GEAR
FLAT-SIDED
CRANKBAITS
A SPECIALIZED
CRANKBAIT FOR
A MORE SUBTLE
APPROACH
T
o novice anglers, any old hard wooden or plastic plug
with a lip is referred to as a crankbait. They all wob-
ble, dive on the retrieve and, periodically, come back
with a fish attached.
To the crankbait die-hards of the Carolinas and the
Tennessee River region, though, the word “crankbait” itself
is just a heading used to refer to many different styles of
plugs, each with a very particular time and place to shine.
From those regions comes an old-school crankbait style
that’s now one of the fastest growing: the flat-sided
crankbait. It’s a style that Wamart FLW Tour pros Wesley
Strader and Alex Davis both use to achieve incredible
results, albeit with different twists. Flat-sides typically shine
when the bite is tough and in the spring or fall, and while
summer is still in full swing in the South, the shorter days
and cooldown period of autumn are just a few weeks away
for many bass anglers. Now’s the time to prepare.
Alex Davis Targets
Submergent Grass Flats
38
When: “The flat-sided crank is quickly becoming one of
my go-to baits in almost any situation where anglers would
normally throw a lipless crankbait. For me, it’s usually any
time the water temperature is between 45 and 55 degrees,
when the bass are sluggish and want something with a less
aggressive action.”
Where: Davis breaks out the flat-side around submer-
gent grass flats. In the fall and spring, big bass relate to the
deeper grass lines found on these flats in many bodies of
water, and they wait for shad to pass by.
How: “I like to throw a plastic bait such as the Jackall
Jaco 58,” says Davis. “It has the excellent tight wiggle of a
by TJ Maglio
PHOTOS BY MATT PACE
wooden bait, but casts farther. I throw it on a G. Loomis
GLX 843 CBR [7-foot, medium-power, moderate-action]
cranking rod paired to a Shimano Curado reel with 5.1:1
gear ratio and spooled with 12- to 14-pound-test Sufix Elite
monofilament.”
Wes Strader Targets
Rocky Points, Riprap
When: “I’ll throw a flat-sided bait just about any time
the bass are feeding on shad and the water temperature is
below 60,” says Strader. “If you’ve ever seen shad swim-
ming in the fall, they just slide through the water with
almost no action. Flat-sided plugs imitate this better than
almost any other plug. It’s a natural-looking deal, and bass
can’t resist them.”
Wh