Dive into these Medium Diving Crankbaits!

How do you choose which medium-diving crankbait to throw?  Is it color?  Price?  Availability?  Reputation?  Let’s accept that all things are relative, and everyone has their own interpretation of what a “medium diving” crankbait is, so for the sake of saving that argument for another time we’ll say that a medium diving crankbait is anything that runs from 8-12 feet.

On the upper end of the price scale is the Lucky Craft series.  It’s hard to deny that these are made of quality components.  They tend to swim perfect out of the box, and have great hooks that touch each other (an essential aspect of crankbait selection).  These hard baits have a sound design that offers great movement and noise combinations to support the color patterns that come with them.  In a nutshell, they don’t just look pretty, they deliver.  The downside to these baits is of course the obvious price tag.  At $16-20 and up, they can be hard on your wallet!  Especially when you know you have to fish them in tight areas with the need to constantly resist the fear of losing them in submerged structure (I always tell myself “You can’t marry them, dude”).  They also can be a bit fragile, as I’ve broken a few bouncing them off rocks, bridge pilings, docks, or (ssshhhh) maybe even a boat or two parked in a slip. 

At a slightly less damaging cost is the Rapala DT series.  These baits come in a variety of sizes, depth ranges, and color patterns.  While the name hasn’t changed, the design of the DT has had some small adjustments over the years (size, hook type, color scheme), and while I’m not sure of the reasons behind these changes,  I can tell you that I strongly prefer the previous generation of the DT series, and I’m not alone in that opinion.  The older DT series baits flat out caught more fish.  These are still an effective lure, but their stock fell in my opinion.

Next we have the Bill Norman series.  I started using these baits (roughly) three years ago at the advice of a guy whose opinion I really admire.  They always swam well out of the box, cost half as much as Lucky Craft, and had a great, tight wobble that I really like when I crank.  The baits hold up well to being bounced off of hard surfaces, have great hooks, and even offer color patterns that I can’t find in other baits.  And while they’re not made of the same materials that Lucky Craft are, they’re hard to beat for the price (you can find them for $5-10). 

The Storm Wiggle Wart is probably one of my least favorite in the medium diving category.  That being said, Storm does make other baits that I absolutely LOVE.  This series just doesn’t happen to be one of them.  While the colors are great, and the wiggle (the tightest, and loudest in my opinion) will nearly shake the rod right out of your hand, they just never have produced for me at a level that would put the confidence I need to say it’s a “go to” for me.  Again, other products—absolutely—just not this one.

Last but not least is the Live Target series.  Falling at a price range of $12-17, they’re one of the more expensive models, and it’s hard to argue how beautiful they are.  Live Target has perhaps the most impressive appearance of any crankbait in terms of detail and lifelike imaging.  They were also the first company that I found to produce a craw-style crankbait that accurately displayed a craw realistically swimming in the backwards way they swim in real life (crayfish don’t swim quickly in a forward direction, they dart backwards).  When these baits first came out I went all in, buying everything and anything they made, and I quickly sold them all, with the exception of those crayfish lures because those are the only ones I could get the fish to eat.  But they ate them well.  Especially in the green color.

In closing I know there are a lot of different opinions on crankbaits, and I know I mentioned only a very few of the many different brands there are to choose from.  These are just a few that I get asked about the most.  I know other guys who say they've caught HUGE fish on this lure or that lure, and you’re always gonna have that.  Maybe you're the kind of guy that only buys Lucky Craft, or maybe you only buy Norman’s because you refuse to spend $20 on a lure.  Myself, I find that I have a mixed bag of things depending on color patterns that I have had success with, rather than marrying one manufacturer. 

Besides, you can’t marry them anyhow, J.  So throw whatever feels best to you.

Take me Fishin Channel 12 News Excerpt!

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Evening Sun: Take me fishin preview!

Free fishing seminar for kids this month in Greene


By: Josh Sheldon, Outdoors Columnist

Published: June 13th, 2013











As we age, we tend to forget the awe inspired by experiences we had as kids. Fishing is the type of high intensity sport that upon the first catch hooks most kids for life. Outdoor seminars are becoming the most effective way to get new sportsmen afield, but don’t leave it all up to big programs. Take the time to give whenever the opportunity presents itself.


Fishing can be quite complicated if you don’t have the proper information on how to do so. Most fishermen aren’t too worried how many fish are caught daily, while tournament fishermen are searching for the five biggest fish they can catch. The odds of catching a five-fish limit are greatly decreased by tournament fishermen having to fish unfamiliar waters. Having to figure out where the fish are on the lake or river, coupled with the lack of knowledge on what they are feeding on, will test the skills of the most seasoned angler.






By constantly trying new things, the tournament angler tends to learn quite a few more tricks that will help put fish in the boat. For this reason, what better fishing instructors could be found rather than the pros? The years of compiled fishing knowledge, along with the patience needed to help educate kids, are the tools put to use by the tournament angler. Like any other professional sport, the anglers involved in tournament fishing must dedicate their lives to the sport to be successful.


Jim Root, a professional fisherman heading up youth instructional program, stated the hardest obstacle to overcome was the time spent away from his family. Tournament fishermen must travel all over the country to qualify and compete on the tournament trail, much like other professional sports. Fortunately, Jim has a very supportive wife who is happy to see him pursue his dreams. He made the statement, “Becoming a pro was equally split between hard work and the help offered by others.”





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Fishing Report: Oneida Lake 5/30

Oneida Lake report for 5/30



I fished Oneida last Thursday with my good friend Bridget Allen (some of you know her). We got on the water around 10 am, and spent a lot of time really just looking at different areas and their bottom compositions and didn't really spend much time fishing until around 1:30. For two hours we did fish (1:30-3:30) and for the conditions (hot, bluebird skies, no real wind to speak of) we actually did very well. Here are some pics from that day. We caught our fish between 7-10 feet of water, flipping grass. I think she caught one smallie in like 2 feet of water. I can't recall exactly how many fish we caught, but we both had limits and I think I might have caught a couple more fish than she did.

None of our fish were on beds. And they didn't want anything aggressive.

We were using almost two completely different setups. I can't tell you exactly what her's was, but I can tell you she was using Fluoro, texas rigged senko, no weight. I was using 65# braid, and two baits 1) 1/2oz sinker, texas rigged bass pro shops magnum flipping tube on a Trokar hook, 2) blue and black Bass Attacker 1/2oz football jig with a blue and black craw trailer, Quantum Smoke 151HPT reel, Dobyns Champion 766FLIP Heavy Flipping fast action casting rod.


It was probably the best two hours I've ever had on that lake. I know there a lot of people who are on the fence about Trokar hooks. I started out the day using a Gamakatsu wide-gap hook, and after I lost my fourth or fifth fish I decided it was because the weeds we were fishing were surprisingly thick for this time of year, and I just didn't feel like that hook was penetrating deep enough for me. I cut it off, put on the Trokar, and I maybe lost one other fish the rest of the day. My theory on the Trokar, is that under normal circumstances you can't try to cross their eyes when you set the hook. But when I was fishing these deep weed beds, I really felt more comfortable with the Trokar's ability to penetrate through the tube (just the very tip of the hook was exposed to reduce snagging) through the weeds, through the mouth. I think if you try it, you'll see it actually works very well and you don't have to gently set the hook.