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The hand made crankbait craze seems to be reaching the Natural State. More and more anglers here in Arkansas are secretly using hand made square billed crankbaits. When we talk about hand made crankbaits, we are most often referring to crankbaits that are made more or less one at a time in small shops, not big manufacturing facilities. These baits are made by talented craftsmen that put that little something extra in the baits they make. Most of these “Homemade” plugs come out of the East Tennessee and North Carolina areas. These guys know what they are doing. Don’t expect to buy these cranks for $4 or $5. These baits range in price from about $12 to as much as $30 to $40 depending on the maker. Some people will say, “I’m not paying that for a bait that I can lose on one cast.” These baits may not be for everyone, but consider this. Most of the touring pros have a nice stash of these beauties. They carry them for one reason. They work! Without further ado, here are some things you need to know fishing these square billed plugs successfully.
The first thing to know about hand made square bills is that no two are exactly the same. They may look the same, but some will run a little deeper than others, have a slightly different wobble, etc. This is part of what makes these plugs so deadly for summertime bass. Don’t worry, most of these cranks will catch bass, but some are really special. Most good crankers have a hand full of baits that seem to catch bass when no other crankbaits will draw a sniff.
The next thing to know is some of these hand made square billed crankbaits will run straight right out of the package and some will not. Do not be afraid to tune your cranks. It’s easy. Just throw your bait out a few times so see how it runs. If your bait runs to one side or the other, take your pliers and bend the eye of the plug in the direction that you want it to run. It usually doesn’t take much bending to get your bait to run right. Most of these baits will easily tune to run straight.
You need to know the maximum line size you can get by with. Most anglers that throw square bills want to use the largest line that doesn’t affect the lure’s performance. Most of these baits run from about 4 to 6 feet in depth. The line size doesn’t make that much difference in the shallows. There is a reason for the big line. The fish that are caught on these baits tend to be larger on average and the cover can be pretty tough also.
The type of cover you are fishing is important. These hand made square billed cranks will work in most types of shallow cranking applications, but really shine like no other in woody cover like stumps, trees, and logs. The buoyancy really helps the baits walk through just about anything.
The rod is a very important tool in this type of cranking just as it always is. This type of fishing requires at least a medium action with a fast tip. The fast tip means that most of your flex is at the last foot and a half to two feet of the rod. Your rod needs to have some backbone to get those hawgs out of the wood, but be soft enough not to lose those surging bass at the boat.
Confidence is very important in any type of fishing. Using these unique hand mades can give the confidence of being the only angler in the area using such a bait. In tournament fishing, confidence is one of the main keys to success.
There are some really quality cranks on the market. Names like Basshunters Custom Crankbaits, Brians Bees, and Flat Shad are commonly known on the tours as fish catchers. The guys on tour and anglers in the eastern part of the United States catch a ton of bass on these baits. With the quality of fishermen that call Arkansas home and the shallow water available to fish, the hand made square bill is a perfect match.
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