Crawler question.

[SoFloW]

Thanks for all the suggestions, I ended up grabbing a Sherpa lol guess I’ll figure out if crawlers even fit in my style. I do very well with rats and gill wakes. I only fish at night or super early 8pm-12am 3am-6am so i should do well. Thank you SU and all the solid ppl on here for all the advice. I guess if anyone is still reading this far down. I don’t fish open water, I only parallel banks. Should I continue doing that or is it versatile structure /open water. Keep ‘em coming yall lol I’m sure it’s not just me learning right now. 

[Harshwaters]

Monka FP. (One pc ) When tuned properly it has a sound and action like no other. I have a love/hate relationship with this crawler but it has produced so many Big fish for me I can't stop throwing it. Takes a beating and also crawls well in river current. If replacement wings are needed DM MLW thru Instagram. 

[Harshwaters]

I fish from the bank 90 percent of the time. I target the obvious structure but always make a few cast out over deeper water. Don't overlook the open water bite with no visible structure. The crawlerbait will call them up from the depths.

[Skunkalot]

Raid Deka Dodge. Price and availability is on point and never had any come off tuned after getting crushed by bass. Also, spare parts are easy to source. 

[SoCalBassBum]

There’s not a cast I won’t make with a crawler. I get bit in places I would never expect. Even those missed your mark casts will draw them out of cover. 

[FishDr]

Definitely target known cover and shorelines but, as others have said, don’t ignore open water, especially at night. Fish that may have been right to cover by day will often move out a bit and can surprise you in open water often enough that it shouldn’t surprise you. I’d love to actually see some of these open water fish because my guess is that a lot of them are looking towards shore/cover and then attacking baits between them and the shoreline/cover since it’s a “wall” the bait can get trapped against.

[bigpoppabass]

The old polywood hi fin creeper is the American standard. Musky market baits built to rarely need tuning, a general weakness of the style. Still worth searching on ebay. They have bright orange eyes. Wood ones are decent but the polywood models are the unicorns. 

[urbanhick]

Imakatsu Berlinetta stuck me a six pounder first cast on a bluebird post frontal day so thats my favorite. Disregard the scale bag that was stuck to the hook lol.

Edited August 11, 2023 by urbanhick

[SoFloW]

Sorry to kick this back off guys lol. But last question. I fish all my wakes and rats on 8’ rod. I’d say it’s about 17-30 H but very parabolic( it’s a custom made by a local dude so I’m not exactly sure) does well with my rats and wakes typically always running size 1-2 decoy quads. Never had an issue. But I see Chris up above saying long shank hooks work best and the Sherpa I’ve received has some STOUT long shanks. I will definitely be upgrading to size 1 or 1/0 quads cause I’m worried my rod isn’t beefy enough and I know that quads will pierce with this rod. So my question is. Do y’all fish your crawlers on xh rods or H parabolic rods. Last question before i annoy y’all.

[Jon P]

On 8/13/2023 at 4:17 AM, SoFloW said:

Do y’all fish your crawlers on xh rods or H parabolic rods

I throw all mine on a glass cranking rod, seems to massively help the hookup ratio and decrease damage to the wings

[urbanhick]

Phenix M1 H swimbait rod paired with a revo toro winch spooled with 25lb P-Line PF works perfect for me.

[SoFloW]

Yeah honestly, I’ve been throwing it on a dobyns fury 806 -13 fishing A3-50# braid to 30# leader (just can’t leave that damn braid alone) and I’ve honestly been loving it, it’s been very hard for me to stop waking up at 3am to go throw it before work. 

[chefchris]

2 hours ago, SoFloW said:

Yeah honestly, I’ve been throwing it on a dobyns fury 806 -13 fishing A3-50# braid to 30# leader (just can’t leave that damn braid alone) and I’ve honestly been loving it, it’s been very hard for me to stop waking up at 3am to go throw it before work. 

Depending on the bait I use one of 3 rods 

nameless 700ml 7’ 1-3.5oz 

nameless 786 7’8” 2-6oz 

nameless 805 8’ 1-5oz 

lately I’ve been throwing some lighter weight crawlers on the 700ml and loving it. The shorter length allows me to pitch it in pockets and get accurate casts 

if I’m in the middle of the lake or working parallel to the shoreline I opt for one of the bigger longer rods 

[Catfishcarranza]

Jackall pompadour does the job and it’s only 25 bucks lol

[mjs90]

3 hours ago, Catfishcarranza said:

Jackall pompadour does the job and it’s only 25 bucks lol

Seconding that. Their micro pompadour is also my favorite BFS topwater lure