Best fishing tackle for shallow crankbaits

When Brock Mosley gears up for shallow cranking in April, he makes sure his boat has plenty of his favorite square-bills.

“I like the new Bagley Rattling Killer B square-bill that’s similar to the original ones, but this one is made out of plastic and has rattles in it, too,” Mosley said.

And then he makes as many casts as possible.

“I like to cover a lot of water and use them to search for stump rows or other hidden structure that might hold a bass,” Mosley said. “I’ll let it bounce it off of the cover and then pause it a split second, and that’s all it takes most of the time if a bass is there.

“Just that little erratic movement will entice a bass to strike, and they can’t resist a Killer B when presented like that.”

Mosley likes to concentrate on shallow highway edges, and shallow humps and stump fields. He prefers square-bill crankbaits that run 4 to 6 feet deep, and varies line strength to pinpoint depths.

“I like to use 15-pound Seagar Invizx in fluorocarbon,” Mosley said. “It’s just about the perfect size and diameter for the shallow cranking I like to do.

“If I want it to run even shallower I’ll switch to a 17- to 20-pound line, which will allow it to run just a bit shallower.”

Mosley has tuned his tackle to match his shallow cranking.

“I use a Phoenix X10 7-foot medium-action rod that has a great tip where I can feel the bottom and anything it hits, if it’s a rock, stump or whatever,” Mosley saod. “The rod is a very important aspect of crankbait fishing, and this rod has enough flexibility to allow the bass to inhale the lure without pulling it out of the fish’s mouth like some do — but it still has enough backbone to handle lunker bass.”

Mosley prefers cranking reels with a 6:4:1 gear ratio.

“I use an Ardent Elite with the 6:4:1 gear ratio, and that’s just the perfect speed to me,” Mosley said. “The Ardent reel and Phoenix rod are real light and make a great combo.”