“Smashed it!”  “Delivered a crushing blow.”  “Almost ripped my arm from its socket!” 

These comments are not from participants in a professional wrestling match, but from anglers reliving the experience of cranking up smallmouth.  Unlike the occasional lackadaisical hit from largemouth bass, when smallmouth attack a crankbait it’s always a no holds barred encounter.  And if you are not careful, someone is going to get hurt. 

Best Bait  

“Smallmouth are outstanding fighters, but the intensity with which they strike a crankbait displays a true killer instinct,” says smallmouth guide Bill Albright, a former B.A.S.S. touring pro from eastern Pennsylvania.  

“Twenty years ago, a crankbait would not have been my first choice for smallmouth bass, but that has changed,” says Jeff Snyder, a professional angler and smallmouth expert who frequents the lakes and rivers of the Midwest.  “Today, the crankbait is my bread and butter lure for quickly locating aggressive smallmouth.  Nothing else triggers as hard a strike.” 

In the Northwest, Washington State tournament angler Bill Roberts readily admits that smallmouth are his favorite fish and crankbaits are his number one presentation.  “Smallmouth have an attitude towards crankbaits that largemouth sometimes lack,” he acknowledges. 

“Crankbaits are versatile because they can represent both crayfish and baitfish,” continues Roberts.  “It depends on the time of year and the particular water you are fishing as to whether smallies are feeding on crayfish or some type of minnow.  However I use the same crankbaits to imitate both prey by selecting models that have good action and different depth ranges.  My preferences in baits include Worden’s Timber Tiger series and Poe’s Competition series.” 

No argument from Albright that crayfish are an integral part of a smallmouth’s diet.  “However, from my perspective, those crayfish-look-alike baits with a diving lip are a gimmick,” adds Albright.  “Crankbaits are reaction baits; bass don’t analyze profile details as it goes by.  I want a crankbait that runs true during all retrieve speeds and is of the approximate size of the prey that smallmouth are targeting.  In most instances, a Bandit is my pick.” 

Snyder also believes that vibration is critically important in choosing a crankbait.  “For smallmouth, more so than largemouth, I want a crankbait that has a tight wiggle rather than a loose wobble and one that can be retrieved at high speeds.  That’s not to say a crankbait should always be fished by winding rapidly.  A good crankbait must be equally effective at all retrieve speeds.  And it should be available in several depth models to strain the water.  That’s why I like the Bandit series, ranging from the super shallow Footloose to the #300.” 

Seasonal Outlook 

Roberts loves to crank the waters of the Northwest, including California’s Lake Shasta, Washington’s Banks Lake and the Columbia River.  

“There are some anglers who try to tell me that smallmouth can’t be taken on crankbaits in water temperatures less than 50 degrees or over 70 degrees.  That just isn’t so,” states Roberts.   “Heck, I’ve caught smallies on crankbaits in 42 degree water, and those fish wanted it bad, almost ripping the rod out of my hand.  And I’ve taken smallies on crankbaits during the hottest days of summer – as long as I could reach them with the bait.  One of the worst things anglers can do is get stuck in a false belief about magic temperatures.” 

No one supports Roberts more in dishing temperature guidelines than Snyder, who cranks for smallmouth any time the surface isn’t covered with ice.  “Fish cannot escape their environment.  Yes, you must be aware that in cooler water, a bass’ metabolism will be slower.  But the metabolism affects how fish digest food and how often they need to feed.  That does not mean they are necessarily slower in attacking a lure that is moving. 

“I do not pay that much attention to temperature anymore because I’ve become a firm believer if prey and predator meet, the potential of a strike is there – regardless of the temperature.  Crankbaits can draw strikes any time of the season – you just have to adjust presentation to find the right retrieve.” 

However, Snyder is quick to point out that crankbaits are not necessarily the best lure to use in all situations.  Lure choice is dictated largely by the mood of the bass and their location.  According to Snyder, actively hunting and feeding smallies are best targeted with a crankbait, regardless of water temperature.  Also, Snyder prefers cranking when smallmouth are shallower than 8 feet, and never employs crankbaits if bass are deeper than 12 feet. 

“But the single most important factor for crankbait use is water movement,” continues Snyder.  “On a lake, a breeze or wind must be blowing, or a reservoir must be pulling water.  Of course in a river, the steady current opens the possibility of cranking for smallmouth every day.”   

Bill Albright offers a disappointing look when asked about cranking for smallmouth through the seasons.  These days, the crankbait bite on his favorite lakes occurs only in fall. 

According to Albright, it wasn’t always that way.  Less than a decade ago, there was a traditional spring crankbait bite when the smallies moved shallow to feed prior to pre-spawn activities.  Back then it was also possible to catch smallies during the summer in moderate depths on rock piles, drop-offs and along the outside edges of weedbeds.  But all that has changed with ‘baitbucket introduction’ of non-native alewife in many area lakes.  With high numbers of that prey now available, smallmouth chase alewife most of the year. 

The problem is the location of alewife.   In the coldwater period from late fall to early spring, and in warmwater period of mid summer, alewife hang out in the middle of the lake usually 30 to 50 feet deep.  The smallmouth hang with them, thereby making cranking totally ineffective during those times. 

Spring Patterns: Roberts believes that cool water in lakes during the early spring is the cranker’s best friend.  His reasoning is simple.  Smallmouth are on the move from deeper wintering areas to the shallower flats.  This requires anglers to search considerable stretches of water, making crankbait use ideal for this situation.  And since few anglers in his region attempt cranking at this time, it remains an almost untapped gold mine for those who do. 

“Most of my early spring and pre-spawn cranking is along those migration routes, such as rocky points, creek channels leading into bays or shallow flats.  Transition areas where soft muck bottom switches to rock rubble or a firmer bottom are also key sites.  Key fishing depths are 7 to 14 feet.” 

But according to Roberts, the real secret to coldwater cranking is ‘hanging’ the bait.  Each time he bumps a bottom object, he pauses the retrieve to allow the bait to hang in the water.  Roberts achieves neutral-buoyancy by using Storm’s SusPend Dots.  For his favorite Poe’s 300, he says six dots positioned directly on top of one another immediately in front of the first treble usually does the trick.  However, because these wood baits are not identical in weight, some adjustment in the number of SusPend Dots may be needed. 

How important is a suspending crankbait in cold water?  Roberts tells about a Banks Lakes tournament one spring when he had a limit in eight minutes with one of his doctored baits and stalling retrieve.  Meanwhile, his boat partner – using a non-weighted crankbait – didn’t catch a single bass during the flurry.  

Once smallmouth arrive on the shallow flats, the Timber Tiger DC8 becomes Roberts’ mainstay.  With water temperature well into the 50s and bass in water less than eight feet deep, he says there is no need to use suspending baits.  “Now I’m using a steady retrieve, moving the bait a bit faster,” notes Roberts.  “With its Timber Roller Lip, the DC8 has very good deflecting capability for both rock and wood, along with that perfect tight wiggling action.” 

Summer Patterns: With the spawn over and the shallows heating up, smallmouth in lakes drop deeper.  Roberts makes the adjustment by going to a Poe’s 400 Competition to reach the 14-16 foot depths or Poe’s Long Reach to hit the 18-20 foot range.  He targets extended points, rock piles on deep flats, midlake humps and ledges along river channels. 

“I’ll start the morning off by cranking fast in order to cover a lot of water during low light period,” explains Roberts.  “Then as the day wears on, I slow down and work the crankbait more methodically.  By this I mean picking apart those larger structural elements and isolating individual pieces of submerged cover, such as stumps or large rocks.  I want to hit something, then pause to let the crankbait back off and begin floating upwards before engaging it again.”  This bump-and-backoff technique replaces his bump-and-hover tactic of spring.  

Fall Patterns: When lake water begins to cool off in the fall and smallmouth return to shallower water, these experts agree nothing can put bass in the boat as quickly as a crankbait.   

“With water temperature between 50 and 60 degrees, there is no lure that works as well as a crankbait when smallmouth move back onto the shallow flats,” Albright says.  “There is no need to bump cover or touch bottom to trigger a strike in the fall.  On my favorite lakes, including Wallenpaupack in Pennsylvania and Cayuga in New York, the bass are positioned on the deep edge of shallower flats to ambush baitfish moving in and out.  I keep the boat in about 15 feet of water, throw a Bandit 200 into four or five feet, and retrieve quickly with an occasional stop or hesitation.  Most of my strikes come when I hesitate the bait.” 

Roberts says his retrieves in the fall are markedly different than spring or summer.  “Using one of the Timber Tiger models, I simply wind the reel handle as fast as I can – I literally burn the bait.  Timber Tigers, particularly the DC5, hold a straight line while maintaining that crankbait action no matter how quickly they are retrieved.  That’s how I get my largest smallmouth of the fall.”   

River Patterns: When it comes to jockeying for feeding positions, smallmouth use current to their advantage.  Because smallmouth are creatures of current, Snyder seldom considers using a crankbait in a lake situation unless the wind is blowing.  But in flowing water, it’s a different case.   

“Crankbaits are my primary lure tool for rivers or any waterway connections with current,” states Snyder.  “With a single bait, such as a Bandit 200, I can cover 80% of a typical river’s smallmouth habitat.  By holding the rod tip at various positions, I can strain the depths to eight feet.  And by reeling fast or slow, I can vary the speed of retrieve until I figure out what the bass want on that particular day.” 

When fishing for largemouth with a crankbait, Snyder wants to bump bottom objects.   But when cranking for smallmouth he says a free-swimming retrieve is every bit as effective.  This is particularly important when fishing rocky bottom cover in a strong current.  There is no need to use deep-diving baits to over-dive, thereby sacrificing lures to rocks.  A crankbait that dives close to the bottom – only brushing bottom occasionally – is sufficient. 

Snyder explains that while smallmouth in impoundments move deeper in the summer, river smallmouth actually move shallower – into faster moving water.

On small to moderate size rivers during the warmwater period, Snyder heads first to the pushes or hardpan lift areas at the head of a riffles.  In the shallowest water, he goes to a Bandit Foot-Loose which runs less than a foot under the surface.  He also favors current seams and reverse flow eddies along wing dams, riprap, bridge piers and inflowing tributaries.  Snyder recommends fishing a crankbait pass any object that breaks the current flow.   

With the arrival of cold water in the late fall, smallmouth move out of the stronger current flow sites to slower eddies or holes.  While Snyder still relies on a crankbait as the initial search lure, he slows the retrieve down considerably.  He recalls incidents where smallmouth have smashed crankbaits when the water temperature was in the high 30s.    

Auxiliary Tools 

These anglers say the choice of a smallmouth crankbait rod is very important to success.  A moderately flexible blank is critical in keeping hard-charging smallmouth from coming unbuttoned.  However, for increased sensitivity, each angler prefers a graphite model rather than a fiberglass or composite rod. 

Albright uses a Shimano VCT-66M and a high-speed Curado reel spooled with 10 pound-test Stren. Snyder goes with a Lamiglas XDC703 rod and a Lews BBING casting reel with 8 to 12-pound Berkley XT line, depending on the cover. 

Roberts opts for a 6-1/2’ medium power Browning Vectra rod, and usually mates it to a 6.2:1 high speed Quantum Accurist reel spooled with10-pound green McCoy Line.  “I normally use a high-speed-retrieve reel because it pays to move crankbaits very fast at times for smallmouth,” notes Roberts.  “However, in the early spring, I switch to an old Lews reel with a 4.3:1 gear ratio to slow down the bait.  You can try to crank slower, but the human tendency is to wind too fast.  I correct the human problem by changing reels.”  

Roberts also removes any split rings from crankbaits, using a #2 DuoLock Snap for the line-to-bait connection. 

Snyder advises great care if landing a crankbait-hooked smallmouth with a finger/thumb lip grip.  “The mouth is so small that the risk of getting a treble embedded in your hand is high if the fish surges, shakes or jumps at the last second.  Generally, on smaller bass I use a belly lift, which has a similar paralyzing affect on the fish as the lip grip.  A rubber net is good idea for bigger smallmouth since trebles do not tangle in the mesh.  Long-nose pliers or a Baker Hookout tool can help prevent personal injury, too.  Smallmouth are fighters to the end, and just when you think they are going down for the count, they’ll surprise you with another move.” 

Past Articles

EAST MEETS WEST ON LAKE ERIE
TACKLING RIVER SMALLMOUTH IN THE FALL
INDIGENOUS BAIT
SUPER SHALLOW SUMMER
CREATURES OF THE NIGHT
CRANKY SMALLMOUTH
TINY TORPEDO
LAKE ERIE “BEST” FOR SMALLMOUTH BASS
HOW TO CATCH THE BIGGEST SMALLMOUTH OF YOUR LIFE
IN QUEST OF CENTER HILL SMALLMOUTH
LOVE THOSE HELLGRAMMITES!