Some anglers are known for certain techniques in the professional bass fishing ranks. To get to the sport's top level, they have to do it all, but some gravitate towards a particular fishing style or technique. Texas pro Keith Combs is a crankbait fanatic and has won several big events with the help of a diving crankbait.
Combs fishes them all year and alters his crankbaits to his needs based on the season and water's depth. Here's a rundown of his favorite baits and when he uses them.
Early season cranking
When the water is just starting to warm up in the spring, a crankbait can be one of the best ways to catch bass and some big ones. Depending on the lake type and cover, Combs will pick a crankbait that matches the lake and situation.
"In the prespawn, especially on lakes with grass, the bass will get on the grass edges in really shallow water," he said. "It's usually something very brief in the morning when they are up there to feed. If there is no grass, it might be on shallow rock bars or in little pockets, but shallow diving crankbaits will shine."
His favorites include shallow-diving baits like the Strike King Hybrid Hunter and the different variations. "The regular and junior sizes are about the same diving depth and the deepest they will go is around 3 feet deep," he said. "The shallow version is a one-footer and great for very shallow water or fishing on top of grass."
Combs likes to crank various baits for slightly deeper water, roughly 10 feet deep.
"There are several that work well this time of year. The Strike King KVD Flat 1.5 is a good one and so is the 3XD," he said. "I used the Flat during a Bassmaster Classic on Guntersville cranking riprap and had a big bag doing it. These baits have a nice, tight action and are a great way to get a limit in a cold water situation."
Summertime and anytime
After the bass spawn and get to deeper water, crankbaits are incredibly potent at catching bass and the biggest consideration is picking the right one for the depth you are fishing. Combs is a fan of squarebills for shallower water and will use several different sizes.
"The Strike King KVD 2.5 is the shallowest diver, it's a misconception, but the smaller 1.5 size will go deeper," he said. "The 2.5 is bigger, more buoyant, and great for very shallow water because the deepest it will go is around 5 or 6 feet deep. You can get the 1.5 down to around 7 feet deep."
Combs will use both of them in warmer weather and will even go up to bigger sizes when the fish are eating bigger forage.
"The 1.5 will catch them all seasons, any time of the year, and in all water temperatures," he begins. "I like the 2.5 in warm water situations when the fish are aggressive. It's a bigger bait with a hard thump and walks through cover very well because of how buoyant it is."
When Combs is fishing a little deeper, he'll tie on the magnum Strike King 4.0 and 8.0 since they dive as much as 9 feet deep. "You can get them both down that deep and many people don't think of fishing a squarebill in that range," he said. "They will have the same great deflecting action of smaller baits, just out deeper. They flat catch fish and are very good from May on when the bass eat bigger baitfish and look for that bigger profile."
For deeper water, Combs reaches for the Strike King XD lineup, most often the popular 6XD, but he's also a big fan of the 8XD and 10XD throughout the summer and well into the fall months.
"The 6XD will max out at around 19 feet and the 8XD won't run quite as deep, even though it's a bigger bait," he said. "The 8XD will run 15 to 18 feet deep, but I can get the 10XD down to 28 feet deep on a mega-long cast."
Combs will sometimes keep his boat at a different depth than the bait will dive. Instead, he'll go even shallower to get the bait to dig into the bottom.
"I have no problem casting a 6XD into 6 feet of water and bringing it down a slope to where the boat is sitting in 20 feet of water," he said. "I'll do the same with the 10XD and grind the bottom back to the boat. These baits are unique because they will deflect and lose bottom contact and come right back to stay on track."
Combs repeats the process as the fall turns to winter and returns to his cold weather cranking approach. It's the same pattern that he's seen over the years and he knows that no matter the weather, he'll have a crankbait that will produce.
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