The Art of Working Crank Baits in Shallow Water
While most people believe that shallow water in the heat of the summer is great for fishing a worm, or jig; I contend that you can catch fish and plenty of them on shallow running crank baits. The key is finding the right crank bait for the cover that we see in Guntersville. Then learning to work and direct the bait through and off the cover you are fishing.
The key to summer time crank baiting is to learn to do a couple of things, the first being using a shallow running crank bait with a square bill crank bait, as I believe it will bounce and change directions easier than a rounded tip crank bait. You get more movement and directional change out of square bill bait and it definitely gets more strikes around cover. Next is learning to direct the bait with your rod tip, just changing height or the direction with your rod tip will change a crank bait enough to move it around grass and cover.
One technique I use with small square bill crank baits is to change speed, use stop and go retrieves and instead of running it along side lay downs or stumps I try to run it directly into the stumps or brush and get that bounce or deflection and it generally catches a fish. This is where I believe a square bill is much better than rounded crank bait, as the rounded bill gets hung up more than a square bill crank and is easier to direct with your rod tip. Lastly be patient with your retrieve, especially when you feel it catching grass, just pause it and many times it floats up and over the grass, or rip your rod tip up and it will pop out of the grass and many times cause a strike.
Summertime shallow cranking can be very rewarding, come fish with me, I will teach you the ins and outs of this technique.
Fish Lake Guntersville Guide Service
www.fishlakeguntersvilleguideservice.com
Email: bassguide@comcast.net
Call: 256 759 2270
Captain Mike Gerry
Previous Tip
