Somewhere tucked away in your tackle box you probably have at least one lipless crankbait.
With all the talk about jerkbaits, dropshots, jigs, spinnerbaits (and every other fall lure that people are talking about these days) there seems to be one that is always forgotten about...
Lipless crankbaits.
Often overlooked, lipless crankbaits remain one of the great search baits and power fishing lures in the bass fishing scene.
You can cover A LOT of water by making super long casts and you can get the attention of fish from a long way off thanks to a few key features of the lure.
Add in the right retrieve and you could be on your way to catching a ton of fish.
What's the retrieval technique we're talking about?
The Yo-Yo.
Yo-Yo Lipless Crankbaits for More Fall Bass
Up and down, up and down - just like a yo-yo.
That's the look that we want to give the bass.
Performing the retrieve is easy...
A quick upward pull of the rod tip - lower the rod tip and retrieve slack line as the lure falls - repeat.
By doing so you are creating the image of a baitfish that doesn't have the same amount of spunk it once had.
This means an easy meal for a bass.
The great thing about using this technique with a lipless crankbait is the movement of the lure on the fall.
Most lipless crankbaits have a unique feature about them that causes them to slightly turn over on their side and flutter on the decent.
This can be attributed to the position of the weights inside of the lure. Lighter lures (1/4oz) accomplish this a little better than heavier lures (3/4oz).
Unlike many hard baits where the weight transfer system is positioned in the belly of the lure (i.e. jerkbaits), many lipless crankbait models will have the weight transfer system positioned higher up in the center section of the lure.
Notice the centrally positioned weights below on the 13 Fishing El Diablo Lipless Crankbait
Because the center of mass of the lure is higher, the movement of the lure on the decent can vary. This is a good thing.
When using a yo-yo retrieve, one decent may have the lure falling nose first whereas another decent may have the lure slightly turning over on its side and fluttering as a dying baitfish may do.
Thanks to the design of a lipless crankbait, a yo-yo retrieve brings out variance in the lures presentation with each fall which ultimately triggers more bites.
TIP: To catch more bass this fall using a yo-yo retrieve, make sure you are picking up slack line at the same rate of the fall of the lure. Most bites occur during the fluttery fall of the lure. By properly mending your slack line you will feel even the slightest of bites. This takes practice but pays off big time!
Fall Lipless Crankbait Fishing Spots
Green grass.
Despite vegetation in lakes and rivers beginning to die off this time of year, there is still plenty of fish relating the healthy, green grass areas.
Lipless crankbaits are great lures for grassy areas due to their ability to create reaction bites when RIPPED out the grass.
This makes a yo-yo retrieval super effective when you're able to control your depth.
The key is to have your lure barely make contact with the vegetation before ripping it up and out.
Get good at this and you most certainly will be having productive days on the water.
Look for grass and other vegetation that is still green. Healthy vegetation means more oxygenated water.
Check out "Understanding Baitfish Migrations" to learn more about vegetations role in oxygen levels for baitfish and bass.
Common areas with grass include long, extending points and shallow flats near creek channels.
Hard Bottom/Rocks/Riprap
A high percentage spot for bass throughout the country is around areas of a lake or river that include some type of a rocky patch.
Whether it be riprap, isolated boulders, or hard bottom points, bass and baitfish alike will naturally congregate to these areas.
When fishing a lipless crankbait around rock you have a little bit more margin for error thanks to a smaller chance of getting hung up on a rock as opposed to submerged timber or the like.
Rather than always needing to control your yo-yo retrieve at a certain depth, if you notice fish relating to the bottom you can almost wait for the TINK of the lure hitting the hard bottom to kickstart each of your "yo-yo" actions.
It's worth noting again, properly mending your slack line is super important if choosing to use a fisheries bottom structure as a contact point throughout your retrieve.
TIP: If you tend to get hung up a lot fishing lipless crankbaits consider replacing the treble hooks with a single hook option such as an octopus hook.
Tackle & Gear
Lipless crankbaits typically come in three sizes: 1/4oz, 1/2oz, and 3/4oz.
Depending on the size lure you're using you have the option to use both spinning and baitcasting tackle.
1/4oz lipless crankbaits can easily be fished using lighter spinning and baitcasting gear whereas 1/2oz and 3/4oz lures require a bit more backbone in the rod to control the action of the lure.
All fishing line options will do but something a bit more stiff will help with getting the sharp upward momentum of the lure needed to create the yo-yo motion.
If fishing heavier vegetation, braid can be a good option but be careful on the negative impact braid has due to line visibility.
A well-rounded option would be fluorocarbon. It's pretty stiff and virtually invisible underwater.
Something in the 10-17 pound range depending on how deep and how fast you plan to fish will get the job done.
If you plan to fish the technique faster and higher in the water column consider a heavier pound test.
If you plan to fish deeper points or deep channel breaks opt for something in the 10-12 pound range to allow for faster fall rates and less line drag which can pull your lure up and out of the strike zone.
Time to go catch em'!
13 Fishing El Diablo Lipless Crankbait
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