TritonGlenn
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2005
- Messages
- 2,785
- Reaction score
- 5
For a very long time, I've been a "spinnerbait / crankbait" kind of fisherman. A few years ago, Gary Yamamoto came out with that dang blasted %$*&^($! Senko, and changed my fishing style for years. I've got a love/hate relationship with the Senko and Culprits version - the Stinger. It's a fish catching son of a gun... but I have a hard time putting it down because it's just so fun to fish. I (mistakenly sometimes) fish it to a fault - throwing it when something else might work better. Last year though, I decided to go back to my stregths and fish spinnerbaits and crankbaits, and always have a Senko / Stinger on deck for a backup, or for particular areas....
... this weekend, however, it never came out of the rod locker. I was on a mission - fish the new SPRO Little John crankbait. I immediatly liked how easy it is to throw this lure - even throwing it directly into the wind, it casts like a bullet. I don't recall any shallow diving plastic lure that casts as easily as this one. I immediatly liked that feature - the long castability.
I started reeling it just as I normally do, and it has a great wobble. Not too narrow, not too wide - just kind of a medium "fill the gap" type of wobble. I immediatly liked it. I was throwing the Citrus Shad color in water that was relatively clear for the first foot or so, so I was able to see the wobble start - very sexy looking. If I were a bass, I'd eat it!
The water was 51 degrees on the surface, and the wind was howling pretty good, so we tried to tuck in behind tree lines that blocked the surface wind. My partner was throwing a shallow crankbait also - but he was dragging up grass in the 4-5 foot deep water. I could feel the Little John barely ticking the top of the grass as I fished it on 8lb test line - "good feel" I thought. I was impressed with the "feel" that the lure gave me. I could easily tell when I was barely touching grass, and when it caught, I could stop dead, wait a second and then continue, without it getting hung up.
... but the fish weren't biting - for anyone. We passed several people and spoke to them, but nobody was picking up fish.
So I decided to just play around with the Little John. I burned it back to the boat - it tracked straight and true. Nice. Very nice. Then I slowed it down - nice wobble, nice feel. I normally don't crank really slow - it's just not me. I like to cast, retrieve, hit something, stop it for a second, continue, repeat. But this crankbait just begged to be slow rolled back to the boat, so I happily obliged... and was rewarded with my first fish of the day - a nice little bass that weighed about a pound and a half, but hit it like a freight train. I was very happy, as I thought I was onto something, so I continued my main river slow cranking. Unfortunatly, that was the end of that bite. Happily though, I had a fish in the livewell, so I had my "limit" (fishing a open tournament - 1 fish limit - big fish only). :lol:
For some reason unknown to me, I had this overwhelming urge to go into a little small creek. I did so and was rewarded with 52 degree, 8 foot deep, slightly clearer water. "JERKBAIT!" my brain screamed. :lol: So I tied on a suspending Lucky Craft Pointer and began casting. Instead of jerking it, I applied small twitches to impart very small movements. Rewarded! Again, and again, and again. Missed a few that swung at it close to the boat, but boated more.
I didn't realize it at the time, but I was moving my lures SO slowly - both the crankbaits and jerkbaits, that I dang near wore myself out - physically as well as mentally. I had to concentrate to move my lure that slow. But it was rewarding.
We didn't catch anything big - my largest for the day weighed in at 1lb, 12oz, but we had a blast catching fish and testing new lures.
I am very impressed with the quality and construction of the SPRO Little John, and look
... this weekend, however, it never came out of the rod locker. I was on a mission - fish the new SPRO Little John crankbait. I immediatly liked how easy it is to throw this lure - even throwing it directly into the wind, it casts like a bullet. I don't recall any shallow diving plastic lure that casts as easily as this one. I immediatly liked that feature - the long castability.
I started reeling it just as I normally do, and it has a great wobble. Not too narrow, not too wide - just kind of a medium "fill the gap" type of wobble. I immediatly liked it. I was throwing the Citrus Shad color in water that was relatively clear for the first foot or so, so I was able to see the wobble start - very sexy looking. If I were a bass, I'd eat it!
The water was 51 degrees on the surface, and the wind was howling pretty good, so we tried to tuck in behind tree lines that blocked the surface wind. My partner was throwing a shallow crankbait also - but he was dragging up grass in the 4-5 foot deep water. I could feel the Little John barely ticking the top of the grass as I fished it on 8lb test line - "good feel" I thought. I was impressed with the "feel" that the lure gave me. I could easily tell when I was barely touching grass, and when it caught, I could stop dead, wait a second and then continue, without it getting hung up.
... but the fish weren't biting - for anyone. We passed several people and spoke to them, but nobody was picking up fish.
So I decided to just play around with the Little John. I burned it back to the boat - it tracked straight and true. Nice. Very nice. Then I slowed it down - nice wobble, nice feel. I normally don't crank really slow - it's just not me. I like to cast, retrieve, hit something, stop it for a second, continue, repeat. But this crankbait just begged to be slow rolled back to the boat, so I happily obliged... and was rewarded with my first fish of the day - a nice little bass that weighed about a pound and a half, but hit it like a freight train. I was very happy, as I thought I was onto something, so I continued my main river slow cranking. Unfortunatly, that was the end of that bite. Happily though, I had a fish in the livewell, so I had my "limit" (fishing a open tournament - 1 fish limit - big fish only). :lol:
For some reason unknown to me, I had this overwhelming urge to go into a little small creek. I did so and was rewarded with 52 degree, 8 foot deep, slightly clearer water. "JERKBAIT!" my brain screamed. :lol: So I tied on a suspending Lucky Craft Pointer and began casting. Instead of jerking it, I applied small twitches to impart very small movements. Rewarded! Again, and again, and again. Missed a few that swung at it close to the boat, but boated more.
I didn't realize it at the time, but I was moving my lures SO slowly - both the crankbaits and jerkbaits, that I dang near wore myself out - physically as well as mentally. I had to concentrate to move my lure that slow. But it was rewarding.
We didn't catch anything big - my largest for the day weighed in at 1lb, 12oz, but we had a blast catching fish and testing new lures.
I am very impressed with the quality and construction of the SPRO Little John, and look
