Lipless Crankbaits

by gunner

I have a whole box of these little versatile lures.  Over the years, I have come to find other ways to use them other than the normal "throwing and ripping as fast as you can"-type retrieves.  These kinds of crankbaits are so much more…but, strangely enough, most fishermen I have talked to use them for one style of fishing only.

These baits are great search baits and, like other crankbaits, can cover a great deal of water in a short amount of time.  They are great for deep water fishing, because you can rig a split shot about 18 to 24 inches from the bait and then let it sink faster and stay deeper as you reel in.  The “crank-n-yank” method of retrieve is always good when fishing like this.

Another method is letting the bait drop to where it will just skim the tops of underwater vegetation, letting it hit every so often to stir up the bass hidden there.  Also, through the years I have found that if you take off the rear hook it will do two things—it makes the action tighter and it helps to make it a bit weedless.

An overlooked method of fishing these is a vertical jigging action.  Get over the top of a submerged stump, place it around the base, and work it like a jigging spoon.  There are times when this is deadly to bass, and they just can’t resist hitting it.  I work it from a 7 o’clock to a 10 o’clock rod positions.  You will want at least 17-pound test line, and in some cases even 25-pound test.

One more thing that helps these baits is the replacement of their plain front hooks with red-colored front hooks.  I have changed all the hooks on my lipless baits that have either red "hot throats" or red on the entire belly of the lure.  It can give the illusion of bleeding or a blood trail in the water.

Now, there are some people out there who drill and fill the front of the Rapala models, due to the two separate rattle chambers.  These guys will use BB's or some sort of heavy putty, then use epoxy to close the hole.  They do this to get the nose to drop faster, which would work better using the vertical fishing method.

My point is this…you would be surprised at the people who have a few of these lures, but have never really given them a chance to work.  My fishing partner Dave has used this style of crankbait for years, and has had great catches with them.  I was always the traditional crankbait type of guy, but in the past few years I've blown the dust off the lipless and experimented with different ways to work them.  All with good results.

So the next time you are hunting though your tacklebox looking for “the” search bait…give the lipless a try, you might be surprised!

See you on the water…

gunner