More Than Meets The Eye

Spot Cordell’s original Spot took its name from the pronounced dot on its side, a feature that has become standard on many crankbait color schemes. Does it actually add to the fish-catching capabilities of lures? Last year, I gathered plugs that I’d fallen out of love with. Either they didn’t look as good in the light of day as they had in the store’s fluorescent lights or on the pages of a catalog, and I rarely used them. Or the fish had disagreed with me over just how good they looked. They’d been relegated to the “flop” collection most every angler has somewhere. Recalling the high-contrast white coach dog pattern of early deep-diving lures, I removed the hardware from my motley assortment, masked the eyes and the diving lips, and sprayed them white—plain, high gloss white from a can of Krylon. No scales, no dark back, no red belly. To half the plugs, I then used a permanent marking pen to add a big black spot on each side. The next season, whenever I got on a crankbait bite that one or more of the plugs in my “white box” seemed to fit, depth and coverwise, I’d try my custom baits. I found that both the plain white plugs and the white plugs with black spots caught fish. And the plugs with the black spot appeared to outfish the plain white models. I was surprised by how often the finish I came to call “my dog spot,” worked as well as my longtime favorites or new additions that looked so appealing. I doubt that “all white with one big black spot” will ever become a hot color in the crankbait market. But those lures have a place on the top shelf of my crankbait box. -Rich Zaleski

Kentucky pro Mark Menendez learned his trade in the heart of crankbait country, that section of the mid-South dominated with structure-filled hill-land impoundments with little vegetation. Many lure designers refined their baits with the help of local experts, and many small luremakers in an area produce custom baits for a select few.

Seasonal Selections

Like many pros, Mark Menendez first considers time of year including water temperature, when choosing a crankbait. “During winter, reservoir bass subsist primarily on a shad diet, and those colors are strongest when water temperatures bottom out. Throw a chrome-black Tennessee shad, or white-based bait. I favor flat-sided baits like Bomber’s Flat A, which give off a natural flash when cranked slowly along main-lake points.

“As soon as bass start to move shallower in a prespawn shift, they seem to go on a crayfish diet. Crawfish colors, including Texas reds, browns, and similar hues begin to dominate. In natural lakes, bluegill and perch colors sometimes work well, if I can’t pattern the fish on crawfish. If the water’s dark, I choose baits with more chartreuse, going to firetiger in dingy conditions. Shad colors are a last resort once fish move to the bank.”

Menendez isn’t alone in his feeling that springtime is crawfish time, but the reason for this shift in prey is elusive. Though some anglers feel that crayfish provide extra nutrients for egg maturation and spawning, nutritional experts counter that crayfish are a poor source of calories, as their shell requires extra digestive energy and yields no nutrition. But who’s to argue with success.

The spawn isn’t prime time for cranking, as bass move shallow and presentations must be slow and precise. But once nesting is complete, Menendez and other crankbait experts get excited. “During the postspawn, I’ll have 10 rods out, each with a crankbait.

“Bass are hungry and dumb, so I fish brighter colors and larger baits to grab their attention. Pearl white, citrus shad, chartreuse-blue back, and Tennessee shad are my first choices. Another outstanding choice is a chartreuse bait with a green back, known in the pro circles as ‘Homer.’ Choose big deep divers and bang them into cover or along points, again to get the fish’s attention.

“After the postspawn frenzy, bass get choosier about colors. I’ve seen them just follow or flush a chartreuse-blue back bait with an orange belly. Change to a chartreuse-blue back with plain belly and they’ll bite. I do a lot of experimenting during the heat of summer.

“Once fall arrives in earnest, the annual shad migration up creeks begins, and bass follow. I target wood cover with medium-runners, banging the bait along. If the creeks are dark, I use bright colors—firetiger, citrus shad, and chartreuse-black back, and chartreuse-brown back. In clear creeks, more natural shad colors are my choice. Action in creeks lasts until the water temperature falls below about 50°F when bass move out to the main lake or secondary points, and winter patterns return.”

Menendez favors that same array of colors for largemouth, smallmouth, and spotted bass. Some anglers, like Alabama pro Tim Horton, shift their color choices a bit when targeting smallmouth bass. Prior to turning full-time pro, Horton guided on Pickwick and Wilson reservoirs, famed for huge brown bass,.

“Smallmouths love chartreuse,” he says, “though by the way they sometimes hit it, they may hate it instead. In the murkiest water, start with chartreuse-black back, while in stained water, keep some chartreuse but go with a lighter back, like brown, blue, or green. An Excalibur Fat Free Shad in a color called Crawly Bottom is a killer. In clear water, I also fish shad colors, particularly in summer and fall. And in spring, I always have a crawfish color bait tied on.”