Paul Elias
Get More Crankbait Fish Into The Boat

Photo: ESPN Outdoors Veteran Mississippi pro Paul Elias says the angler must take charge when fighting a big crankbait fish.

Losing fish is inevitable when fishing with crankbaits.

"Generally, if I got 10 bites and landed 6 or 7 of them, I'd be tickled pink," he said. "And it was truly remarkable with those ballistic Falcon bass that I only lost two big fish, on the last day, back to back. I still don't know what was different (about those two), but I never lost any of the other big bass I hooked there the whole time."

Here he discusses how he did that, and other tips for playing big fish hooked on crankbaits.

The Right Equipment

Elias has long been known as a deep-structure crankbait expert, credited with popularizing the "kneel and reel" technique in which the angler sticks the rod down into the water to gain depth on the retrieve. You can see him do that in the video.

But before he makes that long cast, he has to decide what he's going to use to do it.

"The most important (element) of crankbait fishing is the rod," he said. "I use a 7'6" Paul Elias signature rod. I guess it's close to a medium light (action). You need a real flexible tip, but a strong backbone about a third of the way down the rod, to be able to sling the big crankbaits in the wind and things like that.

"Then, once you've hooked up with a fish, the rod is the most important part of fighting it. The bend in the rod absorbs the fight and keeps pressure on the fish so it can't throw the hooks."

Speaking of hooks, he rarely uses the stock trebles that are factory-installed on his baits.

"One thing I do to help prevent losing fish is I change the hooks out on my crankbaits," he noted. "I use two different kinds: On the front (belly) hook I use a round-bend treble, normally a 2X Gamakatsu hook; on the back I use a Gamakatsu EWG hook. I use a No. 2 size for both (front and back) on the big crankbaits."

(The EWG style, and similar ones like Mustad's Triple Grip hook, have the points turned slightly inward toward the hook shank, which is supposed to make it harder for the fish to throw them. – Ed.)

Why not an EWG on the front too?

"In my experience and all the testing I've done, they seem to throw (the bait) easier with it on the front, so the other combination works better for me," he said. "I've tried all the combinations, but the round bend tends to work better on the front, and the EWG holds them better on the back hook."

There are a few anglers, such as Skeet Reese, who throw crankbaits on no-stretch braided line, but generally that is a shallow-water application for weed-infested waters. Most deep-crankers want thin, strong line, but with a little stretch. A few years ago that would have been nylon monofilament.

Elias has gone to fluorocarbon line. "Since they came out with the Berkley Trilene 100% fluorocarbon, I've been cranking religiously with it," he said. "I can feel the bait better and I think I'm getting it deeper. I used to use 12-pound Trilene XT, but the fluorocarbon has a smaller diameter, so I can use 15-pound test and feel comfortable that I'm still getting (the bait) deeper (even) with stronger line."

He noted that fluorocarbon sinks, which helps with gaining depth.

Technique Tips

"When you're fighting a fish, you try to control him as much as possible, instead of letting him control the fight," he said. "You especially don't want to let him get slack when he's jumping. You try to figure out what the fish is going to do."

If the bass appears to be coming up to jump, for example, you need to keep him turned toward you.

"Sometimes sticking the rod in the water will help keep him down, but that can also give him more chances to throw the hooks," Elias noted. "I generally like to keep the rod up where I can move it around easier and quicker.

"If you pull against the fish a little, you can sort of keep his head toward you and keep him from pulling the hooks out as easily.

"And don't horse the fish to the boat," he added.

It's safer to let it tire out on a longer line so when you do get it boatside, you can grab or net it without a lot of thrashing around.

Big bass will make some strong runs during the fight. Most of the time anglers are advised to have their reel drags adjusted to allow the fish to pull out line at those times. But in the BASS video, you can hear Elias click his reel into freespool frequently during the fight.

At one point, as it exploded from the water a short pitch from his boat, he tells his biggest fish of the day, "I'll let you go away from the boat if you're still going to do all that," as he freespools the reel while thumbing the spool, letting the fish pull out some line so he could play it farther out.

"I never use the drag on the reel," he said. "I don't want to take the chance on it sticking (and letting the fish pull off or break the line). Instead, I use my thumb on the spool. I put the reel in freespool and I can very accurately control just how much pressure I need. I can make sure I don't put too much pressure on the fish."

It's not something you hear much about, but he said, "All the guys out here do that."

One thing about this technique he emphasized to be aware of is that "when you're thumbing the spool, make sure you don't get a backlash." Be sure your thumb is firmly on the spool before you disengage the reel, so the spool doesn't pop a few quick revolutions and cause a backlash.

Notable

> Falcon was his first tour-level win since the 1988 Bassmaster Top 100 Super Pro on Lake Okeechobee. He has six Bassmaster wins to his credit, including the 1982 Bassmaster Classic, which launched the popularity of the "kneel and reel" practice.

> He used 15-pound line for his crankbaits at Falcon. "I probably could have gotten my crankbait deeper with lighter line, but those fish were so big I was afraid to use smaller line," he said. He also upsized his hooks to 4X strong Gamakatsus.