What if I could show you how to save money by knowing exactly the best crankbaits for bass?
The truth is, one bait will not work well in every situation. Therefore, it’s important to have a wide variety of crankbait options in your tackle box. Below is our list of top options!
8 Best Crankbaits For Bass In 2023
- Top-Rated Deep Diving Crankbait – Booyah Streak IV Foam-Injected Crankbait
- World-Class Crankbait – Berkley Bad Shad
- The World’s Shallow-Running Crankbait – Spro Little John Crankbait
- The Most Versatile Lure – Rapala Dives-to 3/8 Oz Fishing Lures
- The Universal Go-To Bait – Steel Shad Bass Fishing Lures
- An All-Time Classic Fishing Lure – Band -It Series 200 Crankbait Bass Fishing Lures
- The Ultimate Shore Trolling Lure – Nomad Design DTX Minnow
- The Loudest and Most Buoyant Crankbait – Strike King Hybrid Hunter Crankbaits
1. Booyah Streak IV Foam-Injected Crankbait
Top-Rated Deep Diving Crankbait
Key Features
- Has wire-through design
- Has a tunable head and a realistic body
- Has ultra-sharp treble hooks
- With added premium 1/0 extra-wide gap hooks
The Booyah Streak IV Foam-Injected Crankbait Fishing Luredesigned for deep-diving to give you the longest casting distance possible, up to approximately 25 feet.
Its practical weight of 2 ounces and measure of almost 4 inches makes it easy to cast.
This lure’s foam-injected body enables anglers to cast farther and deeper than ever before, resulting in more fish caught.
The rattle chamber of the streak was created to broadcast high-frequency sounds with greater frequency control in order to lure fish in.
2. Berkley Bad Shad
World-Class Crankbait
Key Features
- Has a thinned-out baitfish profile
- With super sharp Fusion 19 hooks
- Equipped with stainless steel split rings and premium treble hooks
The Berkley Bad Shad Series of baits are designed to use in the heaviest surf and withstand combat fishing extremes. Its handcrafted wooden baits provide efficiency and durability as that synthetic baits.
Its streamlined construction, which enables its side roll and tail to wiggle, increases fish attraction. Furthermore, this all-around crankbait is effective in both clear water and muddy situations, attracting fish in both.
3. Spro Little John Crankbait
The World’s Shallow-Running Crankbait
Key Features
- Made with a soft tungsten material
- Made from a computer chip for extra sensitivity and durability
- Performs well with depths up to 5 feet
- With Gamakatsu trebles
The Spro Little John CrankBait is a perfect combination of jigs, rigs, and spinnerbaits. It’s equipped with the sharpest trebles made by Gamakatsu.
Furthermore, it is made with soft tungsten, has a very strong and long-lasting action with accuracy, and is safe to use in lead-free waters.
It is also easy to cast with its huge ball bearing near the end of its tail. Its high performance allows anglers to locate fish not readily in range, particularly schools of fish that are difficult to spot.
Choosing this lure will allow an additional depth of up to 20 feet.
4. Rapala Dives-to 3/8 Oz Fishing Lures
The Most Versatile Lure
Key Features
- Offers perfect balance, fast dive, and depth preset
- It can cast up to 150 ft
- With extra thin polycarbonate lip
Rapala Dives-to 3/8 Oz Fishing Lures feature balsa wood (7%) with internal weights. The weights allow you to control the amount of line you must understand pulled through the lure during your fishing trip.
With the lure’s ultrathin polycarbonate lip, you will be able to penetrate the bait quickly, allowing for quick-strike rates. Furthermore, the versatility of this lure makes it ideal for targeting fish in deeper water.
5. Steel Shad Bass Fishing Lures
The Universal Go-To Bait
Key Features
- Its blade bait imitates the type of a dying baitfish
- Coated with VMC Permasteel hooks
- Works well up to a depth of 60 ft.
- Features a vibrating action and triggering strikes
Steel Shad Bass Fishing Lures are the best baits for catching bass in cold water, and they can also catch any fish at any depth. It offers a strong vibration profile for vertical jigging.
Furthermore, the lure is made of malleable 440 stainless steel, making it the perfect tool for fishing precision. It can be modified to a bending angle of 45 degrees, forcing the lure to swim straight on the shallow surface.
6. Bandit Series 200 Crankbait Bass Fishing Lures
An All-Time Classic Fishing Lure
Key Features
- Dives up to a depth of 8 feet on a 10-pound line
- With a high yield of walleyes, crappies, and other gamefish
- The molded-in lip provides the true hunting action
- Comes with a size 6 treble hook to secure your catch
Bandit Series 200 Crankbait Bass Fishing Lures have desirable features to attract bass with their wide wobbling and loud rattling.
This series can be to a depth of 8 ft. Furthermore, it is perfectly durable and can withstand getting hit by rocks, wood, or branches.
7. Nomad Design DTX Minnow
The Ultimate Shore Trolling Lure
Key Features
- Equipped with heavy-duty BKK hooks
- Has an HD ABS System
- Has a hydrospeed eyelet for fast trolling
- Balanced with single hooks
The Nomad Design DTX Minnow is a revolutionary, true-running, durable, and trolling minnow that will make your fishing in blue water much more convenient.
Hydrospeed, gorilla, nomad autotune, and diamond armor features this wire-advanced design technology.
Additional features by the autotune design are the lure’s ability to swim in a straight direction with its diving depth. Its GELCOAT provides enough durability and preserves paint from fading. With its treble hooks, it aims to catch large bass.
8. Strike King Hybrid Hunter Crankbaits
The Loudest and Most Buoyant Crankbait
Key Features
- Equipped with a loud rattle system
- The bait front is L-shaped
- Ideal for targeting schools of fish up to a 5-foot range
The Strike King Hybrid Hunter creates an effective hunting action to strike fish. The L-shaped lip of this lure is effective for keeping the bait on a horizontal plane, which helps anglers avoid hitting bottom.
The bait’s best feature is buoyancy which helps it float in the shallow water and wander in different directions with its swimming movements, much like a real fish.
Additionally, the loud sound given off by the rattle can draw attention even from afar, making it an effective lure for unclear and turbid water conditions.
What’s a Crankbait?
When casting to fish in a variety of depths, the crankbait really shines. When the plastic lure is reeled at high speeds, it dives deep because of the lip at the end.
On top of that, the lip also helps to keep the lure in place while it is being drawn in by the reel, resulting in a smooth retrieve.
Crankbait Types
There are three types of crankbait, and you must understand the differences between them and how they work.
Deep-Diving Crankbaits
Deep-diving crankbaits are all about the action. The long lips of a deep-diving crankbait give them added power when they sink into the water. They are also best for casting in deeper water, where baitfish aren’t visible.
Medium Diving Crankbaits
Medium diving crankbait can go from 6 to 12 feet in depth where many fish thrive, such as bass, pike, walleye, and more. These crankbaits work well in between the surface level and deep water.
Shallow Running Crankbaits
These allow you to fish in shallow water at an estimated depth. It is useful when fishing around shallow areas like humps, point rock piles, points, and other depths beneath the surface.
How To Fish a Crankbait
Get to know how to fish a crankbait, a popular lure for catching bass and crappie. Furthermore, consider you must understand these tips when crankbait fishing:
Seasons
The best times of year for crankbait fishing are fall, summer, and spring. The water temperature during the spring season (50 to 55 degrees) allows for effective medium-diving crankbaits.
Although the chances of attracting bass are low during the summer, deep-diving can still give you some catch. Fall is the best time for shallow-diving crankbaits as the bass are migrating out of its summer season.
Mind Your Pace
This is what most anglers make a mistake in. You need to be aware of the bait you’re using and what it was doing when you caught your fish. The best way to make a fishing reel work in a particular situation is to vary your retrieve.
Keeping a steady pace using your bass equipment is the key for most situations, but consider different techniques when casting the lure to catch even unattracted bass!
Stay in the Best Zone
By selecting the right crankbait for the situation, you can create a more successful fishing session. Next, choose a bait that runs at the same depth as your target fish.
Equipped with the appropriate rod length, you can also improve fishing for long distances. Go for 7 ft. fiberglass models when fishing in great rivers, and go for 6 ft. rod when using smaller lures for your target.
Frequently Asked Questions
Bomber Model Crankbait is one of the best crankbait for bass. This crankbait is popular among professional bass anglers because they are safe for salt and freshwater.
It is designed to be lightweight and aerodynamic and can mimic the movements of bass for an easy catch.
We also have Luhr Jensen Speed Trap Crankbait. This medium-diving crankbait’s wall is designed to be thin to produce maximum vibration to lure bass into the area effectively.
It also has a VMC treble hook, and it comes in various colors and sizes for fishing all kinds of bass.
The colors of the crankbait play a vital role. The best colors for your crankbait are always appropriate for the fish that encounter them.
When you want to attract a fish, bright colors are the way to go. It’s no coincidence that the world’s top sailors and anglers choose bright colors, such as red and blue when they look for large fish.
Many kinds of bass lures exist, but the most effective and powerful ones are crankbaits. It enables anglers to go over a vast area of water in such a short time when they use it.
Crankbaits are also greatly preferred for fishing in unexplored waters to quickly spot areas where many basses thrive.
The crankbait size you pick should be appropriate for the size of the bass you are going after. The bigger the lure, the more likely it is that big bass will be caught on it. Nonetheless, the right size of crankbait will make your cast a success.
You will need bigger lures for largemouth bass. For white bass, make sure you use a smaller-sized lure as their size varies in the range of ten to 12 in. Make sure you don’t go far in the size of the lure to reduce the risk of failing in your strikes.
Conclusion
Now that you have read this article, you have found some new information about crankbaits, which have always been a critical component of successful bass fishing. However, most of them work in different ways.
With various depths, colors of lures, and sizes to choose from, you will be more advanced in your fishing methods.
Suppose you have been successful with some lures in your previous fishing experience; in that case, this allows you to create an unlimited number of lures and helps you find the best crankbait for bass.
More importantly, we hope that this article has helped you in fishing with crankbait in general.
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