Advice from the "Crankbait King"

Winter sport show season is upon us and fishing seminars are a popular feature with Illinois fishermen who are looking for new techniques that will help them during the coming fishing season.

My fishing partner and I visited the Let's Go Fishing Show held the first weekend of January at the Gateway Center in Collinsville.

The show featured boat and fishing tackle dealers, door prizes and raffles, and more than two dozen fishing seminars. Bass tournament pros David Fritts, Brent Chapman, and Chad Morgenthaler were among those sharing their knowledge with amateur fishermen.

We attended Fritt's talk about fishing crankbaits and came away with many good tips that he has used successfully for years to earn him the title "Crankbait King" among his peers.

Crankbait Styles

How to tune a crankbait is a frequent question asked of Fritts since many new baits don't run properly and used ones often become unbalanced. Fritts admitted that it is a matter of trial and error and suggested that they be tuned and tested in a swimming pool to actually see the action of the baits.

He maintained that a bait will not always run directly toward you when retrieved, but it should be tuned so that at least it tries to "find the center line." If it veers to the left, then it should veer to the right the same amount. Tuning baits requires the patience to adjust a bait several times to get it right, but the effort is a key to fishing them successfully.

Fritts uses needle-nose pliers laid flat against the bill of the bait to twist the line connector in the opposite direction that the bait is running.

Another advantage to utilizing a swimming pool is the ability to see which of your baits are swimming crankbaits, ones that dive in a pattern that resembles a U-shape when retrieved, and which ones are diving crankbaits that dive in a pattern that resembles a checkmark when retrieved.

The depth and path that a crankbait takes when retrieved, Fritts maintains, largely depends upon the size and angle of the bill of the bait.

A straight-billed crankbait has the bill in line with the body of the bait, rather than at a downward angle. These baits are mostly diving baits and tend to reach deeper depths than baits that have bills that angle downward instead of straight out the nose of the bait.

Fritts recommends straight-billed baits in cold water because their tighter action or wobble is more effective. Crankbaits with bills angled downward have a wider action and are better suited for warmer water, according to Fritts.

"The bill shape," says Fritts," is another important feature that affects crankbait presentation and how the bait deflects off structure."

Crankbaits with round lips are the easiest to use because they get hung on structure less often, while baits with semi-round bills deflect in a different manner than round-lipped crankbaits. Flat-sided crankbaits with a coffin-shaped or squared bill deflect differently than all other crankbaits, says Fritts, and are a good choice to use in shallow hot and cold water.

"They hang up more, but they give you a big deflection. When you can't get bit on other crankbaits, use a coffin-lipped bait to trigger a reaction bite," suggested Fritts.

The body style of a crankbait, in addition to bill shape, angle, and size, affects the presentation. The more round the sides of the body of the bait, the more wobble the bait will have, but less roll and flash will be created. Conversely, the flatter the sides of the bait, the tighter the wobble, resulting in more roll and flash.

Fritts believes that lipless crankbaits are the most versatile crankbaits. "This bait works better is you can drop it," Fritts says.

He suggests that you reel the bait, stop the reel handle, reel again, stop, reel, stop, OR rip the bait up with the rod(lifting it sharply to the 12 o'clock position pointed overhead), reel up the slack, rip the bait, reel the slack, etc. These retrieve techniques will allow the bait to periodically fall, making it more effective.

Bait Presentation

Fritts advises anglers to use easier casting techniques and angles to get longer casts and to ease the fatigue of crankbait fishing all day. He demonstrated how easy it is to get a long cast by bringing the rod tip over your should and letting the light-tipped rod he uses do the work rather than using your body and entire arm to cast.

One mistake that many anglers make, according to Fritts, is they only cast at structure from one angle. "Changing the angle of your cast by moving your boat," he says, "changes the way the bait deflects off structure and can make the difference in getting a strike or not."

Fritts doesn't point his rod directly at the bait when retrieving it, rather he holds it pointed slightly to one side or the other. He holds the rod high when he wants the bait to run a couple feet shallower and holds the rod low when he wants it to run a couple feet deeper. He doesn't recommend putting your rod into the water when retrieving because that will cause you to lose the feel of your bait.

Fritts retrieves his baits at what he describes as a medium speed, not burning the bait nor a super-slow speed.

"The main thing," Fritts says, "is to wind the reel handle so the bait becomes more lively."

One way to do this is to pause, but not stop, the bait to generate more strikes. Another way to make your bait more lively is to jerk your rod up to the 12 o'clock position when you feel your bait hit structure instead of pausing your retrieve, similar to the retrieve he uses for lipless crankbaits.

The technique of pulling your rod up quickly when you hit something, then reeling up the slack, pulling the rod up again and reeling the slack is one of Fritt's favorite cold-water tactics.

Equipment

Years of expertise in crankbait fishing have enabled Fritts to refine the equipment he uses to more effectively fish crankbaits.

He uses American Rodsmiths fiberglass rods with a light-tip and plenty of backbone, Lew's reel that do not have an infinite anti-reverse feature, and low-stretch monofilament line, mostly in 10-pound test.

His equipment is designed to do one of two things when crankbait fishing. It either helps him feel the action of the bait better, such as the low-stretch line, or it enables him to lose fewer fish by keeping them hooked better, such as the light-tipped, fiberglass rods.

Fritts uses monofilament line because he feels that is casts farther than braided line and it doesn't wear out as quickly as fluorocarbon line.

The hooks that Fritts recommends using are VMC SureSet treble hooks with two small hooks on them and one large hook. He insists that you will land more fish with small hooks than larger ones because they penetrate the fish's mouth better.

He believes that one overlooked aspect of successful crankbait fishing is to test your reel drag to see that is slips smoothly, since this is essential to landing big fish.

Conclusion

Fritts has become a premier crankbait fisherman by spending years learning the subtle differences in crankbait styles and how they affect your presentation; experimenting with various presentations and retrieves to provoke strikes under difficult conditions; and refining his equipment to enhance his feel and ability to get more fish into the boat.

Fritts concluded by saying, "The number one, most important thing in crankbait fishing, is to feel your bait."