most people will tell you to run through different retrieves until you get bit that day. You can do a steady retrieve, stop and go, yo yo, burn it. All of those will work. Just depends on when and where. I like to make my bait pretty erratic on the retrieve to try and get some reaction strikes

 

 

Lipless crankbaits are extremely effective in the grass remember that! I've found in my experience that a trap is much more effective in the grass. Retrieves can vary from chuck and wind to more of a yo yo deal.

Clear water seems sketchy for lipless imo. I have little experience with lipless though.

thanks i will be reading up on traps to find the best for my conditions and thanks CJV for the grass tip

The red eye shad is one of my favorite confidence baits.  Like cjv said ripping through or over grass this one of the best presentations.  I also like to make a long cast and let it fall, lift the rod and reel in slack...yo yo.  The lipless is really one of the most versatile cranks.

thanks master bass i have a couple lipless but did not know the most effective way to fish them except for a steady retrieve. 

I think that you keep them moving and try to tick the top of the grass.  If your lure never comes back with any grass on it, you're fishing too shallow.  If it is constantly getting stuck, you're fishing too deep.  For me, this applies to all grass flats down to 7 feet or so.  I'm not a big fan of the yo yo retrieve.  I want a consistent rattle, occasionally interrupted by snagging a strand of grass.  I want Ms. Fish to have a consistent sound to home in on.  The yo you retrieve isn't consistent with what I want the lure to do.  Not saying it won't work, just that I don't do it that way very often.

There is no wrong way to fish lipless cranks, I fish em like a spinnerbait.

Bump a stump!

I have the most success either fishing it over the grass or just ticking the tops of it and ripping it free. The second way is an erratic retrieve like a regular crankbait. 3 quick winds,pause,1 wind,pause,2 winds. Something like that. You get the idea though.

Lipless crankbaits are extremely effective in the grass remember that! I've found in my experience that a trap is much more effective in the grass. Retrieves can vary from chuck and wind to more of a yo yo deal.

I have fished Lipless Cranks sucessfully on 10-12 lb mono. I now have 20lb PP Braid on my outfit and plan to throw Red Eye Shad next weekend. Should I just turn the drag down pretty loose, I am wondering without the stretch how to set the hook without breaking off the lure or my rod. This will be my first season fishing with braided line on both spinning and baitcasting. My luck up here my first fish on a Lipless will be a northern too! Any advice would be great.