Cranking Question

I've never been much of a 10+ft deep guy bass fishing but giving it a go this summer more than ever. It is paying off, have caught some good fish, but I have a question about throwing 5,6XD's and such. When fishing around rocky drop offs or brushpiles I lose 2 or 3 lures every trip and it creates kind of a dual problem. I can feel the rod load up when I am working into a snag, so If I stop and let the crank back off I won't lose them ....... the problem is that same feeling has been a fish several times that I lost and never got hooked because I thought I was working into a snag and stopped. I have heard people fishing cranks into brushpiles and around wood but it seems like a terrible idea, how do you not get hung every cast, or differentiate a snag from that "heavy" feel bite. Its super easy when they hit it hard or knock it weightless, but most of my bites lately have just been heavy.

^^^^ Yes, lure retriever.

When you hit a brush pile limb, if you pause for a prolonged time, the crankbait will go more horizontal, exposing the hooks more.

Instead of pausing for a long time, just briefly pause and then pull the line/lure with your rod with a long, smooth motion--this keeps the bill down and most of the time, the lip will pop over the limb. If it's a bite, instead of a limb, the bass will resist the pulling with a head shake. You will still get snagged from time to time (lure retriever)

^^ that makes sense thank you I’ll give it a try

A better lure retriever

Links not working but if it’s for their 15’ telescopic retriever then it’s worth every penny.

Yes, it’s the pole that extends.

I just crank right through them without stalling. You’ll get hung up either way, but I feel like I connect more with fish after I deflect the bait off cover. If you got the right rod, the give in it helps reduce hang ups and let’s fish set the hook on themselves.

I really like a Dobyns 805, but don’t mind using a long fiberglass stick for this either.

Make a bunch of plugs out of a 3 oz bell sinker, the snap off a snap swivel, and a zip tie. Relatively inexpensive to make and get to any depth. If a tethered retriever gets hung up you have to cut.

If you get hung a little bit, you can try the bow and arrow trick on your line above the reel. Reel down until it is somewhat tight, then PLUCK the line rather hard and a lot of times this will get the CB out of whatever it is hung in. BE VERY AWARE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A LOT of time when the CB comes out, you will get a vicious strike from a bass. So, pay attention and when the line starts getting harder t reel, slow down and you can normally work the CB thru it by slowing down and FEELING what the bait is doing, at least, that works for me. Hope this helps. Tight lines, keep safe and good luck.

Thad Rains

^^Thank you for the reply. I have used the bow and arrow deal quite a bite, sometimes it does work! I had a hit just like you were describing last week, I could feel the bait deflect off of some cover, then I got hung, then it came out and it got whacked. Fun bite for sure. I need to get better at slowing down and feeling my way through it, it seems like when I start to hit brush it's hung, 100% of the time. A secondary thanks to all the lure retriever replies, just trying to get hung less often in the first place so I catch more fish and don't have to use those as much.

Get one of these from academy then get about 3-4ft of the smallest welded chain from lowes. About 1" links. Has to be welded so your line doesn't enter the links. I use small bolt cutters and make 4-5 small sections to add to the end of the retriever. The heavy chain will grab the hooks even if the retriever is blocked from getting all the way to the crankbait. We use heavy trotline string and also tie the end to a marker bouy in case it gets dropped. Have never lost one due to hanging up. Now if your crankbait is under multiple limbs, you may not get it back regardless of what you use but that retriever with chains hardly ever misses. I bet half the time the chains get the it free versus the body knocking it loose.

I, too, use the Dobyns 806 CBRM for cranking. GREAT ROD for most deep divers and some medium divers. Hope this helps. Tight lines, keep safe and good luck.


Thad Rains

I point my rod directly at the bait when I'm deep cranking and when I feel it get up to a limb or the pile I stop reeling and start raising my rod tip to walk it over the brush. A lot of times I feel the lip of the bait finally come over the limb and I can start reeling again. This way I at least maintain contact with the bait the whole time. The times that is has been a fish I feel a head shake or it will start pulling back. I still get hung up sometimes and a lure retriever is necessary.

I have this problem with shaky heads and jigs sometimes too. I caught a fish over 6lbs yesterday on Ray Roberts out of a brush pile. I never set on it because it just got heavy (like when you reel in a big tree limb). After 10 seconds the fish finally shook it's head and I realized what I had.