So when I have been throwing my squarebills, do you guys perfer to be dredging the rock and wood and bumping off of it like crazy, or to fish it two or so feet off the bottom?

Deflection is a key deal with all crankbaits.  Squarebills are really good coming through wood.

Smack everything you can with that crank!?

Crash them through the rocks, finesse them through the trees, and keep the Bait Monkey close.

...and If you miss , make the bait act like it crashed into something . 

2 hours ago, J Francho said:

Deflection is a key deal with all crankbaits.  Squarebills are really good coming through wood.

 

Deflation is a key deal will all moving lures 

 

Even ripping em out of grass gives the illusion of deflection.

30 minutes ago, Catt said:

 

Deflation is a key deal will all moving lures 

 

Even ripping em out of grass gives the illusion of deflection.

good information, thankyou for this information, although my crankbait might not be as thankfull as I bash him into wood and rock

I prefer to get the bill to just hit whatever I'm fishing it over if it's hard structure, little extra noise, relatively unpredictable changes of direction, looks a bit like a baitfish feeding amongst the rocks/brush, if it's a soft bottom area I dredge up the bottom pretty good, I have had a lot of bites from fish going after that kind of thing

Most square bills don't run deep enough for me to be deflecting them off bottom structure and there's very little in the way of deadfalls in the natural lakes I fish.  I still love throwing them over the tops of cover. Frequent rod twitches and pauses get me bit plenty.

No gas No squeegee 

Squarebills design is to deflect.  You're going to hang some but you will get a feel for working them through various cover.  They will work in open water, but you will want to create a change in speed or direction with varying retrieve speeds or pauses or rod twitches.  It's all about a reaction bite.  

Get yourself a plug knocker!  I promise it will save you money and headaches!

17 hours ago, Catt said:

Even ripping em out of grass gives the illusion of deflection.

Fished this past weekend only for two hours, been a lot busier recently. My only bite was finessing a texas rig through grass like you have said to do before. Pressure built up, and the worm lurched out of the grass. Bite followed soon after. I like the technique.

 

Fishing tomorrow

13 hours ago, papajoe222 said:

Most square bills don't run deep enough for me to be deflecting them off bottom structure and there's very little in the way of deadfalls in the natural lakes I fish.  I still love throwing them over the tops of cover. Frequent rod twitches and pauses get me bit plenty.

Very good information, while most of my lakes are man made, this has also occured in certain spots that hold fish, I will try a swim and pause method or swim and twitch method!

11 hours ago, PressuredFishing said:

Very good information, while most of my lakes are man made, this has also occured in certain spots that hold fish, I will try a swim and pause method or swim and twitch method!

A quick little stutter in the retrieve has gotten me lots of bites with followers, burn it in fast as you can then just dead stop for a split second and back to burning, dunno exactly why they nail it at that exact moment, but they sure do