Today’s post is about how to fish crankbaits.

There are a good number of ways to fish them. Today, we will cover two of the more popular methods.

How To Fish Crankbaits: Fishing Tactic

The first is called the “Burn-It” method, the other one is called the “Stop & Go.”

These two retrieves will get you going and fill up your stringer. If you’re a catch-and-release guy, then you go for some big fish bragging rights from the day’s catch.

Burn-It

Okay, lots of folks just cast out a crankbait … reel it back in … then repeat.

Should you do a fast or slow retrieve? Maybe somewhere in between (medium?). Try all three methods and see what happens!

Most folks tend to go with a faster retrieve. This gets your crankbait down to where the fish are. It also gives the fish less time to react. Hey, dinner just shot by; I had better eat it before it gets away …

The burn-it method covers a lot of water fast.

If you catch something, you found a good spot. Keep trying for another catch. Try this spot again later or next time you get out.

Stop & Go

Now you understand the burn-it retrieve, lets mix things up a bit and build on what we just learned.

Try stopping your retrieve every three or four turns of your reel.

How long do you pause? Well just experiment, start with a second or two. Maybe a little longer … maybe a bit shorter. The pause allows your crankbait to either rise or sink a bit.

This action will also make your crankbait move more erratic. Fish tend to strike when you stop or start.

Someone once told me that this kind of action simulates an injured fish, making it a tempting snack-time target. Poke around the internet and you will see other folks saying the same thing.

When you get a hit, remember how you were fishing the bait. You might just be on to what the fish are looking for!

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Future posts will talk about other popular fish catching methods for reeling in your crankbaits.

I don’t know about you, but I am ready to get outside and do some fishing!!! What about you?