Crankbaits

DAKINE198 · Post by **DAKINE198** » Tue Oct 20, 2009 4:57 am

What is the most productive time of year for crankbaits on CAstaic? What have been the best producing colors for you? What would you consider your top three cranks?

John Barron · Post by **John Barron** » Tue Oct 20, 2009 5:51 am

If you move your post to the "Ask Them Yourself" Dennis Taylor page you might be surprised at the response you get.
jb

Kelly Ripa · Post by **Kelly Ripa** » Tue Oct 20, 2009 7:36 am

In my somewhat limited experience at Castaic over the years I have had three great crank bites...All warmer months May thru July timeframe. First bait was a Sisson single rattle( no Longer made ) in a shad pattern. Second was a DB3 in Chrome single rattle and the third was a DB3 no rattle in a bass pattern. While all are what I would consider Deep divers all the fish came in mud lines in 2-10 of water. I guess John's never caught three crank fish there

I usually do best cranking Cachuma and Lopez in early winter and early spring.

Rip

John Barron · Post by **John Barron** » Tue Oct 20, 2009 8:42 am

Kelly:
You are closer to right than you know.

Castaic has never been a good crank lake for me. I have caught a lot of topwater and spinnerbait fish but not a lot of crank bait fish. My suggestion was to put the question in front of Dennis Taylor. He truely has forgotten more about Castaic than most of us put together.
jb

Ray L. · Post by **Ray L.** » Tue Oct 20, 2009 8:49 am

warm months are the best but I do like a deep liitle n for my cranking. I also do crank in the winter but you must know the right conditions. It is also a shallow crank bite.

Kelly Ripa · Post by **Kelly Ripa** » Tue Oct 20, 2009 10:47 am

I knew where and why you was send'n Da Kine to Dennis John baby just raz'n ya

. I had to think back to think of my crank bites on Castaic as they aren't like the off the wall ones we get at Cachuma and points north. The crank bite at Castaic has everything to do with water fluctuations and present lake level at that time of year. That most likely effects the forage base and where they are in the water colum. The baby bass pattern has always been a good bait for me (anywhere) when drought conditions are present ( less shad? ). With the addition of the stripers things get tough to predict day in and out. The question put to Steve included Pyramid. That factors in smallmouth. There are stripers there as well but with the smallmouth factor a craw colored crank in fall and early spring is in my mix. I have used a poe 300 with good results at Pyramid. It was white with a blue back and again it was during the warmer months. I guess the key factor is trying to identify the way the bass are ambushing the shad if you want to be effective with your crank. That is why the mudlines (whether manmade or natural ) are where I search out the aggressive fish with a crankbait.

Rip