Matching the hatch can be critical with smallmouths in lakes, and it’s a much easier proposition today. Lucky Craft, for instance, offers more than 25 natural baitfish patterns in the Bevy Shad alone. Many are translucent. When smallmouths in northern lakes key on young perch, few crankbaits can equal a Bevy Shad in the natural Ghost Sunfish pattern. With a dash of orange on the throat and barely distinct vertical bars running down its sides, the Ghost Sunfish Bevy Shad looks more like a perch than a perch.

Other perfect perch imitators include the Rapala Glass Shad Rap and the Translucent Perch pattern Daiwa TD Crank. When smallmouths key on shad, few baits imitate them better than the new Daiwa TD Thin Lips in Translucent Minnow or Threadfin Shad patterns. Yo-Zuri offers a number of realistic shad imitations in their Hardcore Shad series of baits. The Salmo Hornet and the Rapala DT Series Cranks include very realistic panfish patterns. Small bluegills are critical sources of food in many rivers and natural lakes that contain smallmouths. As pressure on bass increases, this kind of realism seems increasingly logical to employ.

Aqua Dynamics

Some cranks can’t handle the pressure—water pressure, that is. A classic example is the Reef Runner Ripshad, a dynamic fish-catching bait with a thin bill and subtle wobble that would classify in this context as a lake crank, except that a pearl Ripshad has been a go-to bait for me in rivers for several years, now. It has a very delicate balance. It has to be tuned differently for almost every angle of retrieve, relative to current direction. Despite the touchy nature of a Ripshad, when tuned correctly it dives amazingly deep for its size, casts like a bullet, operates in a tight area, and produces a subtle, effective vibration few baits can equal in moderate to low rivers and smaller natural lakes. But it’s not the first bait to grab when hunting in either situation.

As a rule, subtle baits (lake cranks) don’t perform as well in current. But the Salmo Hornet—which also has a narrow neck on its unique, shovelnose bill, a narrow wobble, and a fairly subtle action—is amazingly well balanced in current. Tom Zenanko of Salmo USA insists that the Hornet continues to run true at 10 mph. The Rapala Shad Rap is another exception to rules regarding current, and also runs true at high speed.

Those old Neanderthal cranks perform very well in current, up to a point. Wide-wobbling classics like the Storm Wiggle Warts are designed to run erratically, which is good, but can’t achieve maximum depth in heavy currents. Specimens from the next step up on the evolutionary chain, like the Bomber 6A and Rapala Glass Fat Rap, dig into almost any current coming from any direction, run true, and achieve good depth.

A lot to be said for Neanderthals. Developed fire. Learned to abide cold climates. Invaded Europe long before it became popular. The Neanderthals of the crankbait world, those old hangers-on, have a solid reservation in the box of any In-Fisherman kinda’ Homo sapiens sapiens that fishes all environments, big and small. But the point is: Most crankbait styles and patterns on the market today have a definable window of conditions and environments that suit each perfectly. Place half those pieces in the puzzle and the crankbait world is your oyster.