Northwest Fishing Reports

A buddy of mine and I were discussing this on our last bass outing. He prefers the side to side retrieve while I am partial to the reel and stop method. What's your take on this?

I prefer the stop and go retrieve unless I am using a floating or sinking crank bait in that case I do not stop I just slow it down and speed it up.

Both retrives are necessary depedning on how the Bass are biting and reacting in my opinion. But, I do prefer the side ways action. Kind of resembles a more realistic bait fish motion.

Yea, Big Fish lite line has a good point also.. regarding the tempo: slow or fast retrive. Really active bass I like the fast tempo, slower action slow it down.

When it come to fishing for smallies (Burn IT) .. a fast retreive and a tight wiggle action will get you a smallie .. As for LM i base it mainly on there mode for that day .... :batman:

Big thing for crank baits is vegetation, you want to knick the top of weeds and rip it out.

kzoo wrote:Big thing for crank baits is vegetation, you want to knick the top of weeds and rip it out.

Thats it Kzoo weed tops and let hit brush and lay downs and when you hit something let it float up a sec then start retrive.

I agree with the use of both tactics. Cranks were the first bait I started with and despite the excellent results last year with drop shotting, the biggest bass of the season last year was on a Rapala DT6 crankbait. I love CBs!

Stop n Go retrieve
twichin' and jerking with pauses
hovering and touching the tops of the grass
bumping along the bottom and other cover
Carolina rigged

Yes sir for the last one. I started fishing cold turkey by myself 5 seasons ago and was wondering how in the world I could get more distance casting those light size 5 Rapala floating minnows. Being shorebound was a major factor.

So I slapped on a weight, then a swivel, and added the lure with a leader.

I fished this for about 4 months before I learned it was a Carolina rig in essence.

With a shallow diving cb, the carolina rig enables you to keep the bait down and in a zone. You see, when you paused it, the cb will only float as high as your leader dictates.

My first bass was caught this way and many more.

i have caught a few fish with a rapala on a carolina rig before. it does work, good for trout as well. im gonna have to try it a little more though.

I'm glad I read this topic. I just bought my first crank bait and I was curious about it. I picked up a Rapala DT6 in hot mustard color. I think I get the idea of the Carolina rig and I'll try it out if I think I need to. But after checking the Rapala website, I have a question on tying it on... how do I tie a double-loop knot ? Or would the Rapala knot work just as good?

Gotcha wrote:I'm glad I read this topic. I just bought my first crank bait and I was curious about it. I picked up a Rapala DT6 in hot mustard color. I think I get the idea of the Carolina rig and I'll try it out if I think I need to. But after checking the Rapala website, I have a question on tying it on... how do I tie a double-loop knot ? Or would the Rapala knot work just as good?

I have found that the Rapala knot isn't as strong as the double-loop (AKA "Trilene" knot). The Trilene knot is one of my all-time favorites. Sometimes it's too strong and I end up breaking off huge chunks of line when my lure gets snagged!

Another favorite is the Palomar, but it can be difficult to tie when you're using large baits because a loop has go over the lure. The Palomar is great if you fish with braid. The Trilene knot is a bad choice for braid because it will slip and eventually come unbuttoned.

Here's a good site for knot tying demonstrations:
http://www.troutlet.com/Fishing-Knots-W21.aspx

Awesome. Thank you!

Gotcha wrote:I'm glad I read this topic. I just bought my first crank bait and I was curious about it. I picked up a Rapala DT6 in hot mustard color. I think I get the idea of the Carolina rig and I'll try it out if I think I need to. But after checking the Rapala website, I have a question on tying it on... how do I tie a double-loop knot ? Or would the Rapala knot work just as good?

Gotcha,

You will not need to carolina rig a DT6. Unlike similar crankbaits from other companies, DT6 cranks cast superbly even into the wind. The c-rig idea is better suited to lighter crankbaits that are both hard to cast as a result of being light and don't dive more than say 4'.

I believe the DT6 has a split ring. this means you can tie the line with an improved clinch knot or palomar. The trilene knot is also an excellent knot.

Right on. Thanks for the additional info!

I am a life member of the North American Fishing Club. We tested a thing called a "Line Dancer". It is really Kool!!! works really well. Most everyone that tested it ,liked it. Here's the web site, click on the pop-up to see the video.... I like to use little jerks and a little back and forth motion along with a short lift and release. What ever works at the time. Now that I am getting older, I let the palsy take over and it works pretty well also.

http://www.linedancerinc.com/

For me it depends on the type of lure and/or the cover. If I am fishing a lot of woody structure, I go with a fairly consistent retrieve and try to bump the cover as much as possible. For a lipless crank, it is either a stop and go or more of a crank and pop method to get the lure to act eratic. For other types of cover or lures, the stop and go or even a sweep and pause are my favorite methods. With weedy cover, I agree with the other posts re hitting the tops of the weeds with some rips thrown in now and then.

That line dancer looks pretty interesting! I might have to try that out.

When I got home I got to thinking more and more about that Line Dancer and how it wouldn't really be too hard to make myself at home. So I started messing around with a couple different things and I ended up making something that does the exact same thing for none of the price. Now, I'm not going to post how I did it (I don't want the Line Dancer company to get too mad at me), but if anyone wants to try it it's not hard at all. If you can't figure something out email or pm me and I'll throw you a tip.

But...