How to Fish a Crankbait: What You Need to Know

Lures and baits play a significant role in making any catch, so selecting the right lure is every angler’s secret weapon to a guaranteed yield. When learning about how to fish a crankbait, most beginners aren’t aware of this!

Crankbaits have proven their versatility in this department, making them one of the top mackerel lure choices for most anglers. Whether you’re casting or trolling, winters or summers, crankbaits are a fit for all.

If you’re looking to gain more information on how to fish a crankbait, we’ve got you covered with everything you need to know when it comes to fishing crankbait.

What is a Crankbait?

Before we move on to how to fish a crankbait, it’s crucial to develop a good understanding of what a crankbait is and which type serves that purpose. Their classification is based on their ideal depth levels, which we explain in detail.

Shallow Divers

Shallow diving crankbaits are ideal for a depth of 8ft and lower. The most popular shallow diving crankbaits are square bill crankbaits and lipless crankbaits.

Often the question of how to fish a lipless crankbait or square bill crankbait arises, and the best way to use shallow diving baits is by throwing the bait near structures. These structures can be rocks, docks, wood pieces that have been submerged, and even shallow grass lines.

The best way to use this topwater lure is by making it deflects off the structure’s surface. This motion intrigues the fish to advance towards it, helping in making the catch.

Despite having only two treble hooks, shallow diving crankbaits don’t hang up if you happen to reel them in fast.

Medium Divers

For medium diving crankbaits, the ideal depth is around 10 feet or shallower. If it dives till 10 feet, it can reach the bottom and cause commotion which attracts fish instantly.

Similar shallow diving crankbaits, medium diving crankbaits work great through the deflection technique as well.

The rubber bait absorbs the vibration, which adds life to it. This appeals to both smallmouth and largemouth fish within medium waters.

Deep Divers

To work a deep-diving crankbait, it is recommended that you angle offshore structures. These structures could be creek channels or rock piles.

You’ll need to ensure that the crankbait gets deep down and maintains the depth. Similar to all other styles, bottom contact will trigger the fish to move forward, and through deflections, you can further maximize your chances of getting great catches in deep waters.

How to Fish with Crankbait

You need to be wary of the different factors that affect your catch rate.

Seasons, the color of the crankbait, depth of fishing, the pace of fishing, and the infamous robot mode are some of the factors that bear significance.

Seasons

Each season brings a new challenge for anglers due to the cold-blooded nature of most fish. Therefore, it’s vital to understand which season is best for angling and how you can maximize your catch rate in virtually any season.

Spring 

For the warm waters of the spring, you’ll need to be fast with your fishing techniques. The stop and go technique is particularly useful in this season.

For springtime, shallow depths are perfect to angle in with shallow-diving crankbaits. The spawning season brings in multiple large fish to shallow ends.

Red crankbaits are incredibly helpful in passing off as crawfish, which attracts all fish instantly.

Summer 

During the summer the metabolism of all predatory fish is at an all-time high. Hence, you’ll need to be quick with your cranking and opt for deeper ends of the water bodies.

For this reason, deep-diving crankbaits are a popular choice while fishing during the summer.

Fall 

Fall is the season for crankbaits to shine. In this season all predatory fish are looking to fulfill their nutritional requirements before it gets too cold.

Baitfish becomes more active, which makes it a great time to use shad-patterned or white crankbait to imitate prevalent baitfish. It’s best to use a crankbait with a fast retrieve during fall.

Winter 

Winters call for flat-sided crankbaits that mimic tight bobbing actions.

Flat-sided crankbaits work great for cold temperatures and will guarantee you a catch if you maintain a slow and steady technique.

Colors of the Crankbait

Colors of the crankbait play a crucial role that most anglers overlook. Bright colors help to entice large and small fish alike and catch their attention in even the muddiest waters.

Other popular color combinations include shad patterns, chartreuse, crawfish patterns, brown and yellow, and gray and white.

Depth

The depth varies according to your crankbait of choice can affect what kind of catch you’ll make.

The ideal depth changes according to seasons; however, it’s essential to choose the suitable line size and fishing reel according to your location.

Ideally, we suggest that you begin with a ten-pound-test line alongside a 6-foot crankbait fishing rod to get a good idea of your crankbait’s retrieval depth.

Pace

Most beginner anglers aren’t aware of the importance of the pace you need to maintain while fishing.

This pace varies across different zones and seasons. However, the slow and steady approach always wins in most scenarios.

Try to analyze the behavior of the fish for a while before retrieving it. If they are instantly attracted to erratic movements, then the fast-paced technique works just fine.

Robot Mode

When you just cast your bait without any motion to it, it makes the bait seem lifeless which gives this phenomenon the name “robot mode.”

Fish are attracted to moving fish with erratic movements that cause a certain commotion.

You should add this twitching motion while angling to entice any and every kind of fish and prevent your bait from going into robot mode. 

Conclusion

By understanding these factors and the consequences of their implementation, we hope you’ve successfully learned about how to fish a crankbait.

In the end, the small details add up to your chances of making a successful catch, and with these tips, we hope your fishing expedition goes well.

Happy fishing!