Lipless Crankbait
66 bass vs. 81 bass in 2024
Strike King Red Eye Shad (sexy shad or red craw)
Top Bass: 3-12 Lake Storey – September 29
Top 5 Weight: 12-5 (3-12,2-4,2-3,2-3,1-15)

Comments
Coming in at number three on the 2025 lure list are lipless crankbaits and they also occupy the third spot on the heaviest Top 5 bags of the year with a weight of 12-5. Lipless cranks are a favorite to employ on broad structures such as retrieving across flats, along the edges and over the tops of points, or parallel to extended stretches of uniform “nothing banks” (level depth stretches that don’t have a concentration of other cover). In each of these areas, the lipless crank lets me cover water fast as I am targeting active fish. These are reaction bites from the bass as opposed to tossing other lures such as worms or jigs that tempt the bass with a typically slower approach on specific pieces of cover (stumps, logs, rockpiles).

September 29 – Top Lipless Crankbait Bass at 3-12 (20.5″) from Lake Storey

History
Part of the fun in this year’s restructured recaps is recalling and researching the history of these lures. Prior to the 2000s, I rarely threw lipless crankbaits and I was missing out. Once I got on board, the lure paid great dividends. Should 2026 produce similar results to 2025, I will log lipless crankbait bass number 1,000.

Video
When a combination of structural and cover elements is blended on a spot, such an area needs ample time and casts. In the case of my 2025 Top Lipless Crankbait bass, I was working a secondary point with a flat covered in scattered rock debris around an extensive rockpile. If that doesn’t scream “cast here”, you need to re-enroll in Bass Fishing 101. The edited catch clip below features the cast that caught the bass, but the entire clip shows that this was the fifth cast to the area. Each cast was incrementally further from the shallows covering a slightly different parallel path back to the boat. Experience told me that there were fish around the structure and I was committed to working it over to find a bite.

 

Last Cast
I like to fish fast so lipless crankbaits are right up my alley. And each of the main waters that I fish have many spots that set up well for these baits. The shallow waters of The Canal are a good fit on the stretches that don’t get too choked with vegetation. A fair amount of my strip mine haunts are not prototype v-cut pits meaning that they feature a great many flats and shoreline ledges. And Lake Storey has a solid collection of expansive flats and gently tapering points. Suffice to say, lipless cranks will continue to cover some water (and catch some bass) in 2026.

Another lure on the way tomorrow so talk to you later. Troy