Scott Bonnema worked the grass with
the perfect crankbait for these nice bass
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By the time midsummer rolls around the bass action can
really heat up and productive patterns start to emerge
that can be easily taken advantage of. Quite often one
of the hottest patterns going is working the grass with
a crank bait. It’s grass in the south and weeds in the
north but it’s really all the same, and what you call
it doesn’t matter to a largemouth bass. Wherever you find
healthy grass (or weeds) you’ll probably find bass. Weeds
hold plenty of preferred forage all season long, and is
the main reason bass can be found hanging out in and around
all of the vegetation. Your job (if you except it) is
to put together a presentation that is appealing enough
to get their attention, and is where the right crankbait
in the right place can really produce. Bass have a natural
attraction to crankbaits which imitate available forage
like minnows, shad, bluegills, and crayfish. A crank bait
worked across the top of a weed bed is more likely to
mimic baitfish while a crank banging into the bottom might
be more apt to represent a crayfish. The idea is to duplicate
what they’re already consuming and try to make them think
they’re doing the right thing by inhaling your bait.Whatever
the case crank baits do work and do so extremely well,
especially during the heat of summer. When water temperatures
heat up bass become more and more active as their metabolism
is cranked up on high. |
Their prey is moving faster as well, which is also affected
by a warmer environment. If it’s a fast moving world they’re
living in then it only makes sense to at least try and give
them something that appeals to their present condition. Even
with that there are certain times when cranks are more likely
to produce, and aren’t always the final answer. Tough times
(like after the passing of a front) might call for something
else and could include working a jig worm, or maybe a drop shot
rig, and doing it ever so slowly. Steady weather conditions
and warming trends are another story, and is when you can load
the boat with the right crank bait. Finding the right crankbait
is a process of trial and error (at least to start with) and
it may take some extra casts in more than one area to figure
out. One of the keys to successful crankin’ is using baits that
you already have confidence in, that you know will get a positive
response if buzzed through the right neighborhood. Building
confidence takes a little time, but you can shorten it up if
you start out with proven producers like the Rapala DT series,
Rattlin’ Rapala, or the time tested Fat Rap. Even new baits
like the Glass Fat Rap can be counted on to do the job because
they are tested extensively before ever hitting the bait store
shelves. What you chose will depend primarily on the grass and
weeds your working and just how deep it grows, and how close
to the surface it rises. Weeds that extend all the way to the
surface may force you to stick with the shallow and deep edges.
If there’s a couple of open feet or more of water over the top
of a bed you have a chance to run the shallowest running baits
like a Rattlin’ Rapala, or a Fat Rap with a shallow running
lip. The Rattlin’ Rapala will run shallow as long as you start
a fast retrieve as soon as the bait hit’s the water. The Fat
Rap on the other hand is a floater and can be worked much slower,
but quite often it’s a burning retrieve that trips their trigger.
The trick is using a bait that runs just deep enough to occasionally
catch the top of the weeds without constantly digging in and
becoming fowled. The DT6 can be cranked over the tops of deeper
growing weeds and because if it’s unique design the bait will
actually roll over when the lip hangs up, keeping the hooks
up and out of the weeds. Both baits can be worked on the inside
edge of a weed bed as well, and will depend on how shallow it
is and whether or not it’s clean enough to get a bait through.
Parallel casts keep your lure in the “zone” longer and is an
efficient method for locating fish. With an electric trolling
motor you can buzz along at a good clip and cover a lot of ground
helping you to either find fish or eliminate water. Weeds that
top out a little deeper can be worked with baits that are designed
to dive to a specific depth like the DT Series which has variations
that can run at four, six, ten, and sixteen feet. The deeper
running baits are good bets for working the deep edge, especially
the base. Parallel casts are again preferred but you may have
stay off the edge and cast into the flat and work it back out,
especially if the fish are schooled up and holding high in the
weed bed. Summer bass will typically school up and if you find
one chances are there’s more in the area and it may pay off
to work a bait through the same area over and over again. One
of the keys to successful cranking is sticking with it and not
giving up, and it can pay to be persistent. Many times it’s
not the first cast, or the second, or even the third that gets
bit, but maybe the tenth or even the twentieth, all through
the exact same area. Maybe it takes that long to get their attention,
or to get into position, or maybe they just get mad, whatever
the case multiple casts to the same spot can result in more
fish hooked. Whether you’re working shallow or deep, keep your
rod tip down on the retrieve and set the hook on anything that
feels different. When a bass hit’s a crank bait there’s no better
time than the present to set the hook. Delaying the set will
only give a fish more time to realize that it made a big mistake
and reject your bait. They say there’s a time and place for
everything. That being so the time is now, the place is the
grass, and the everything is a fast moving crank burning through
an overheated bunch of bass. |