Lipless Crankbaits

Few bass lures offer the versatility of lipless crankbaits. Anglers use them at all depths, in muddy water and clear, during all seasons and in almost any cover. Without changing the lures, you can jig over deep water humps, count down to bass suspended by bridge pilings or buzz across the top of a weedbed. Best of all is the lipless crankbait's simplicity; anyone can fish these lures. Lipless crankbaits come in floating, suspending and sinking models, and in sizes ranging from tiny (1/10 oz.) to monster (over 1 oz.). Each has a line tie on the top, which makes the lure run with its head angled down. Water pressure on the flat forehead produces a convulsive shimmy that resembles a baitfish zipping through the water. Bass find this action irresistable. Most models contain rattles that clack against the vibrating bait's sides when retrieved, giving the added enticement sound. To improve your chances of catching bass with lipless crankbaits, here are 30 tips to try.

1. For the best action, tie on lipless crankbaits with loop knots, never with snap swivels or leaders.

2. Use a soft tipped rod to better feel the throbbing vibration of the lure, and therefore calibrate your retrieve speed to get the heaviest vibration and loudest rattle.

3. Use light lines (4 to 8 pound test) for the smallest lipless crankbaits (less than 1/4 oz.), 10 to 12 pound test line for 1/4 oz. lures, 12 to 15 pound test for 1/2 oz. models, and up to 20 pound test for 3/4 to 1 oz. versions.

4. Fight fish gingerly on a loose drag, and to avoid the fish shaking free the hooks, try to avoid letting the fish jump.

5. Maintain super sharp hooks on your lures at all times. Keep a hook file handy to obtain a sticky-sharp point with a knife-like cutting edge.

6. Small hooks on some lipless crankbaits cause lost fish. If necessary, change to a large hook size to overcome this problem.

7. When fishing debris strewn bottoms, clip off one or both of the front trebles on the hooks. You'll still hook plenty of fish but avoid many snags.

8. Try to match the size of the lure to the size of the baitfish bass are eating. In late winter and early spring, larger lures often work better because small, young-of-the-year baitfish are not available. Switch to smaller lures in summer after baitfish spawn.

9. Thousands of bass are caught with these lures by simply casting past their holding positions and cranking the lure back straight and quick. Lipless crankbaits are great lures for children just learning to bass fish.

10. As a rule of thumb, increase lure speed in clear water, especially where there is heavy fishing pressure, and reduce lure speed in dingy water, at night or under low light conditions.

11. You can comb broad areas with a lipless crankbait to find active biters. The narrow body has little wind or water resistance, allowing long distance casts and rapid retrieves. A speedy retrieve optimizes the visual and acoustical attraction of the lure and allows for fast coverage of large areas.

12. In some situations, the best retrieve is one similar to that used when fishing a plastic grub. Cast the lure, let it sink, then lift hard with the rod, reeling in slack as it sinks again. Each time you yank upward, there is a rapid wiggle, and the long distance sound tranmissions make your lure known to nearby bass.

13. Vertical jigging is deadly on bass suspended around structure such as bluffs, bridge pilings and sunken islands. Position your boat over the target structure, then lower the lure to the bottom. Engage your reel and take up slack. Jerk the lure off the bottom 2 to 3 feet, and let it free fall. Maneuver your boat along the structure jigging the lure.

14. Use lipless crankbaits to catch schooling bass feeding on shad. Make long casts beyond surface feeding schools and retrieve the lure fast near the surface. When bass sound, let the crankbait sink and work it back with a pumping retrieve so it jumps through the school.

15. Trolling over creek channels and other underwater structure is another excellent way to fish lipless crankbaits. Toss the lure far out behind the boat and let it sink free-spooled for several feet. Then lock on the antireverse. Move slowly in a zig-zag pattern over bass structure, using an electric motor or drifting in the wind.

16. When bass are suspended at the 9 to 10 foot depths, you can usually pinpoint them by trolling a 1/2 oz. liplesss crankbait 120 feet behind the boat with 12 pound test line. If you go to heavier line, subtract a foot for every pound test you move up. If you troll with line lighter than 12 pound, add a foot of depth for every pound test you drop in line size. Troll at approximately 3 mph.

17. Try the sweep and drop trolling tactic. Point the rod toward the back of the boat, then sweep it forward, parallel to the water. Now qickly move the rod back to the rear position. This maneuver throws slack in the line and allows the lure to fall with no forward motion. As the boat moves and takes up the slack in the line, allow the lure to troll normally a few seconds, then sweep the forward again.

18. Crawfish colored lures seem especially effective on prespawn bass following creek channels to spawning areas. Work them around staging areas such as outside creek bends and bottom channel junctions.

19. As water temperature nears the mid 60s, bass move nearer to spawning sites. Cast for them on shallow flats close to deep water. When spawning activity is underway, most anglers stop using lipless crankbaits, putting them away until bass leave the beds and move back to deeper water.

20. When fishing bare banks, cast the lure a few feet up onto the bank and rattle it good. Then hop it into the water with a splash and burn it back away from shore. The key is allowing enough time (20 second or so) for the noisy lure on shore to attract nearby bass.

21. When bass are stalking prey in dark tunnels beneath thick weeds, a rattling lipless crankbait worked along the edge can draw them out. When fish are feeding on outer edges of cover, however, lures such as spinnerbaits usually work better.

22. In summer, try working lures over the tops of submerged weedbeds. If the vegetation is 1 or 2 feet under the surface, use a floating vibrator on 20 pound line. Retrieve with your rod tip low, alternately reeling to draw the lure under the surface, then pausing so it floats back up. When the plants are deeper, use a sinking model and count it down to the top of the vegetation before retrieving. The lure should just tic the top of the weeds on retrieve.

23. Using lures of different weights can improve weedbed fishing performance. If water above the weed tops is 1 or 2 feet deep, use a 1/4 oz. lure, keep the rod tip up and burn the lure back. With 3 or 4 feet of water, use a 1/2 oz. lure to keep it down just over the grass. With 5 or 6 feet of water, use a 3/4 to 1 oz. lure to keep it down that deep.

24. When fishing around vegetation, remove the tail hook and put a slightly larger treble on the belly. This allows you to work the lure through weeds much cleaner.

25. Try lipless crankbaits on Carolina rigs. Use a floating lure, a 1 oz. sinker and a 24 inch leader. This rig allows almost any retrieve imaginable. The crankbait floats, and each jerk makes the lure dive and swim erratically.

26. On windy days, baitfish concentrate near shore on wind swept flats. In this situation, pick a lure of the right weight to move just above the bottom. You don't want to retrieve it high up in the water column. Cast toward shore and work the lure out. If it bumps bottom, raise your rod tip and reel faster. The crankbait's loud rattle draws bass, even in choppy or muddy water.

27. When on bottom, some lipless crankbaits stand on their nose with the tail held high by a special air chamber. Each time the lure is lifted and dropped, or twitched along the bottom, the lure kicks up puffs of sediment and drops back to its nosedown/tailup position. This technique draws major strikes from bass. Some fish actually snatch the lure off the bottom, but most strikes come on the fall.

28.When fishing for smallmouth bass in rocky streams, try banging your lure off boulders to entice fish.

29. In spotted bass water, work rocky bluffs by letting a crawfish colored lure sink close to the shelf's bottom. Retrieve with short, erratic twitches to imitate a crawfish scurrying away.

30. Versatility is what makes the lipless crankbait one of the best of all bass lures. Experiment with various retrieves.