The Battle we sometimes have with Crank Baits
The more you fish crank baits the more apt you are to get frustrated over the fact that many people believe they just loose to many fish. We have all experienced the downside of fishing crankbaits, the line breaks, or the fish comes unhooked by throwing the bait when a head shake occurs. The problem is you are probably making some mistakes with your crank bait.
There are ways to prevent many of the frustrating losses from crank baits it just takes a little planning and some good technique to make sure your fish are staying hooked up. One of the most important things is not to try and over power the fish; it's just not good technique to show your strength over the fish and power drive it back to the boat. Take your time let your drag do its thing and tire the fish down by working it back to the boat not powering it back. Drag settings however are a little controversial and not all of us believe the same thing when it comes to tightening down your drag; I believe you need the drag tight enough to get the bait tightly engaged in the fish's mouth. Meanings don't over tighten it yet make it tight enough to engage the hooks. Many crank bait fishermen tighten the drag as far as it will go and release the pressure with their thumb to me this gives you very little room for error so I prefer to use the drag on the reel as your friend.
It's also a common mistake to make a hook set like your fishing a worm; driving the bait upward is a big mistake. Crank baits are commonly smooth on top and there are no hooks on top of the bait so if you make a worm driving hook set up into the bass mouth when you get a bite you are pulling the smooth part of the bait against the upper part of the fishes mouth and forcing the bait to disengage from the fish. All you need is to pull the rod parallel to the water in a sweeping move engaging the hooks into the soft tissue of the bass's mouth allowing you to get enough power from the sweeping move of the rod and the bait will hook up just fine.
Lastly keep your rod tip down while fighting the fish it keeps the bass from jumping in most cases and keeps you in contact with the fish.
Fish Lake Guntersville Guide Service
www.fishlakeguntersvilleguideservice.com
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Email: bassguide@comcast.net
Call: 256 759 2270
Capt. Mike Gerry