By Labor Day those dependable ledge bass have been pounded over-and-over. For the past few months they’ve seen crankbait after crankbait wobble through, and they’re getting pretty tight-lipped. Those big schools of ledge bass are still there holding in the same areas, they’re just more educated. FLW Tour pro David Dudley says that the easy ledge crankbait bite lasts only four or five weeks before sore-lipped bass get more stubborn. When the fish first arrive at the ledges (typically in late-May or June) he throws a loud rattling crank like the original Bomber Fat Free Shad BD7F, but by mid- to late summer he switches to the same bait in a silent version.
“After that initial blast, the silent version produces more,” he said. “The fish have a bunch of holes in their lips, so you’ve got to be more subtle.”
Why not go to a different technique altogether and put the crankbait away? Because the crank still catches fish and allows you to quickly cover water to find the schools. Most pros say that the first bass out of a school is the toughest to catch, but once the first one commits and takes the bait, the rest of the school is “fired up,” and more willing to attack.
This time of year, it’s more often the silent bait that does the trick. Early in the season when bass first arrive at the ledges and are actively feeding, the roles of rattling and silent crankbaits are reversed. Most pros start with the rattling version then switch to a silent bait when the action slows down.
By Lawrence Taylor
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