Such trends in tackle have risen and fallen like the tides, and I fully expect crankbaits to regain their hold. They're simply too effective and too much fun to fish to be ignored.
Lifelike or flashy finishes catch the eye of anglers looking for a few new crankbaits to add for the season. And a shake or two defines its sound production. But folks often overlook the key to its effectiveness in various situations. That plastic protrusion on its nose mars its smooth lines, but defines its action, whether that bill is short or long, wide or narrow, or at any angle from 0 to 90 degrees.
A crankbait’s lip rules its moves. The angler is the engine that makes it go by winding the reel. But the size, shape, and position of its bill create all the wiggling, rolling, and diving actions we find in today’s vast array. The creativity of garage whittlers and CAD machine operators has gifted us with crankbait bodies of many shapes and sizes, as well as materials. When matched with a bill of a particular shape, size, and angle, it can yield all sorts of magic. Or not.
The first “plugs” of the early part of the 20th century sported short round lips of steel that were screwed to the lure’s nose to provide a wobbling action in rather shallow water. Among “modern” cranks, one of the oldest and most popular categories is the squarebill, a well-named bait that runs about 3 to 6 feet, banging into everything in is way and cleanly bouncing off hard objects.
A major breakthrough came about when home-based crankbait creators carved their own wide-body baits with square-shaped lips, often made from circuit-board material, such as the original Big-O, carved of balsa by Tennessee angler Fred Young in 1970...
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More Inside This Issue:
Swing-for-the-Fence Smallmouths
Long lines testing 8 pounds trailed behind the boat on Pickwick. The boat was pulling live shad—big ones—impaled on Kahle hooks. The line was weighted with one large split shot, and the pace was painstakingly slow. The setting was late February—early pres
One Man's Short Cast (for Walleyes)
There's some reason and a little rhyme for what's set to paper here with the end target being keeping it starkly simple to catch walleyes, having fun, filleting a few, and tinkering with a recipe or two that's caught your eye the past while. First, a story...
Pike Presentation Renaissance
When Leonardo da Vinci was polishing up his pike presentations, he said, “Details make perfection, and perfection is not a detail.” Okay, so the Renaissance man wasn't really honing his pike fishing skills when he muttered that magisterial observation. But it's still true…
The March to Panfish Perfection
Though arguably not as glitzy as other In-Fisherman favorites like largemouth and smallmouth bass, walleyes, trout, muskies and northern pike, panfish enjoy lasting popularity among anglers across the continent. Editor In Chief Doug Stange mused on the allure in a past column titled “Panfish Are More Popular than Bass,” which noted that when crappies are added to ranks of sunfish, perch, and other “fish that fit in a pan,” panfish are the most popular fish group in freshwater fishing, bar none.
