Wobblers and crankbaits are becoming increasingly important in the UL range for trout lakes.
But many other predators such as zander, perch, pike, asp, or chub are also attracted to these small, agile lures.
Broadly speaking, these lures can be categorized as follows:
- With or without (silent) rattles
- Floating, suspending, sinking, or slow sinking
- With or without a diving lip
When it comes to wobblers or crankbaits, the color selection is similar to that of spoons. The same rules of thumb apply here:
- Clear water - natural colors
- Murky water - shock colors
When choosing whether to fish with or without a rattle, the following should be considered:
- Active fish - with rattle
- Passive fish - without rattle
This covers the basic fundamentals. It's also important to adapt the lure size to the target fish. For trout/perch, lures around 5cm are recommended.
For zander/asp/pike, it can be a bit larger.
But how do I retrieve the wobbler correctly, and when do I use which retrieve technique?
Let's take a look at the most important retrieve techniques.
Cranking: Cranking uses so-called crankbaits. Cranking is probably the simplest retrieve technique: simply reeling in the lure. The lure thus develops its own, classic retrieve behavior. By varying the retrieve speed, the aggressiveness of the retrieve can be slightly increased. We distinguish between:
- Crankbaits: These are usually small, bulky lures with a diving lip.
- Minnows: These are usually elongated, narrow lures with a diving lip.
Twitching: Twitching uses so-called twitchbaits. The lure is guided with light jerks from the wrist into the slack line. This causes the lure to constantly break out of its normal swimming pattern in an uncontrolled way, thus tempting predators. A combination of cranking and irregular twitching yields the best results.
Target fish: This retrieve technique is equally suitable for all predators. Whether trout, perch, zander, or pike, most predators simply cannot resist this style of retrieve.
Predominantly suspending wobblers, known as twitchbaits without a diving lip, are used here. However, other models with a diving lip, whether suspending or sinking, also benefit from this retrieve technique.
Walk The Dog: This method requires some skill and practice, but when applied correctly, it's an absolute game-changer in topwater fishing, i.e., for fishing the water's surface.
While reeling in the wobbler, you make short, quick jerks from the wrist into the rod. The rod tip is moved from top to bottom. This process is continuously repeated. This creates a "zigzag" movement of the lure on the surface, driving predators crazy and enticing them to strike.
The clear target fish here is the asp, but it's also an absolute insider tip for passive trout on the surface in summer.
Floating wobblers without a diving lip, known as stickbaits, are used here.
Bottom Bouncing: Bottom bouncing can be combined with almost all retrieve methods, but best with cranking.
For bottom bouncing, you use a wobbler that actually dives too deep for the water depth. This causes it to repeatedly hit the bottom with its lip. This creates slight "dust clouds" that attract sight-feeding predators. Furthermore, the impact also creates an acoustic signal, which also appeals to the predators' lateral line organ. However, this method should only be used in waters without a high risk of snags and with a firm or sandy bottom.
Target fish here are trout, perch, or pike.
Floating or sinking/slow-sinking wobblers with a diving lip are used here. Floating wobblers have the advantage that if you incorporate a short retrieve stop, they briefly rise and can then be guided back to the bottom by reeling in again, rather than dragging along the bottom.
A little tip:
The angle of the diving lip tells you whether a wobbler is shallow-running or deep-running.
- Long, narrow lip with a small angle of inclination = deep diver with subtle action
- Short, wide lip with a large angle of inclination = shallow diver with aggressive action
Jerking: Jerking uses so-called jerkbaits. These wobblers do not have a diving lip. The lure is brought to life by powerful jerks. We distinguish between:
- Gliders: These are usually suspending models that change direction with each jerk. During pauses between jerks, they enticingly remain suspended, and 90% of bites occur at precisely this moment.
The clear target fish here is pike.
Predominantly suspending wobblers, known as jerkbaits without a diving lip, are used here. These are available weighted or unweighted. The weighted models can, understandably, be guided deeper.
