I hear and read about the wonderful effects of 'crashing' a crankbait, but can't piece together the whole treble hook + timber combination.

As new to this crashing technique, i tried to crash my crankbait in about 4 feet of water only to find myself getting hung up and losing my crankbait.

Obviously one is going to lose crankbaits using this daring technique, but it almost seems pointless if i'm only going to get hung up.

I'm not discouraged, but am wondering if their are any tips or modifications like taking off back treble hook or something...idk

Any pointers or success stories would be appreciated

I'm no C/B afficianado but I know they make different bills for different applications.  I believe the square and coffin shaped bills are made for bouncing off wood, perhaps one of the elite crankers here can fill you in a bit better.  The cranking I do is in deep water and grass.

If you can find them the luhr-jensen brush baby cranks are good for this.If not the square bills are a decent.I also use a crank that floats when you stop it.When you feel it bump something,pause for a second or two and reel or pull it till you bump something again and repeat.You'll be surprised at the amount of treetops you can get thru this way.

http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/crankbait_bass_fishing.html

LBH is right on with the bills. Coffins and square bills work best in brush and around laydowns. I prefer a balsa square billed crankbait because they float up quickly when you hit something and let off. If you can "crash" the bait into wood effectively, you will definitely get more reaction strikes.

There are brush piles that I fish thru the summer here on my home lake that have been dropped in at specific depths on purpose. It's beacuse a lot of times it takes me hitting the top of the brushpile with the crankbait to get the bite.

yup yup yup, you need to use square billed cranks or coffin billed cranks. i have found that square billed work a little better for bouncing off stuff.

two great lures to invest in are: Rapala DT Fat and Rapala DT Flat.

the fat has a square bill and its a very fat bodied balsa lure. the flat has a coffin bill and is a very flat bodied balsa lure.

a nice sensative rod will aid in the crashing technique, for the sole purpose that you will know exactly when you hit something. when you feel the bump of hitting something, just stop, and let your crankbait float. if you know there is very little chance of snagging the object (like a smooth rock) then you might even want to jerk your lure forward and then stop it.

what i do is i will run my crank into whatever is around....the bottom, stumps, trees, rocks...

but i try to stay away from brush. brush (at least my interpretation of the word "brush) is like a bush w/o leaves...tons of thin scraggly branches shooting out in all directions. since this isnt really a very "solid" target, there is alot of open space between the thin branches, it is easy to snag in. when im fishing brush, i will usually either put the crankbait down and pick up a worm, or just fish the crank around the edges of the brush.

you will get snagged a lot less if you hit more solid targets like stumps or trees (that dont have tons of scraggly branches) and rocks. the cranks will just bounce off to the side of these.

bottom line is just keep things erratic. this is what will keep the bass interested in your lures. most pepole will be mechanically dragging their lures in open water for fear of snagging.

dont be like other people...fish it in the nasty stuff where the bass actually live

hope this helped....GOOD LUCK!!!!

Hey Dave, look for some brush that has been submegered for a while, usually one good tug and the hooks come fre, and they frequently hold fish

Hey Dave, look for some brush that has been submegered for a while, usually one good tug and the hooks come fre, and they frequently hold fish

yeah i forgot to mention that in my novel :.

a lot of times i will find really old waterlogged brush where if you do get snagged the braches will break right off without a fuss.