Each year here in the midwest our first spring tournament is on the local lake.  Water temp is usually around 47F.  Year after year I do well in practice, usually cranking banks near a channel.  Tournament day it has always turned off for me.  Since I know these fish don't pack and leave, they must still be close by.  What would you recommend I do when the crank bite turns off?  I'm thinking maybe throwing a jig or jerkbait along the nearby channel.

Definetly go with the jig, and I have also heard when the crankbait bite turns off to throw a grub. I've never thrown a grub more than a few times but it's worth a shot.

Like you said the fish will not have moved far. Jerkbait is always a good choice, don't be afraid to leave it paused for a while during the retrieve. Jigs will also work well. If the fish actually moved, its either a little deeper or up shallow. Use your electronics to see where they are staging if you have them. Also if  its a one day or two day tourney, don't over practice. Usually one day before the event is plenty, just my opinion, but good luck!

Plastic Plastic Plastic Plastic  

Texas rigged, Carolina rig, Wacky or Drop shot   8-)

Vertical fishing slow...slow...slow. I mean I only twitch it once in awhile & then let it sit. You can wacky worm or grub w/small jig. Just so you are fishing straight down & slow.

Plastic Plastic Plastic Plastic

Texas rigged, Carolina rig, Wacky or Drop shot 8-)

Yup or a small change like a lipless crank.

47 degree surface temperature isn't spring for the bass, it's winter cold water period. The bass should be in their winter locations and targeting smaller baits that move slowly the majority of the time. You may be able to locate a few active bass willing to chase and strike a crank bait in the afternoons.

Take some time out to locate the bait that will be suspended over deeper water near breaks. The winter bass react to lures that represent the baitfish like; structure spoons, drop shot small plastic worms, vertical jigs, keel weighted blades with tail spinners. Find the bait and the bass should be close.

If you see active bass, then feed them your reaction lures like the crank bait.

If the water warms up to 55 degrees, then the bass will be staging in pre-spawn and located on the deep breaks near the spawing areas. Pre-spawn bass are active and will react to your crank baits and a veriety of other lures.

WRB

47 degree surface temperature isn't spring for the bass, it's winter cold water period.

You are right, its not spring for the bass... that is probably why they are not near the surface! Just because the suface temperature is 47 does not mean that the temp near the bottom isnt warmer, in winter, chances are it is warmer (but dont expect it to be 20 degrees warmer than on the surface! lol)

Anyway i agree that a hard jerkbait would work well. Let it pause for a while too. Hope this helps!  

Cranking in winter? Not a bad idea, and yes it can be very affective. the thing is, your taking fish that are on a reaction bite and the way that works is as you go about fishing these fish, after you pull them in they go inactive. So you are fishinf for in-active fish in a manner made for active fish.

So what do you do, well you got a ton of great suggestions, the suspending jerk bait can be a great suggestion. The only thing about that is that is that as your visibility decreases the affectiveness of this lure decreases.

Catt suggested plastics, and this can also be a good alternative. But the important thing to do is to match what your fish are feeding on. That being said lizards might not do very well, nor might a crawfish imatation. But a big ol' worm might be what the doctor ordered. Thats up to you to experiment.

Another person suggested that you pitch a jig, thats ussually a good choice, but keep in mind that you are not power fishing this time of year.

Someone told you to downsize, here i differ a hair. Though i normally suggest the same thing, well the fact is that during this time of year bass are looking for the most food for the least amount of energy expended.

another thing to think of would be slow rolling a single colorado blade spinner bait.

Also the north side of the lakes will warm the fastest. Another thing to keep in mind is that areas with a dark bottom will warm faster than areas of lighter colored bottoms.

look for bass sunning on sandy bottoms, remember theses bass spook really easy.

Go big, go slow, use darker colors and don't be afraid to try two or three different presentations before moving on. Good luck, by the magic number for bass to start feeding is 57 degrees.

Peter