Last week, I discussed using crankbaits to catch largemouth bass during the summer months on Lake Sinclair and Oconee. This week, I want to discuss more in depth the strategies that anglers need to utilize to improve their chances for hooking up with those fish with crankbaits when it is hot.  

Last week, I also pointed out that water current of some type is the first key ingredient to successfully using crankbaits and the second key is the presence of baitfish or shad in the area where you are fishing. The water current moves the baitfish into areas where largemouth bass will aggressively feed. It is like a switch being turned on and then a feeding frenzy occurs.

Other keys to successfully utilizing crankbaits are finding the proper location or water depth; locating structures and cover that hold baitfish and largemouth bass; employing the correct crankbait for the water depth you are fishing and lastly fishing the crankbait correctly.

I am going to assume that you have studied the lake bottom enough that you have isolated areas that should be holding fish. During the summer months, the fish can be found around deep points, creek or river ledges, break lines and humps. If those areas contain structures or cover like stumps, rocks or some form of manmade items like brushpiles that will definitely enhance those locations.

Water depth where the fish will be located can and will change from week to week and even day to day but anglers should pretty much concern themselves with water depths from 6 to 22 feet during the summer months. You might find the fish shallower or deeper at times but those depths will likely hold the majority of the largemouth bass during the summer months on Lake Sinclair and Oconee.

Once you have located good spots for holding baitfish and largemouth bass, you need to carefully check the spot with your electronics. A good spot with water current is not likely to hold largemouth bass if shad are not present in that spot. I do not fish good spots even if water current is present if that spot does not contain shad. I have found it to simply be a waste of time.

I have a hump on Lake Sinclair that has been a very good crankbait location for the last two months but on some days even when water current is present, there has been no shad present so I do not fish that location under those conditions. However, I can come back to that location an hour later and the shad will be present and the crankbait bite is on.

When fishing a good location with shad present, you want to always cast your crankbait so that you retrieve the crankbait with the current. The largemouth will generally face into a strong current so you want to retrieve the crankbait with the current. At times that is critical and at other times it might not be very critical at all.

If the location you are fishing has some type of structure/cover present like rocks, stumps or brushpiles, you want to attempt to keep the crankbait in contact with the bottom and let it ricochet off any thing that it might encounter. A crankbait that all of a sudden changes directions or speed will often entice a strike.

Always employ different erratic cranking and various speeds to make the crankbait look like an injured baitfish. I have watched anglers simply cast a crankbait out and then simply reel the crankbait back with no idea if the crankbait is hitting bottom or anything else and never changing the speed of the retrieve.

When fishing crankbaits, I prefer using a baitcasting reel with a low ratio retrieve speed, a medium or medium/heavy action 7 foot fiberglass rod and 10 pound monofilament or 10 pound fluorocarbon line. I choose crankbaits that will run in the water depth I am fishing and those crankbaits that will consistently maintain contact with the lake bottom.

For that reason I utilize two different types of crankbaits when fishing during the summer months. I use medium divers that cover water from 6 to say 14 feet and deep diving crankbaits when I am fishing water 14 feet to 22 feet or deeper.

Excellent crankbaits in the medium diving classification are the Norman Deep Little N and DD14, the Rapala DT14 and DT16, the Bomber Fat Free Shad Model BD6F or BD7F, the Bandit 250 and 300 Series, and the Strike King 5XD and 6XD Series. Excellent crankbaits in the deep diving classification include the Norman DD22, the Poe’s 400, the Mann’s 20+, the Luhr-Jensen Hot Lips Express and the Strike King 6XD.

Many models come with or without rattles and on some days the fish prefer a quiet lure and on other days they prefer a noisy lure. You will just have to try both to see what the fish prefer. All the crankbaits mentioned above come in a wide variety of colors but day in and day out a color containing chartreuse and blue is hard to beat.

I’m out of space so try crankbaits for summer largemouth bass and you might be surprised at how great they are for catching those fish. Good fishing and see you next week.