Fishing On Fuego
Tips and Techniques!
Iaconelli's Crankbait Tips
by Mike Iaconelli
As a power fisherman I absolutely love to fish crankbaits. The reasons are simple. I can cover an immense amount of water, and I can elicit the reaction type of strike for inactive bass.
KNOW YOUR CRANKBAITS
- each crank bait has it strengths and weaknesses. Wide wobble baits, tight wobble, wood baits, plastic baits, floater and suspenders. Get comfortable with a crankbait or a family of crankbaits. Learn what depth a particular bait will run on a mean line size. You can then use the general line conversion to add or take away depth. Example: Under the same casting distances a Norman Deep Little N on 12 lb. line will run approximately 10.5 feet. On 10 it will run 12, on 8 it will run 13.5, on 6 in the 15 range. On 14 it will run in the 9 range on 17 it will run about 7.5 feet and so on and so on. On an average expect about a foot and a half depth change with every line size change.Here’s how to rig the drop shot. Tie the hook on using a palomar knot and a tag end of about 12”-24”. The sinker will be attached to the tag end so the position of the hook/lure off the bottom will be determined by how long you make that tag end. I usually make it a couple inches longer than I think I’ll need and I simply trim off any excess once the hook is tied.
Here is the key to this rig: Once the palomar knot has been tied, feed the tag end once again through the eye of the hook from the “top” side (assuming that “top” is the same side as the point of the hook).
Pull this tag end all the way through. This will rotate the knot so that, when taut, the hook will stand out perpendicularly from the main line/tag end. This is very important since the perpendicular hook will keep the bait away from the main line and give the lure its action. See how the line seems to goes straight through the eye of the hook? That’s what you want.
Attach the lure to the hook and a weight to the tag end. You are now ready to fish!
Cast the rig out and let it hit the bottom. Reel tight. With the rod at 9:00, jiggle the rod tip up and down slightly. Since it will be impossible to keep the sinker from sliding toward you on sandy bottoms, you will need to raise the rod tip up slightly to maintain a tight line. Work the rod from 9:00 to 12:00, alternating between shaking the rod tip and raising the rod to remove the slack. Repeat as necessary. Subtlety is the key here. Not much line movement is required to make the plastic lure flutter realistically in the water. You can prove this to yourself by bringing the lure close enough to observe and seeing how little of a flick of the rod tip is needed to bring the lure to life. A bite can be signaled in all of the typical ways. Sometimes the fish will hammer your bait and double your rod over. At other times you will just feel dead weight when trying to jig your bait up and down. Set the hook immediately whenever you feel something out of the ordinary. Unlike grub fishing, tail pecking is pretty rare using this technique and most baits are more or less inhaled completely.
Drop shotting plastics in the surf is not an everyday technique. In most situations, when the beach is relatively flat and there is surf and surge to contend with, a carolina rig, leadhead or spoon will be more effective. But it’s a good technique to keep in mind when you stumble on that deep hole and other techniques just aren’t working. Try the drop shot and you just may pull out that big ole halibut you just knew was lurking in there.
