Hey guys I call rayburn my home lake and I have no confidence in fishing with crankbaits because I don't feel like I am matching the right crankbait color with Rayburns water clarity and types of baitfish the bass feed on in the lake. Can someone help me understand what types of baitfish Rayburn offers to bass because if there arent any shad that resembles the tennesee shad color why throw it. Someone help clear my mind up so I can broaden my fishing aresenal. Thanks

there are a bunch of gizzard and threadfin shad in there, Tennessee shad can resemble either of the two

Sexy shad is a really good color out there

my favorite colors of cranks for Rayburn are the Norman dd22 in bull bream and red ear. I also like the Little John dd in clear chartreuse

Good question Jay...

i think color plays more of a role when fishing the grass but when deep cranking, i think its more the actual location. As long as its white/shad/chart variations, it should catch fish.

My next part of my question is, do you use glittery/shiny patterns for bluebird skies, chart. firetiger for muddy water, or just stick with one color?

http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/crankbait_fishing.html
http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/crankbaits_bass_fishing.html
http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/crankbait1.html

If that doesn't tell you everything you need to know deep digging.
http://www.bassresource.com/fish/bass_fishing_articles.html

Sexy shad is mostly all I use and I do great with them.

+1 jaret, well put. also when crankin deep you gotta get that bait down there. bang off those rocks, stumps, whatever is down there. make them touch like theyre supposed to.n sexy shad is an awesome color. when left scratching your head on what color to tie on, go with sexy shad- anytime of yr, any type of weather.

Crankbait fishing on Rayburn is like what Jaret said its all about the spot. However I will say thats 50% the other 50% is time of year. I rarely throw a crankbait deep until certain times of the year unless its in the morning, however there are other ways to catch them in the morning so I usually don't. Rayburn ledges are setup different than most lakes and the fish are usally too deep right now to fish them correctly with a crankbait. Not saying you can't catch a fish but there are other baits that work better. My opinon is wait till November and December then try you will see a big difference.

I was having trouble this past June throwing crankbaits on Rayburn. I stopped by Tri-Lakes Tackle off of 69 and they explained which colors for which time of the year and even gave me some advice on where to crank. If you are driving past there stop by and ask Larry to help you out.

This is why I wanted to get everyones opinion on here because all of the articles and other literature I read usually don't work for Rayburn. It really helps having you guys chime that has actually fished Rayburn.

This time of year on big Sam Lavender shad bill norman and baby bass shallow runner always works

I don't think the color is as big of a deal as the action and depth of the bait it is reaction bait