The many different styles of crankbaits and they're some of the most user-friendly baits available to bass anglers. Just crank them in, as the name implies. If they have a lip, they will dive down and the lipless versions will swim right back to you. That's what makes crankbaits so great at imitating baitfish; they have plenty of action built right in, but there are many instances when switching up your retrieve is necessary to trigger bites.
Bassmaster Elite Series pro Brandon Card experiments with different retrieves based on the season, weather conditions, and even down to specific schools of fish. Retrieves matter and Card shares insight on how he fishes different baits.
Deep Cranking
One of Card's favorite ways to fish is out deep with crankbaits on ledges, ridges and humps. These areas congregate bass at times and a deep-diving crankbait such as the Hardcore Bullet Crank 7+ is one of his primary weapons.
"I love deep cranking and one thing that you see a lot of times is a fast retrieve is best to get them fired up," he said. "I'll also use a stop and go retrieve slow retrieve, and what I consider a medium speed retrieve. It changes day to day what they want, and I've even seen it where on different schools of fish, they want it faster or slower, so you always have to be experimenting."
He's a fan of the new Bullet Crank 7+ because it casts like a bullet and reaches depths of 25 to 28-feet deep.
"It casts so far and that is important with a deep crankbait because you want it down there as far as it can get for longer," he added. "Another thing about the bait is that it doesn't pull too hard. Some huge crankbaits wear you out and you feel like you are fighting the plug all day."
Shallow and Mid Range Cranking
When fishing shallow, one of Card's favorite baits is the Hardcore SR Crankbait, a shallow running squarebill that is perfect for banging into cover. While Card has learned how to trigger bites, he thinks many anglers simply don't fish them fast enough.
"I feel like a lot of people just cast them and reel them with a medium retrieve and there are a lot of instances where the faster movement is what triggers a bite," he said. "It is especially important on obvious places like riprap and bridge pilings because those fish see so many baits, and it pays to show them something different with faster movement."
Card will still use slower and medium retrieves at times, but a speedy reaction is one of his favorite ways to fish a squarebill.
"I like the Hardcore version because it stays true even at fast speeds," he added. "It also has a great deflecting action when you bang it into something."
Card generally uses a medium to a medium-fast retrieve for slightly deeper crankbaits when using a bait like the new Duel Hardcore MR that hits depths of six to eight feet of water.
"I'll speed it up when I am around a lot of active fish or see waves crashing against the shore," he said. "But, most of the time, I am fishing it with a medium retrieve. I'll slow it down even more when fishing cold water, which that bait is great for."
Lipless Crankbaits
Card will fish a lipless crankbait with the most variety and adjust his retrieve based on the season and cover of all of the bait types mentioned.
"There are so many things you can do with a lipless and that is what makes them so effective all year long, "said Card. "One of my favorite ways to fish them when it is cold is with a 'yo-yo retrieve' where I let it fall down the bottom and pull it up because it looks just like a dying baitfish. I'll also fish it with a pull and reel where I sweep my rod and try to keep the bait as close to the bottom as possible."
Card will burn the bait quickly during warmer conditions or fish it around grass and rip it out of grass every time it hangs up. When fishing a larger ¾-ounce bait like the Hardcore Vibe 75, he also uses it offshore on ledges.
"I like to target that ten to fifteen-foot zone," he said. "Let it go down to the bottom and rip it back up."
The many different crankbaits on the market all do different things and with some added changes in your retrieve, you can expand on that further. Casting and reeling any of them will catch fish, but making adjustments to your retrieve will trigger even more bites.
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