The Truth Series | Episode 3 | Crankbaits

Alright guys, so I appreciate you clicking on this video. My name is Kyle Welcher. Basically, what's happening, I fished the Bass Master Elite Series. We just got wind, the schedule is finalized, the rest of the year has been put into place. That means I have to be getting this boat ready, everything organized, ordering tackle because now we know where we're going and when we're going there. So I kind of got have an idea of what I need to order. So I got all my stuff here to refill everything that's empty in my boat and came across my crankbait box. So if you have been watching my channel recently, I came out with a truth series where I've been talking about everything that I keep in my boat, like exactly what I keep in my boat and all the different colors that I keep. And guess what? I'm going to let you all down a little bit on this one because the truth is I got too many dang crankbaits. These are all shallow running crankbaits. These are all 10 foot deep or less. This box right here is entirely square bills and this right here is what I call small crankbaits, anything like a DT4, DT6, I'm a pin jack, stuff like that. I keep in that box. So with soft plastic specifically, I'm a big believer that you need a couple of different colors because it is such a, like a slow, nuanced presentation between the fish. So like the bait has such a perfect action that the fish is just going to eat it if it's an almost similar color to what they are interested in. So crankbaits is not like that. Crankbaits are a lot more of a rigid, you know, action bait. Like it has a lot of thump to it. It's really hard to get them to commit to it a lot in clear water. Even when the fish are around and the crankbaits like the best way to present to the fish, it's really hard to get them to eat. So I have deviated a ton with colors as far as the crankbaits go in the past few years or really my entire life. I've always liked to mix it up colors a lot because hard baits is really hard to get fish to commit to, you know, compared to a soft plastic. So I'm going to show y'all what I have in my box and it is way too much crap. I've been carrying some of these around for years and years and years and I just keep thinking there will be an application for them at some point and I just never seem to find it. So let's start off with what I throw the most as far as shallow cranking. My square bill crankbait box. That's it right there. You can read that. I store them in this little, it's an old school Plano, I don't know it's called FTO elite box. I've had this thing for like 10 years. I just, every six months or so, I'll pull all the crankbaits out. I'll wash the box out and get all a little bit of rust out and start over with it and reload it again. So basically you can see this box right here is an absolute wreck. I've got too much crap in here and I'll tell you, I'm going to pull out first and foremost what I actually throw over the course of a year. So let's see here. This dude right here, I'm going to omit different colors. This dude right here, even this high dollar box, it's still all tangled up. That's just crankbaits for you ladies and gentlemen. So I can throw these two and then this one. Let's see. And that's all. This is, I will say, I'll just throw this in here because I did throw this one probably about 30 minutes last year. So I'll put this in here because the rest of them I seriously didn't even throw that much. So this is me crankbaits. That's what I as far as squarebills go for an entire year pretty much. Now I do have one more shad color crankbait. I've got some in the truck. I don't have any in here at all actually. I don't believe and I do actually throw it a little, not a ton, but I do throw it a little. So that's for the most part, just say one extra shad color crankbait. That's why I'm doing this because I don't know what I got in my box right now. So this right here, all this extra, all this extra, all this extra, don't need it. I just keep it in my box for no reason. Just like I'm sure a lot of y'all do. So I'm gonna start with this side right here. 2.5 size squarebills. I used to throw them a lot. Now I almost never throw them because I'm trying to, you know, catch fish in tournaments. I travel all over the country and I'm trying to catch fish on a lot of different bodies of water. And the 2.5 style squarebill is a lot more specific. Like you need bigger shad, you need like a little bit more stained water or heavier wind or heavy current. It has a big thump and I seem to have lost a lot of fish on this crankbait over the years. Now, one of the reasons I believe I lost a fish in this crankbait, I was throwing too soft of a rod for this crankbait. So the whole idea behind a crankbait rod is a treble hook is a very thin gauge wire, has a small barb on it, and you need to throw an extremely soft rod, a really slow action rod, so you don't pull those hooks out of the fish's mouth. So you don't bend the hooks out. So you don't rip a hole in the fish's mouth. So whenever they jump, they can't throw it. And whenever you're throwing a 2.5 style squarebill, a lot of times the gauge of the wire is actually pretty dang big. I've thrown jigs with a gauge wire that's comparable to that. So a lot of times you can throw a little bit heavier rod than you would think on a bait like this that has a little bit heavier gauge wire. So I have three rows of 2.5 squarebills right here. I've got some chartreuse ones, I got a red one, I got a shad colored one, and then a few more shad colored ones. And I'm going to be dead honest with you, I don't think I've tied one of these suckers on in probably three or four years. Like seriously, I don't think I've thrown a 2.5 squarebill in that long because I don't really throw it unless it's super super tough now. I mean unless it's super super good fishing and everywhere I go it's going to be super super tough now. Now a few years ago I got on a bite with these crankbaits right here and absolutely smashed them. I'm talking about I was on Lake West Point in January. That wasn't a few years ago. That was a long time ago actually. That was a while back. I was in high school still. But anyways, these crankbaits right here, I went over there and it was like three days in a row I busted like 20 pounds cranking these crankbaits around some little riprap banks and stuff. So I keep a couple of them in here and haven't tied them on like four or five years. So literally from this box from here to the side, I ain't tied none of this stuff on in forever. So I need to get this stuff out of here for sure. And to be honest with you, before a tournament if I know I'm catching them good in practice on squarebill, I'll tie one on in practice and I'll catch a couple fish with it. Make sure it's got a good action with it and I'll kind of put it off to the side in a different box because I know that's the one I want to throw in the tournament. I'll get two or three of them that's the right color and know they got the right action and I'll replace the hooks on them and then I'll throw those in a tournament. So these right here are kind of all these are like crankbaits that I've either thrown or they're just new ones that I've got in here that I'm just kind of waiting to see how good the action is on and stuff like that. None of these really are tournament ready. So I just keep these in the boat for pretty much no dang reason. But anyways, so getting to the 1.5 style squarebills that's when I throw the most almost always that's what I'm going to be throwing. And like I showed you on this first part, keep a few different colors. Basically a shad does not change colors. Another thing I forgot, I just realized that whenever I'm doing that, I don't like rattles in my squarebills almost ever. Like I've been on bites before specifically in hydrilla. It's really strange. When I'm throwing a squarebill around hydrilla, the rattle really seems to get more bites. But for the most part, I'm bouncing off wood and stuff. A shad doesn't make noise. A shad ain't got no BBs inside. So I don't like to have a crankbait that's super loud. I like to have all mine be relatively silent for the most part and I'll deviate from there if I feel like I need to. So that being said, a shad does not change colors in stained water. So I don't like to go to a chartreuse squarebill as soon as the water starts to get stained. I'll still throw something that's a shad pattern with a white bottom like this. You got to think about a squarebill. Yeah, it's got the normal wobble that you think it has like this. But another thing is, it flashes like this. So the bottom of the bait is going to keep on flashing. Like if the fish is sitting there, it's going to keep on seeing that little white part flash to it. So this is a shad imitating a squarebill even though it doesn't look extremely like a shad. If I'm really on a shad bite, I've got some in a box over there in the truck that I'm going to throw a little more often. I like the pearl thread fin shad from Lucky Craft. I keep a bunch of those too. So basically, I'm going to only go to a chartreuse color squarebill when the water is so stained you cannot see this from like four inches. If I can see this and in a foot, I'm gonna throw this. If I can't, I'm gonna go to a chartreuse of like it does show up a little bit better in that super super stained water. For the most part, I'm gonna throw a shad color almost all the time. I'm trying to imitate shad because shad is still white in the stained water. Now the only other color that I really really throw a bunch is the red ones. Now this is going to be a really a January, February, March type of a deal whenever the water is pretty stained. I'm gonna throw one this bright. So that time in the winter, even though people think the fish a little bit deeper, there's some really really good bites to be had. Especially if you can get the water temp over 50 degrees in January, February, you can really really smash them on a squarebill like this. A really bright colored one because they're up there just gorging on a crawfish and shad and for some reason that red just seems to trigger a little bit bigger bites in the pre-spawn specifically. Now this is one that I've thrown a little bit in the past year but not much at all. This has stock hooks on it so this is not one I was ever getting ready for a tournament or nothing like that but it's just a kind of a translucent bluegill color. Now have I smashed them on this? Absolutely not. I have smashed them on the other three colors but not this one. But it is something, like I said, hard baits are a little bit more finicky to get the fish to commit to them. So I have experimented with colors a little bit more with this than I have other things. So that's another one that I keep and that's as far as squarebills go. That's about all I keep. Now I do keep some smaller ones in here. I keep some, I got some flat sided ones. I got some little bit different shaped ones. Like I said, none of these are really tournament ready right now. Another thing, when you're fishing a lot of really really rocky lakes, a little shallow running crankbait like this right here, this is bright bright red, really balsa bait, flat sides, they get bigger bites in February and March. A lot of times, you know, then, you know, one of these regular plastic squarebills will get. Now if the water temp is over 55, I believe the squarebill will get some of the biggest bites in the lake. It just catches big fish. Whenever the water temp is 55 degrees and the pre-spawning going up, that squarebill smashes big. So let's move on from the squarebills. Now that I've showed y'all that I have way too dang many of them suckers, let's move over straight to small crankbaits. And if y'all have watched me fishing very much over the past year, in the past few months, I actually haven't been cranking hardly at all. But last year, about this time, I was cranking a ton. I do throw the Rapala DT series a pretty good bit. I throw some of the Ima Pinjack stuff. I throw that a lot. I throw, what else do I got? I got some of the Spros in here. Some of the Spro Little John, stuff like that. This is just anything that dives a little bit deeper than a squarebill. Another thing I forgot to mention. Those Lucky Craft 1.5 squarebills that I throw, on 10 pound line and a 7 foot medium rod, I can throw that thing so far. I'm making it hit bottom in 6 foot or 7 foot. But I'm throwing that sucker a mile. And the same thing with these baits. Usually if it says on the box it dives down 6 foot, I can make it hit an 8 foot pretty easily. Usually 9 or 10. But if it says it dives down 6 foot, I can make it hit an 8. If it says it dives down 4 foot, I can make it hit a 6. I can usually get 2 more feet out of it if it's just a 10 foot diver. I can make it hit in about 12 or 13. So a long cast, I can make these baits hit a little bit deeper than you would think and keep that small profile down there a little bit deeper. So these are three plastic ones that all have kind of the same thing. Like I said, I mean, I ain't threw these things in so long. I've had them in here forever. And pretty much, to be honest with you, before I go to a tournament, these are almost never in the boat at Blastoff. I keep them in there in practice just in case I see a time to throw them. But I don't think these have been in my boat for a tournament all last year or this year. I take this out, put this in the truck. It's pretty much extra stuff that I keep in my boat just in case I get on that bite in practice. And if I start catching more of them in practice, I'll get some ready for the tournament. So basically, same thing over here. I've got some DT4s. I've got some DT6s. I've got the Amapinjack, the Spro stuff. I've got all that. And I keep them in about the same stuff. I keep them in a shad pattern. Grab a DT6 here. I keep them in the red demon color. I keep a couple in chartreuse. They always stay tangled, as you all know. Same thing with this one. I've got a brim color. I do like to throw the brim color crankbait. Sometimes when the weather's crystal, crystal clear, whenever it's colder and really clear and I'm fishing around a lot of rocks and stuff, I will throw a bluegill color crankbait. A decent amount, actually. So same thing. All the depth zones, I keep the same. Few colors. But for the most part, I do have some weird stuff in here. So like this bad boy right here, here's a couple of, I don't even know what this color's called, but it looks, I mean, just like a dang bluegill. I just thought in clear water, I might be able to get one to actually commit to it if it looks like that. Now, so far, it ain't happened. I got some green looking craws. I mean, crankbaits really have stumped me for a while now because I can catch them on it. I catch a lot of fish on it, too, when the conditions are perfect. When the conditions are not perfect, I seem to struggle big time with it. So that's why I do have so many weird colors of these. Now, I do have some big old deep diving crankbaits in here. I even got a 6XD in here. For whatever reason, I was fishing a local lake here last week and I just kind of threw them in this box, whatever, whenever. I didn't want to just throw them in the bottom of the boat. So another thing I keep in here, just a couple small little lipless crankbait type deals. I have a lot more of these ordered and in that box right specifically because I ordered some for Lake Chickamauga for this year. For the most part, I just keep a big conglomeration of them. I got a bluegill color one. I got a couple shad color ones, a red one, another shad color one. I just keep all the crap that I just feel like I might one day say, you know what, they'll bite that and tie that sucker on. But guess what? It just never seems to happen because they just want to bite a frog and flip in too much. So I guess I need to purge out a lot of these crankbaits because I've got way too dang many and I don't need this dang many because I can only throw one at a time and if a bass sees a red one come by his head or a white one or a trout, I believe they're going to bite all of them exactly the same. It just makes me feel a little bit better. So that's my two crankbait boxes. Them suckers need some work. Hunter would lose her mind in those. She has OCD and those crankbait hooks being like that, a couple of them got rust on it. I'm actually embarrassed of those two crankbait boxes right there. I hate that I even had to show y'all that. But anyways, that's my small crankbaits I keep in the boat. Now, like I said, those are not tournament ready. I would get new ones out of the box, make sure they're working good, make sure I catch a couple on and then put new hooks on it before I throw it in a tournament. I don't take one straight out of the box and throw it in a tournament and I don't like to throw one that's got a rounded off bill or nothing like that in tournament unless they're really, really smashed. But anyways, all those crankbaits right there on the exact same rod, I have a seven foot medium moderate rod. It's a composite. I've got three of those rods actually and I throw the exact same line on all those baits right there, except for the 2.5. 2.5 is like 14 pound line. But for the other two, I like 10 pound to 12 pound line. I like to go as far as I can throw it and get it down to the bottom and reel it as slow as I can and keep contact with that bottom. So that's my crankbaits guys. I hope y'all enjoyed that video. I don't know as much about crankbaits. I don't keep it like too dialed in. I need to work on that a little bit. I can tell y'all for sure. So anyways, that's my two crankbait boxes. Hope y'all enjoyed the video. I will see y'all in the next one. Leave me a comment. What should I do a true series on because the truth of that one is I don't know what I'm talking about.