The ideal smallmouth bass crankbait is a smaller, compact, realistic, and noisy representation of bottom-scurrying prey. In this case, it’s their favorite, the crayfish. In mid June as smallmouths conclude their spawn, crayfish also awaken. Power cranking with a shallow diving crankbait will score big numbers of feisty, hungry post-spawn fish that are cruising the shallows for easy feeding of this prey in overabundance.
Every bass fisherman has a go-to confidence lure. Outside of the suspending jerkbait and 5 inch swimming grub, one of my year-round favorites is the square bill crankbait. In late spring and early summer as smallmouth bass are cruising the shallows for feeding and settling on their spawning locations, the shallow running crankbait is a difficult lure selection to beat.
Under most circumstances I use a crankbait to search out cover and structure, looking for a reaction bite yet at the same time covering water in search for actively feeding fish. I power my way to ferocious strikes with speed and power. For this specific technique, I prefer fishing with a “power”reel with a 6:3.1 gear ratio. Quantum’s Energy PT is a perfect match, spooled with 10 lb. fluorocarbon and paired with a medium-moderate St. Croix Legend Glass (LGC72MM). Its S-Glass construction aided with no-stretch 10 pound fluorocarbon line are my tools for the trade.
Modern crankbaits are available in all shapes and sizes, representing all types of bass forage and enabling bass anglers to cover all the bases when it comes to locating and catching fish. As we know, the favorite forage for smallmouth bass is the crayfish. Thus in my opinion, nothing works better than correctly matching the hatch.
Designed to target shallow depth zones and keep you right on the fish, an assortment shallow runners and squarebill crank baits have me covered. My brands of choice includes Bandit-100’s, Rapala DT-4, Crankin Rap, and the KVD Squarebills. Their round body design, loud rattle chamber, and vibration combine to produce an enticing wobbling action that bass and even other fish species can’t seem to resist.
Modern crankbaits are available in all shapes and sizes, representing all types of bass forage and enabling bass anglers to cover all the bases when it comes to locating and catching fish. As we know, the favorite forage for smallmouth bass is the crayfish. Thus in my opinion, nothing works better than correctly matching the hatch.
Squarebill crankbaits are designed to plow through the shallows and deflect cover. When smallmouths begin feeding heavily on crayfish, these baits will effectively score fish for however long they’ll remain in the shallows.
