I’ve caught a lot of fish over the years on river system lakes all over the country. These lakes tend to have a lot of deep water situations that I rely on deep water crankbaits. Crankbaits are a great way to catch big fish when they move out of the shallows.
I think about all the bass I’ve caught throughout the years and a good portion have come from crankbaits. Unfortunately most people don’t know how to effectively fish deep diving crankbaits. How do you fish deep diving crankbaits? What do you look for in a crankbait? How do you set your rod up? These are all of the things that I’m going to want to talk about in this article.
How to Fish Deep Water Crankbaits
Before I get into all the finite details, what exactly is a deep diving crankbait? It’s essentially a crankbait that runs in deeper water than what you’d use during the spring. Think of crankbaits like the Norman Deep Little and Strike King’s 10XD Deep diving crankbait. Both of these deep divers are easy to fish and really bring in a ton of bass.
When do You Use a Deep Diving Crankbait?
You’ll typically use a deep diving crankbait anytime bass leave the shallows for deeper water. You’ll use it during extreme weather changes, mainly during the summer and cold winters. Don’t fool around with them during the spawn and spring/fall, while the fish are in the shallows.
During the summer, bass tend to rush the shallow water structure to feed early mornings and just before dusk. They only go out to deeper water after the weather starts to warm up around 10am. Early mornings you’d have better luck fishing the shallows with a Strike King Square Bill in Bluegill or Shad Colorings. Normally I’ll start out the summer fishing the bluegill beds early morning and then switch out to deeper water around 9:30-10am.
Which Crankbaits are Best for Deep Water?
What I like to do is have a wide complex arsenal of crankbaits. You never know how deep bass are going to suspend on any given day so bring along a wide variety of depths. Most of the time I’ll setup with a Strike King 5XD Crankbait which runs at about 15 feet( Strike King 6Xd goes 17-19ft). In deeper water I’ll throw out a Rapala Deep Diver that holds between 20 and 25 feet.
When you think about a deep diving crankbait make sure you think about bottom contact. Your crankbait needs to be able to run deep enough to dig into the bottom. Its nose should run along the bottom, displacing a lot of water and making a lot of noise. All that attention will really key in those trophies.
Pick the Right Crankbait for The Water Depth
If you’re fishing a spot that you see fish camped out at 14 feet of water, you don’t want a crankbait that barely gets down their. Instead opt for a bigger crankbait that will get down to 16-20 feet and really dig hard into the bottom.
Choosing the right depth is extremely important when trying to bring in larger fish. As you start to learn more and develop your crankbait skills you should start to fill up your tackle box. You’ll start to notice you have a ton of different styles that you like to use in different depths.
Choosing The Right Crankbait Color
Color is another really important thing to consider. Check out my post on choosing the best crankbait colors for more information.
During the summer I typically try to match the forage as best I can. You’re best bet is going to be sticking to shad colored lures that work most of the summer. Muted tones seem to work best during the summer and brighter colorful crankbaits work best during the winter. It’s really going to depend on water clarity, dirty water requires brighter color schemes.
Rod Reel and Line Setup
Now we need to focus on your rod reel and line setup when throwing a deep diving crankbait. This is very, very important. When you throw a deep diving crankbait you want to throw it on the longest rod possible.
I’m a huge fan of Abu Garcia’s 7’10” Medium Heavy Casting Rod. You need a long rod so that you can make an extra long cast. Think about how you cast. 1/3 of your cast is going to be as you reel the crankbait down, the next 1/3 of the cast it will be digging into the bottom, and the last 1/3 will be reeling it back up to you. You’re really not going to be getting a lot of bites in the first 1/3 and last 1/3. So the longer you cast the more time you’ll spend in the strike zone.
You want to use light line with deep diving crankbaits. Go with 10-12lb test maximum, any higher than that and it will affect the wobble of your lure. I prefer to use 10 pound P-Line Fluorocarbon, but any other fluorocarbon line will do. Fluorocarbon line allows the bait to get down just a little bit deeper.
How Fast Should You Crank?
The speed that you need to crank is going to depend on the time of year you’re fishing. During the summer you’re going to really want to crank as fast as possible. You really want to burn that crankbait back to the boat.
During the winter time fish are a little more lethargic. You’ll want to slow down your cranking speed waiting for less aggressive strikes.
Other Deep Diving Crankbait Tips
Anytime you’re out there fishing deep diving crankbaits it’s important to know a few basic tips. It’s one of my favorite ways to catch fish and it’s one of the best ways to catch big fish.
1. Use Your Electronics
When fishing deep water it’s important to remember to always use your electronics. It doesn’t matter if you’re fishing a ditch, rock pile etc. electronics will speed up your search. When you find a great fishing spot set your waypoint to come back again tomorrow.
When fishing the bottom it’s important to look for any variation along the bottom. Look for an edge that signifies a change of structure. That edge creates a point where fish funnel the baitfish giving them positions to hide. Line up directly along the edge and fish horizontally to it with the current.
2. Make a Long Cast
I talked about making long casts above, but it’s so important that it needed to be said again. The longer you cast the more time you’ll stay in the strike zone. Longer casts give you better depth with the crankbait, you’ll get down in the strike zone faster and stay longer.
3. Adjust Your Retrieve Speeds
The retrieve speeds fish want during warmer months is going to be entirely different than a chill. In warmer months the fish will typically want a super fast burning retrieve. This allows it to really tear through the rocks making a lot of noise and drawing tons of attention. During the colder months you’ll want to slow down your retrieve barely moving through the rocks.
4. Throw Deeper Than You Think
You should always throw a crankbait that digs down deeper than you actually want to fish. If you’re fishing in 15ft of water throw a crankbait that goes down 17-18ft. The extra depth will really force your lure to dig down into the bottom. With more bottom contact your lure will make a lot more commotion.
5. Look For Thinner Lips
Keep an eye out for crankbaits that use a “circuit board lip”. Thin lips allow the bait to take on less water movement allowing it to get down faster. It should dive almost vertically down into the strike zone, staying down there longer.
