# Central Illinois crankbaits......



## honers (Jul 29, 2009)

i've been a plastic bait fisherman for some time now but would like to add a new arsenal to my tackle box and that one bait that I've never really ventured into is the good ole crankbait...anyone from my neck of the country or anywhere else as a matter of fact...that has some good ideas as to what kind of cranks i can purchase....would like to start fishing with these baits but not sure as to what to get...

How does one go about and find what colors to use on these baits....do you actually gut a fish and look at the contents of the belly to get an idea....or do you try and match it up with your water clarity...new on this and would enjoy some opinions on this...

tks


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## cyberflexx (Jul 29, 2009)

I like Bandit 200 lures..

IN clear water I use one called Splatter Back.. Its got a yellow belly, silvery looking with black paint splattered all over the back..

In stained water I use one called Old Light with a pinkish red belly. This one is out of production ( I have about 10 of these ) but I have seen one with a green belly. This color is a light brown/mustardy looking. If I get time when I go home, I'll see if I can snap a picture for you. ( I get off at 5pm then have to go back in at 10pm to 6am for a server upgrade)

The Old Light has caught more for me than any other cranky, when I found out they were out of production, I bought up all I could find..


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## cyberflexx (Jul 29, 2009)

If you are going to use cranks, fan cast into the tree laydowns, make 15 to 20 casts into the downed tree, bubba will hammer your lure, if he gets annoyed. Also go buy a 15 foot telescopic golf ball retriever. Cut the cup off the and and put on a metal hook. ( i used a peg board hook from my workbench) duct tape it to the end of the pole where the cup was located. When you get hung up and out of reach, extend the pole, lay it on your line and use it as a guide, and run it down to the crankbait, knock it free, save $5 bucks!  It fits nicely in your rod locker too..


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## honers (Jul 29, 2009)

good ideas...now where i fish at one time was an old rock quarry....some ponds are clear...some are a little murky....all in all i'd say the average depth is at least 20+ feet....now are these lures deep diving....or do they have different choices as to what depth you want to fish....

Great idea on retrieving snagged up lures.....sure beats headin into the brush to get a hooked up lure....let alone gettin yer pole caught on a branch and watching it roll out of the boat....yup...it happened to me....but was able to retrieve it before she sank....

googled your lure advice and got and idea as to what i should look for....now...do you base how fast you crank it in on pure instinct or does different lures react different on different retrieves....


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## cyberflexx (Jul 29, 2009)

The Bandit 200 will go 4-6 foot I think, The Bandit 300 goes 8-10 foot i think, I dont throw those.

Usually when I crank, I use a St. Croix Crankbait rod ( forgot model number) and a Shimano Calcutta 150 baitcaster and 12-14lb test line in a Cajun Red. I will throw the lure out, let it hit the water, jiggle it a few times, hoping to get a topwater hit, which I have many times. If no hits, I wait till the waves of the lure splash dissappear, then I crank it down about 3 cranks, crank it fast for 5, stop for .5 seconds, crank fast 3 times, stop, crank fast 5 times, then stop for .5 sec, then crank slower back to the boat. 

Sometimes I crank it to the bottom and keep a consistent speed so the bill of the bait will dig up the mud and cause commotion like a crawdad or something..

When I cast into downed trees, I cast at every angle I can, do the top water jiggle thing, then slow crank them and keep the lure in-sight. Bubba usually will come up from the center of the trunk and clobber the lure when it is at the far edges of the branches..

Others may have other techniques, this is what I do for the most part..


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## slim357 (Jul 29, 2009)

Getting started with cranks can be a bit overwhelming with the endless amount of styles, brands, and colors. However, most baits are idiot proof now and will tell you the dive depth on the package, so pick out a few based on depth first, then when trying to pick a color you can either try to match the hatch (bait fish in the water dont try to match one up to a bait fish youve pulled out of a fish as they will most likely all be white) or you can match the water, personally the water determines the color I use. For clear water I try to use realistic colors, and a lot of ghost colors (simi transparent). For dirty water ill switch to bright colors, chartreuse, orange, white, yellow, basically anything that will be easier to see. Where to start is up to you but go with baits that will dive to the depth you most often fish. My box is full of baits that go 1-3 ft deep, and a few that will hit 6ft, I dont deep crank as I like to fish for hours at a time and I dont want my arm falling off half way into the day.
My favorite to throw is a spro fat crank 30, its about 1/2oz and dives about 3ft on 10lb test, and hasn't caught anything but keepers so far. My next choice would be a manns baby minus 1 this bait will flat out catch good numbers of fish in the spring, kinda dies off as it gets into the summers heat. Lastly If i cant get one shallow I'll put of a rapala fat rap 5. Oh and dont forget about lipless cranks, they are by far my favorite to throw, I mostly use rat-l-traps, this might be the best way to start.


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## honers (Jul 29, 2009)

what more could a fisherman ask for.....so many good ideas....probably hit the water either tomorrow or friday....got the weekend work schedule this week so when i do fish shouldn't be that much boat pressure and i can concentrate on this new adventure....

gonna go thru the tacklebox tonite....dig out the cranks i got....organize em by how deep they go...hopefully i can google most of em and get and idea...then put all these ideas into action...if i catch me a hawg...pics will definately follow....if for some reason i'm struggling i got my good ole watermelon red split tail Yum lizard on the backburners...

tks my fellow fishermen


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## cyberflexx (Jul 29, 2009)

Honers, 

this is full of ideas..

https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=3357&hilit=cyberflexx+fishing+tips


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## honers (Jul 29, 2009)

nice and very helpful tips....i'm still really hooked on the "cyberflexx snag release"....that one is going in my boat....
on a different note.....managed to find me another good set of tips...not just for cranks but all kinds of fishing strategies and tips....my question....does this forum allow someone to post another website with such information....if so...let me know....IMO this is a very nice site....


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## BYOB Fishing (Jul 31, 2009)

honers said:


> anyone from my neck of the country




I'm from Central Illinois, between Monticello and Decatur. AND I just so happen to be a sponsor of this forum with my Website that sells custom painted crank baits.

I've fished Clinton Lake almost exclusivly since I could fish, but have mixed in Shelbyville, Newton, Sangchris Lake Decatur and Coffeen

Earlier this spring, I took my Crappie crankbait to Clinton and caught a nice limit of keeps, with the biggest being just over 5 lbs. Here's some pictures:







That was a pretty good day.

Matt


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## Jim (Jul 31, 2009)

honers said:


> nice and very helpful tips....i'm still really hooked on the "cyberflexx snag release"....that one is going in my boat....
> on a different note.....managed to find me another good set of tips...not just for cranks but all kinds of fishing strategies and tips....my question....does this forum allow someone to post another website with such information....if so...let me know....IMO this is a very nice site....



Yes go ahead! I'm not afraid of the competition. :wink: If it can help a member here learn something new that its cool.


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## honers (Jul 31, 2009)

matt..i would say that was a good day....i used to fish Clinton Lake when i lived in Champaign...but since i've moved to Ogden that's a good ole long trip...
what kind of crank is that....you actually use that for crappie...
went fishn last nite but couldn't set the hook...got alot of hits....was using my plastics by the way and not the cranks....they seemed to be biting the end of my tails off...on both my lizards and my worms...... #-o 
gonna try the cranks next week when i get my next two days off..


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## BYOB Fishing (Jul 31, 2009)

honers said:


> what kind of crank is that....you actually use that for crappie...



No, I use it for bass fishing. It's a 3" long flat sided diver with a circuit board lip. When I first started painting baits, I called that my Crappie pattern. I'm sure I could make a much more life-like crappie pattern nowdays, but that one is a big seller, and I've caught alot of fish with it myself.

Matt


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## fish devil (Jul 31, 2009)

:twisted: The Rapala DT-series are great cranks. Well tuned right out of the box and they catch fish.


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## honers (Aug 1, 2009)

what do you sell em for....gotta start somewhere....

also like those fish that the "fish devil" snatched on to....i'm writing down all these crank suggestions and gonna do some shopping here....dont want to put to much into em....but...if they catch me fish i'll definately me fish i'll broaden the inventory.....


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## honers (Aug 1, 2009)

Yes go ahead! I'm not afraid of the competition. :wink: If it can help a member here learn something new that its cool.[/quote]

Don't really think this would be any compo to our website....more or less an online store...but here is the site that has all kinds of tips for whatever type of fishing our members would enjoy.....

https://landbigfish.com/fishingtips/default.cfm

select what you want tips on and read...read...and read...there are many tips on each category.... =D>


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## cyberflexx (Aug 3, 2009)

honers said:


> Yes go ahead! I'm not afraid of the competition. :wink: If it can help a member here learn something new that its cool.



Don't really think this would be any compo to our website....more or less an online store...but here is the site that has all kinds of tips for whatever type of fishing our members would enjoy.....

https://landbigfish.com/fishingtips/default.cfm

select what you want tips on and read...read...and read...there are many tips on each category.... =D>[/quote]

I've bought from them before.. no problems at all..


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## po1 (Aug 17, 2009)

I using rapala dt series dt16 the shad and the red crawdad with good luck this year. They are a good diver getting the bait down 10 to 16' in Bannor Marsh. Plastics have been slow with the expection of early morning and late evening.


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