Interesting post as I was going to post just the opposite

I've fished in Florida for the past 10 years or so and have always used
worms and spinnerbaits. Never even thought of touching a crankbait. Just
this past year I really wanted to try fishing deeper water. I recently found
the joys of fishing reclaimed phosphate mines. Granted, these lakes are
15-30' deep which is much deeper then the 5' depth usually found in Florida
lakes but many crankbaits run at 4' and can be used in most lakes.

I fish crankbaits the same way I fish most of my baits, I throw then toward
cover (usually on shore) and pull them back to the boat. I guess I'm trying
to pull the bass out of the heavy cover. I find the hits either to be right
when the lure is pulled forward or a good 10-20' away from where the bait
hit.

I've _never_ caught as big of fish or as many fish as I have in the past
couple of months. As I mentioned, I've been using the crankbaits for about 6
months now and I feel that I'm getting better at fishing them. When I cast I
am limited to throwing the bait into an area that does not have weeds but
again, I feel that I'm trying to pull the bass out from the cover.

Just as an enticement not to give up on crankbaits, I've included a couple
of links to a few of the catches my friend and I made in the last two trips
to the lake. keep in mind, these are the biggest bass we've ever caught. We
usually catch 1-2lbs'ers.

http://www.bassingfools.com/MVC-723S.JPG
http://www.bassingfools.com/MVC-728S.JPG - my friends pride and joy
http://www.bassingfools.com/MVC-696S.JPG
http://www.bassingfools.com/MVC-703S.JPG
http://www.bassingfools.com/MVC-623S.JPG
Hey, that all can't be big ^

I think the trick with fishing crankbaits is to find a nice drop off on the
lake or a deep area. Deep areas might be found at points. Then pick a
crankbait that will stay above this area. As others have posted, there are
crankbaits that only dive 12" or so.


"CR" wrote in message
om...
I read somewhere that crankbaits work better in shallow creeks than in
lakes. I know in my case crankbaits were absolutely 100% unusable in
florida, because of the weeds. Maybe since in a creek the fish are
hiding behind rocks, it takes some commotion to draw them out. I saw 3
or 4 fish dart out from rocks the other day and take the crankbait.

One piece of advice. I've been crushing the barbs off the treble hooks
with needle nose pliers. It makes it WAY easier to remove the hook.