Cranking from the bank

[SFL BassHunter]

^^ Yup what Lou said.

[FlatsNBay]

Rick, what I like to do for cranking crystal clear lakes is to find  a crankbait in a real green version of bluegill color. If you'll notice the bass that you catch and the bluegills are a real pretty green color. The two that I found that make a real green version of bluegill are Rapala and Bandit. I've found that they mimic the natural forage in the lake. I then dial in the depth of the crankbait depending on the depth and cover. One of my go to baits  is a Rapala DT6 in bluegill. Boy I've really smashed them in clear water. If they are schooling and hitting minnows I'll switch up to a more silver color.  I love throwing crankbaits from the bank. It can be awesome!

[SFL BassHunter]

Rick, what I like to do for cranking crystal clear lakes is to find  a crankbait in a real green version of bluegill color. If you'll notice the bass that you catch and the bluegills are a real pretty green color. The two that I found that make a real green version of bluegill are Rapala and Bandit. I've found that they mimic the natural forage in the lake. I then dial in the depth of the crankbait depending on the depth and cover. One of my go to baits  is a Rapala DT6 in bluegill. Boy I've really smashed them in clear water. If they are schooling and hitting minnows I'll switch up to a more silver color.  I love throwing crankbaits from the bank. It can be awesome!

Yeah the bass, and forage in that lake are light colored fish. In fact the bait is damn near invisible. Sometimes I walk up to the bank look down and see nothing and then all the sudden bait scatters. They are almost translucent. I've caught bass on that gold crank, I've caught them on a clear with a green top, and I have also used a "woops"y shad that caught a few.
I'm sure a green like you mentioned would work well.

The grass in this lake sometimes grows all the way to the top of the water column. I use 2-4 feet divers and can usually feel vegetation and then sometimes bam I hit a wall of grass. The good thing is I have a good idea where the grass is and I usually stop my crank and reel slow then stop it, letting it float back up so that I am just ticking the grass. If I hit a patch I just rip it through.

[GripRipsLips]

Great fish and thankyou for the tips. LOVE THIS SITE

[Smalls]

Nice report Rick! Very useful information.
I love crankbaits, but sometimes is a pain with the amount of grass we have in some places down here.

No way! Unless the grass is hitting the surface, this is my favorite way to fish a square bill. I'll slowly crank it until I hit grass, then reel quickly, or sweep my rod so it gets good and buried. Then I'll rip it out as violently as I can, and kill it. If they're there, you'll get bit.