Berryessa Crankbaits

[NoCAL]

I fish Berryessa a lot living in Woodland and I can usually catch fish. This year I really want to get better with crankbaits. Can some of you crank experts give me some tips for cranking up there? Colors and depths. I have a bunch of baits but have no confidence in them. I know some of you are really good at it so please share! I don't fish tournaments so don't worry about sharing stuff with me.

Thanks,
NoCAL

[myrtle]

Best way to build confidence is leave all rods at home except the crankbait rods. i'm a big fan of white crankbaits or crawdad patterns. My confidence bait is the speed trap although i am getting turned on to the r2s biggie. Deep water i love the normans.

[mikereils]

I agree, crankbaits turned into my go to just by throwing them the whole day.

[TheChaz]

I like throwing Normans crankbaits there in a shad pattern. make sure to a get a good variety of depths thats crucial.

[george]

NoCal, I would start out by tying on several (crank baits only) and leave drop, Senko, swim baits at home! I would have something small in a shad color tied on a spinning rod with 8lb test, then something like a 2.5 on 10lb test, then mid level that will go to 6-10' and something that will get you down to 12-15' range like a DD22. Head on out to the lake and start off on points then work the small creek channels back into them throwing the shallow baits first and working down to the deeper baits from two or three different angles.
Make five or six cast with each bait across and along side of points and proceed to next deeper crank bait making five or six cast until you have fished all depths then move on to the next point or creek! Once you catch a fish or two pay attention to what bait you used and how deep it was running, that should give you a depth range! What side of the point or creek you caught them on and if you got them casting into the creek or casting out of the creek as well as if it was a shaded area or sunny area, this is going to give you an idea of position; are the fish pushing bait into the creek or are they working crawdads on the banks; Look at the fish that you catch to see if they have mud stain or discoloration on their noses or belly's this will give you an idea of if they are trying to get crawdads out of the mud and rocks, if yes go to something in a craw color.

Also try color changes, just because you have always been told use only shad or craw colors don't stick with that thought; throw black, Red, Clown, Chrome!!

Look for areas; points or creeks that are similar too where you caught your fish and continue, you will find that if you are catching them at a certain depth on primary or secondary points that pattern will replicate it self. But if you catch a few fish stay there for a bit because you might also be on a huge school that you can catch ten, twenty or more.
When you do catch a couple nice fish off a spot, leave it for a while and come back to it several times during the day, most of the time it will reload and you will catch another fish or two off of it.

Good Luck,
George

[BigJeff]

When in doubt stick with Rapala Fat Raps or DT series. They should run true out of the box every time. Silver foil and Shad in 10-12' D and you can go to a DT14 or DT16. I like to cast down the bank and run these things off the rocks slow rolled and sometimes I will burn them depending on how the fish are biting. You can also cast right to the bank and bring the bait back to the boat to work shallower but your not on bottom for the entire cast. Crawdad colors also work well depending on time of year. Cranks are one of the few baits I still use mono line for, 10-12 lb and sometimes 8 lb with smaller cranks.

The shad rap is another awesome crank with spinning tackle.

[Burke]

PM sent.

[Kevin Evans - Kap]

Mix in a lipless crankbait as well if you have some They can cover water and trigger some nice strikes which can result in some bigger fish.
I love to throw a LV500 on a Powell Glass 703CB usually on 15 Mono with either a Revo Winch or my old Chronarch 100 sf .
The DD22 is also great like he guys said. Just cover some water and let the fish tell you and pay attention to the little things. I throw my DD22 and start with red/black craw and Lavender shad for colors.. on a 8ft Dobyns Mcabee Special 1olb flouro and the Winch or SX

Good luck,

Kap

[Larry Hemphill]

I really have to agree with the previous post - Kevin's. Those are my two favorite colors also. I was guiding at Clear Lake about 10 years ago on a Friday late afternoon/night trip - in September. There was a huge tournament out of the old Konocti Resort and Spa - well over 100 boats - on that Friday and Saturday. What do I do with clients in that situation?? Because of a good breeze and setting sun, I had one of the fellows throw a Norman DD-14 in lavender shad. About the 4th or 5th cast he hooked and landed an 8 lb 2 oz bass! A guide is always very HAPPY when that happens - mainly because it hardly ever happens like that!! One might say that wasn't such a big deal. Well, during both days of the tournament - big fish was ONE eight pounder each day - though they were both 8 1/2+. This past fall, also at Clear Lake, I saw a fellow catch several bass - including a 6 1/4, using the red craw DD-22. My personal best on a crankbait is a 12 lb 10 oz bass from Lake Amador on a similar bait - a white ghost Poe plug. If I only had two colors, those would be the ones. And - maybe a chartreuse/blue crankbait - on the side!! That produced a 10-9 for me at Clear Lake in the fall.

[clearlakeoutdoors]

White has always been a good color @ Berry. My favorite has always been the DD22 or DD14 Norman in Lavender shad.

[NoCAL]

Thanks for all the replies and help. I'm going to try and sneek away on Monday and give some of these things a try. Back in the day I bought a bunch of Bandit cranks in the same color but different depths. I have 3 or 4 different colors in every depth they offered. So I'll try three of the same color but at different depths and only bring those rods with me. I'll also have a DD22 on a long rod for getting really deep. I know this works, just have to get the confidence that it will work for me.

NoCAL