Professional bass fishing tournament angler Pete Gluszek is often leading or nearly leading BASS Open tournaments where big smallmouth abound. Recently he was also in the lead of the Northern Open on the James River (so he's no stranger to catching big largemouth either). In this 57-minute seminar, Pete Gluszek talks about his favorite way to catch big smallmouth bass, cranking! In this video, Pete Gluszek will cover the following key topics related to cranking for smallmouth:
- Nature of smallmouth bass - What types of things to smallmouth eat, and what type of baitfish do they prefer? How do they primarily feed? When do they spawn? Where do they like to live? The more you know about the nature of these bass, the more likely you are to be successful at catching them.
- What to expect - Be sure to have your follow-up bait ready! Pete shares some secrets about how smallmouth and largemouth differ and what to do when you lose of fish, or a fish misses the bait on the strike.
- Seasonal patterns - What are the best seasons for cranking smallmouth bass? What is the best area to fish these lures? What type of structure or cover should I be looking for in each season? What color baits should I used in different seasons? What are some other baits I might use to catch fish? When are the difficult seasons to catch them cranking? Pete will tell you when & where to look for smallmouth bass and when they will bite the crankbait best.
- Types of crankbaits - Pete loves the wiggle wart, find out of the other crankbaits Gluszek used to catch these brown fish. What does color have to do with triggering strikes? How do I keep them biting when the school becomes inactive? Are lipless crankbaits a good choice? Wood vs plastic lures? Should I use snap swivels on my lures? Gluszek discusses when he fishes various lures.
- Types of habitat - Rocks, stumps, trees, flats and more. What are the areas I should be looking to locate fish?
- Wind, sun & clouds
"In the sunsine, they're going to get up in that ultra-shallow water. When the water's gin-clear and you're fishing in the 1-3 foot zone, I love these little micro crankbaits. You can really quickly get those big onese to bite"
- Equipment & Tackle - Pete will discuss the rod, reel, line & hooks he uses when fishing for big bronzebacks.
Want to learn more about fishing crankbaits? You'll want to watch KVD's Crankbait Cranking System & Shallow Cranking with Greg Hackney. If you're interested in learning more about smallmouth bass fishing, we recommend Finding and Catching Deep Smallies with Jonathon VanDam & Deep Structure Fishing for Smallmouth with Joe Balog.