"The reason to fish a crankbait in heavy cover is to show bass something different," Mark Davis says. "You want to trigger a fish into biting that's already seen worms, jigs, spinnerbaits and tubes -- in other words, a heavily pressured fish."
Heavy cover means woods, namely laydown trees and brushpiles. So the first thing to do when fishing such thorny cover is to up your line size to 15- or 20- pound test, Davis says.
The second key factor is to match the crankbait to the depth of water you're fishing -- but not exactly. "Don't be afraid to use a deep-diving lure in a shallow-water tree," he says. "The bill of the lure will help you bring it through the tree without hanging up.
"The bill helps the same way it does when you're fishing deep," Davis explains. "It makes contact with the cover first, and keeps the hooks away from the cover. The shorter the bill, the closer those hooks come to the cover you're trying to work over."
That doesn't mean using the deepest-diving crankbait you own. "A favorite for me is when a tree is laying in 4 to 5 feet of water," he says. "I'll use a Strike King Series 4, which normally runs at 8 feet, but I'll fish it on 20- pound line."
The third and final key to fishing crankbaits in heavy cover is the retrieve. "Don't just cast and crank it back," he says. "First, analyze the cover. Try to pick a path where you can cast and retrieve the lure, like down the trunk or one of the bigger branches.
"Sit at the top of the tree and cast toward root system," he adds. "You want to bring the bait with the grain of the tree."
And rather than simply winding it back, Davis fishes the crankbait almost like a worm. "Sweep the rod," he says. "Pull the bait along, take up the slack with your reel, then do it again. Finesse it just like a worm. That way you gain control and lot of feel.
"If you try to wind the bait through, it will hang. But if you do it this way you'll feel everything the lure does. And that's another reason you want to use a bait with a bigger lip. It helps keep it down there in the cover."
This technique, which Davis used all season long, helped him win his third B.A.S.S. Angler of the Year title. "Often I fish areas other fishermen have already fished," he notes. "Worms, jigs and spinnerbaits are what almost everyone fishes in this type of cover. With crankbaits, you'll trigger a few bass to bite that the other guys just couldn't catch. And often, as crankbait fish tend to be, they'll be bigger."
