Cranking the Local Waters

By: Rich Charleston

            Cranking is a great way to search for deep, summer time schooling bass.  On Paw Paw and Magician lakes this is a great way to catch big fish fast, if you can pinpoint their location.  You have to cover lots of water and find deep-water structure. 

Finding deep-water structure will require top of the line electronics that you know how to read.  I have learned how to find structure on these lakes with hours and hours of idling around the lake and just watching the screen.  There are times I will go out fishing and never throw a lure in the water.  When I run across something I drop my underwater camera down to see what it is.  Underwater cameras are a great tool to have.  It will help you relate to how your fish finder marks different things. 

Magician Lake is a crystal clear lake in the spring and you can see a good 15-20 feet under water.  I have found old ice shanties, piles of trees and big concrete slabs that are full of fish.  When I find the structure I’m looking for I look at the shore and find a landmark that I can remember.  An example of a landmark is a house, a bright flag, or any other memorable feature. These are things that I can remember and come back to.

 Don’t be afraid to make a logbook.  This is a great tool to come back to because you can’t remember everything.  When you are writing in your logbook record the weather conditions; wind speed/direction, air and water temperatures, weather front conditions, and season.  You can come back to these years down the road and you will have a jump on the competition. 

Once I have located bass relating to deep structure I will throw a few different crank baits to see what they want.  I will throw nothing but deep divers in a varity of colors.  My favorite colors are fire tiger, white with a blue back, plain white, and a blue gill work well.  Fire tiger is a great color for stained water, like Paw Paw in the middle of the summer.  Natural colors work well in clear water like Magician Lake.

We all know that the dead of summer can be a tough bite. If you can find active fish relating to deep-water structure you will possibly fill your limit with monster bass!!!  Try giving the docks a break and try cranking in the middle of the summer, you will not be disappointed.