where the fish are coming and going,” he explained. He prefers depths of three to nine feet.
Lane feels the retrieve and the rod are make or break factors when fishing a crank. He uses a standard retrieve on a 7:1 reel. “The important part is to be around any kind of structure,” he said. “I am looking to hit something. I want to hit a rock, hit a limb, hit a corner of the dock or hit anything and then I kill the bait. If I hit a piece cover, I might make two or three casts to that same place and bang into it, especially if it is in the right depth.”
The right rod is the other requisite for Lane. “The rod is just so important when fishing a crankbait,” he advised. “You want a medium or a medium-light rod. You don’t want a medium-heavy or heavy rod. You want to be able to have that bow in the rod when the fish grabs it. The more limber the rod, the better it is for cranking; because it doesn’t give the fish a chance to throw the bait.”
LIPLESS CRANKBAIT
Lane’s other pre spawn crankin’ choice is a lipless version. He uses a Yo-Zuri Rattl’n Vibe. “I like this because it has such a great fall to it,” he stated. “It really mimics a shad perfectly on the fall. It is a perfect search bait. You can cover tons of water with it and when you can get around the right grass bed or the right staging area, they will really eat that thing.”
The Vibe will dive to 20 ft and is effective with a stop and go retrieve, which is Lane’s preferred method. “I don’t like just a straight reel,” said Lane. “I like to pump it up and down, kill it, let it sink to the bottom and yo-yo it. I just really mix it up with this lure. I target depths from one to 15 ft. The deep areas are when I am going for that hopping motion, throwing it up on a ledge, letting it sink to the bottom, poppin’ it up and lettin’ it go back down. What I’m really lookin’ for when I’m doin’ this are those pre spawn fish that haven’t moved up yet.”
He will throw the lipless crank on braid or fluoro, depending on the conditions. “I like it on braid when I am in grass,” continued Lane. Braid has no stretch, so it allows me to effortlessly rip it through the grass. I like fluorocarbon for long casts and retrieves,
SPRING 2015
because it is harder to see the fluoro and it has that little bit of stretch that you might need when you hang a big fish in open water.”
In early spring, Lane will use the Green Chrome color. “It is my absolute favorite,” he said. “As it heats up a little bit, I will go to the bream color.”
POST SPAWN POPPIN’
After the spawn, as the fry begins to appear, Lane’s strategy changes to a popper, using the Yo- Zuri 3DB. “The popper looks like a bait that is actually aggravating the fry,” he said. When the bass come off the bed and they start guardin’ fry, this is the bait to use. It not only catches a lot of fish; but over the next few months of post spawn, it will catch big fish.”
His first choice for color is bream, followed by any of the holographic colors.
His key to fishing a popper is being open-minded. “People can tend to underestimate what you can do with one,” he said. “People think you just go down the bank and pop it, but it is more than that. You can skip it around docks, the outsides of trees, bluff walls that have deep water around them, any structure or grass in one to 10 ft.”
After casting, Lane waits to let the ripples subside, before retrieving the lure. “I give it a good twitch (a pop-pop with the rod tip) and then, I let it sit and do it again,” he said. “When you think of post spawn, you think of a slower retrieve, so remember the pause.”
Lane throws his poppers on 12 or 15 lb mono. “I use
mono, because it floats and
sometimes, during this
time of year
the
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