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I rarely use crankbaits, mainly because of my dislike of multiple hooks, and particularly multiple treble hooks. I have swapped out trebles for inline J hooks on the few crankbaits and other hard body plastic lures I have. But recently I have seen crankbaits perform well (sometimes better than soft plastics -- my favorite type of lure). Walleye Pete has his clients throw a lot of crankbaits during his charters. He typically uses X-Rap 10 and 12 lures. When I fished with him a few weeks ago, the crankbaits outfished most other types of lures.
Earlier this week I fished on a friend's boat out of the South River. We caught loads of stripers at Thomas Point light, the Bay Bridge rock piles, over several shallow bars, and in breaking fish in open water -- all on artificial lures. It was one of my better fishing days in a while. I threw jigheads with paddletails for much of the time, but after watching my friend catch more fish and larger fish using an X-Rap 10, I threw several types of hard plastic lures in my tackle box. My two crankbaits were an X-Rap 8 and a Yozuri plug of similar size. Both had a small lip, causing the lure to run pretty shallow. I got nowhere near the bites he had with his larger and deeper-running lure. I also caught fish on a Rat-L-Trap, a topwater popper, and a topwater prop bait. With the number of fish we saw, it was a great time to test out different lures.
After reviewing what I observed during that trip, I think I will buy some larger crankbaits. The ones that my friend used (X-Rap 10 and later a Yozuri Crystal Minnow of a similar size) got quite a bit of attention. After that long introduction, I am curious to learn what types of crankbaits other Snaggedline members like to cast for stripers.
Earlier this week I fished on a friend's boat out of the South River. We caught loads of stripers at Thomas Point light, the Bay Bridge rock piles, over several shallow bars, and in breaking fish in open water -- all on artificial lures. It was one of my better fishing days in a while. I threw jigheads with paddletails for much of the time, but after watching my friend catch more fish and larger fish using an X-Rap 10, I threw several types of hard plastic lures in my tackle box. My two crankbaits were an X-Rap 8 and a Yozuri plug of similar size. Both had a small lip, causing the lure to run pretty shallow. I got nowhere near the bites he had with his larger and deeper-running lure. I also caught fish on a Rat-L-Trap, a topwater popper, and a topwater prop bait. With the number of fish we saw, it was a great time to test out different lures.
After reviewing what I observed during that trip, I think I will buy some larger crankbaits. The ones that my friend used (X-Rap 10 and later a Yozuri Crystal Minnow of a similar size) got quite a bit of attention. After that long introduction, I am curious to learn what types of crankbaits other Snaggedline members like to cast for stripers.
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