Every lure fisherman should be familiar with the crankbait. The crankbait is one of the easiest lures to fish and at the same time it is very effective. A crankbait has a diving lip that ensures that the lure gets the right action – this lip also determines the diving depth. So, it is very easy to fish a crankbait. You just cast it in and reel it in at the desired speed. In contrast to a jerkbait or shad, you don't need to control the action by moving the rod. So, is a crankbait only suitable for beginners? Certainly not! The most fanatical predator anglers still like to fish with crankbaits and many competitions are won with them. A crankbait almost always consists of hard plastic or wood. That is why a crankbait is often called a hardbait.

Fishing with hard lures

Fishing with crankbaits is very easy and every type of predator fish can be caught with a crankbait. The species that are caught the most are pike, perch and zander. All you have to do to retrieve a crankbait is to reel it in and the action starts automatically. Of course, you can vary the retrieve speed and you can use the rod to control the depth of the lure, or you can give the lure extra jerks. Sometimes this is just the little extra the predator needs to strike. When lure fishing, it is important that you 'trigger' a predator to bite. In general, the bigger the predator, the smarter it is. It is therefore advisable to pull out all the stops when fishing with crankbaits. Crankbaits are often used on spinning rods. Of course, crankbaits are also great for trolling behind a boat. A heavier crankbait is often fished on a baitcaster in combination with a reel.

Hard lures pike

Pike is a species that is easy to catch with a crankbait. Pike are well represented on almost every type of water and crankbaits are an ideal lure for most situations. For pike, crankbaits between 12 and 18cm are generally used. Pike like a big bite; there are even lures that are over 50cm long! When choosing a crankbait, it is important to take the diving depth into account. Because of the diving lip, the crankbait swims to a certain depth, so the water where you are going to fish should be at least that deep. On water where the depth is about two meters, you should use a crankbait that dives to a maximum depth of 1.50 to 1.80 meters. The eyes of most predatory fish are on top of the head and a predator has no problem swimming up for a quick bite.