I'm learning how to effectively fish shallow diving squarebills in heavy cover. I'm casting, reeling, and pitching them into gnarly places. The results have been great, man what a fun way to fish, but as you might imagine the attrition rate has been high as I learn the ropes. 

 

Any suggestions on some affordable ones I won't get too bummed about when the inevitable happens? 

@Rucksack  You have found the perfect way (except for the hangups) to get reaction bites, which will work when fish aren't "feeding" or there is no "bite window" which is most of the time.  I know you asked about cheaper baits to do this and I have no ideas on that but wanted to encourage you to keep this up because making fish bite when they don't want to is critical to success.

I cant help you with new lures. I still throw   Rogers Big Jims. Just scored four 1/4 oz Big Jims on E-Bay for 18 dollars  shipping included. Put some new hooks on them and tried them out yesterday. All four ran perfect with a hunting action. I use these things in wood a lot. They have caught more bass in size and numbers than any crank I have used.

Check out Academy's H2OX brand. I'd check out TW clearance and sales offers, too.

Good Fishing

Strike King are not expensive compared to other baits. An alternative would be to buy blanks and paint them yourself. Spray paint cans are all you need for most patterns.  Best option is to buy a lure retriever.  Some of you would faint if you saw the places I will throw a $25 bait.

 

Allen 

Bass Pro XPS run about $5 and are surprisingly good. Check the $1.97 box at your local WalMart - there’s usually a few Big O’s in it.

Hybrid hunter is almost hard to lose in wood and gets bit.

On 9/20/2025 at 4:32 AM, Rucksack said:

I'm learning how to effectively fish shallow diving squarebills in heavy cover. I'm casting, reeling, and pitching them into gnarly places. The results have been great, man what a fun way to fish, but as you might imagine the attrition rate has been high as I learn the ropes. 

 

Any suggestions on some affordable ones I won't get too bummed about when the inevitable happens? 

If you're fishing from anything that floats,

and not from shore, consider investing in at least one type of lure retriever.

Most units are fairly effective when deployed correctly, especially with shallow-running baits.

Getting one back that's 6 ft down is a whole lot easier than one hung up at 26 ft or deeper.

PSA ~ NEVER slide your rod down the line to 'poke' one free.

Blank or guide damage is inevitable.

Have fun

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/catpage-PTLR.html

A-Jay

 

Academy Sports H20.  They are as good as any made of plastic.  I prefer them over many more expensive brands.  Balsa square bills will get more bites, and because of their buoyancy can be worked through cover better, but can really hurt when you lose one.  If you are scared to throw a bait in to thick cover, the bait is too expensive for you.

Check out Tackle warehouses bargain bin! You’ll see a bunch of nice squares for $3-$5!

Scheels square bill for 3.50.

1 hour ago, Munkin said:

Strike King are not expensive compared to other baits. An alternative would be to buy blanks and paint them yourself. Spray paint cans are all you need for most patterns.  Best option is to buy a lure retriever.  Some of you would faint if you saw the places I will throw a $25 bait.

 

Allen 

I throw a lot of $25ish baits, but only where I can see bottom and reach it with my lure retriever.  No guts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I like the H20X squarebills as well as the KVD 1.5, which is only like .50 more in town.

A little off-topic but I've found that clipping off one of the hook arms on the rear hook (the one that hangs most downwards) helps with eliminating hang-ups.  Doesn't seem to reduce the hookups either.

Bill Lewis ATV Squarebills, Bomber Squarebill, Bandit 100 have been a few of my choices.

6 hours ago, swhit140 said:

Bill Lewis ATV Squarebills, Bomber Squarebill, Bandit 100 have been a few of my choices.

 

The Bill Lewis ATV is one of the best cranks I have used that you can throw in to cover. Just bounces off everything and comes through. 

11 hours ago, Pat Brown said:

Hybrid hunter is almost hard to lose in wood and gets bit.

Came here to say this but for weeds.

20 hours ago, ElGuapo928 said:

Bass Pro XPS run about $5 and are surprisingly good. Check the $1.97 box at your local WalMart - there’s usually a few Big O’s in it.

 

That's good to know. BPS and Walmart are the easiest big box retailer for me to get to. I'll start there! 

 

19 hours ago, king fisher said:

Academy Sports H20.  They are as good as any made of plastic.  I prefer them over many more expensive brands.  Balsa square bills will get more bites, and because of their buoyancy can be worked through cover better, but can really hurt when you lose one.  If you are scared to throw a bait in to thick cover, the bait is too expensive for you.

 

I'll throw an online order for these next time I get something shipped.

 

19 hours ago, Pat Brown said:

Hybrid hunter is almost hard to lose in wood and gets bit.

 

Looked this up. Wild looking bait. I'll eventually work up to one. 

 

Also thanks for all the Strike King comments. I started with the KVD branded ones. I'm paying a premium at my locally owned tackle shop ot looks like, which is usually fine because I like supporting small biz, but I'll look elsewhere for cheaper deals. I'm losing these things most trips and not made of money.

I can't believe no one has mentioned this yet, but, look at Facebook marketplace for garage sales with fishing stuff. Every fisherman in the world has cranks and you'll find tons of them for very cheap at sales.

Cordell Big O. Even today's version. Great in any shallow cranking situation. 

 

Bomber makes good baits. I like the 2A? Not the fat one personally. 

 

First year using 6th sense cranks after buying on clearance & they are great. Berkley makes good value cranks as well. 

 

And...Bagleys since I like Balsa and Rapala is breaking on me all the time lately. 

 

Spro lil John awesome cranks as well. 

 

Strike king 1.5, 2.5’s booya or norman for square bills.  For regular billed Norman, Bandits, strike king.  I don’t know what your definition of inexpensive is but, rapala OG’s are only 7-8 bucks a piece.  

 

I know recently Bandit and Norman aka Pradco have been updating paint schemes on their cranks. 

The SK 1.5 silent is one of the better SqBs.  They arent too expensive, come in tons of colors, have consistent action and are resistant to snagging.

I think Shimano Macbeths are like $3 right now.  I got a couple recently and just from taking a few casts, it looks pretty good.

Yozuri makes a great little square bill and I always have a box of those. Tackle Warehouse often slashes prices down to $5 often $3. Shimano & their MacBeth cranks are solid and are often marked down. At those prices anyone can afford to fish a crank bait in heavy cover. They are capable brands and you can be confident in the quality of..

Go to Barlows tackle and buy some unpainted blanks. Grab a paintbrush and some acrylic paint and paint them pearl white. Throw on some eyes and you’re done. Blanks are usually in the $1 range.

4 hours ago, Smirak said:

Go to Barlows tackle and buy some unpainted blanks. Grab a paintbrush and some acrylic paint and paint them pearl white. Throw on some eyes and you’re done. Blanks are usually in the $1 range.

 

That's a great idea. Never considered it. Is there a good resource on matching hook size to blanks?