Maximize Crankbait Effectiveness for Bass With The Right Line

Maximize Crankbait Effectiveness For Bass With The Right Line:

The Fishing Wire – October 18th, 2021.

The crankbait lure category is one of the most popular in all freshwater fishing, especially when it comes to bass fishing. They come in different sizes, shapes, and with different wobbling actions. They are fine-tuned to reach depths from a foot below the surface to thirty feet or more.

Noted crankbait guru Keith Combs and veteran professional bass angler Shaw Grigsby share some of their wisdom for maximizing the effectiveness of crankbaits to dive shallower and deeper and trigger more bites.

As a simple explanation, the farther you cast, the deeper your crankbait will dive. It’s simple physics and having a crankbait get down to the maximum depth will keep your bait at that depth for a longer period. Combs says that’s a significant benefit, but he also sees other reasons why a long cast for deep diving crankbaits is essential.

“Getting maximum depth is the biggest reason you want to make a long cast and the longer cast will also allow you to cover more water,” he says. “I like to position my boat as far away from fish as I can when cranking because the further you can stay away from fish, the better. Another benefit to a longer cast is that when you hook one further away, the fish wears itself out by the time it gets right next to the boat and that’s where you lose most of the fish hooked with treble hooks, so it increases your landing ratio as well.”

Both Combs and Grigsby make sure to have the right rod, reel, and line to maximize their casting distance.

When it comes to pound tests, crankbait fishermen generally select lines in the ten- and twelve-pound range, and Grigsby sticks with the norm, while Combs goes even heavier.

“I use 15 lb. for almost all of my crankbait fishing,” says Combs. “It sounds big for crankbaits, but if you look at the actual diameter, it’s not much thicker than the ten pound monofilament that we all used to crank with back in the day. I like that it is small enough to get a good casting distance but still strong enough that I can fight a fish aggressively to get them in.”

As one of the top crankbait anglers in the world, Combs has several top-level wins thanks to a crankbait. As a result, he’s often asked what line he recommends.

“When fishing a crankbait all day long, no matter what line you are using, it’s going to take some abuse if you are fishing around cover and catching fish. It’s a technique that requires you to change line constantly.

Grigsby is also a fan of ten or twelve pound tests being his go-to sizes.

“12 lb. is my standard, and I feel confident that I can grind on the fish and get them into the boat,” he says. I’ll move to 10 lb. if I want the bait to dive a shade deeper and 15 lb. if I want it to dive a little shallower.”

In Grigsby’s early days as a professional angler, monofilament was the only choice for fishing line. With the advancement of fluorocarbon, along with different crankbait materials, things have changed for the better, in his opinion.

“In the old days, we were cranking balsa crankbaits on monofilament and it was a real chore to dial in the right diving depth and to get them to dive deeper,” he says. “Fluorocarbon has been a real difference maker because it sinks and casts so much better. Plus, the crankbaits are all plastic and built to reach specific depths. Besides casting distance, I’ll also experiment with different pound test lines and modify my hooks to heavier hooks if I want the bait to dive just a tad bit deeper.”

Combs keeps it simple when wanting a bait like a squarebill to dive to different levels and the only thing he will change is his rod position.

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