David Fritts has always been noted for his power cranking tactics, but when the going gets tough he tries to finesse bass with little crankbaits. “A lot of times when bass aren’t really aggressive and not eating, you need to downsize, and that’s when [a small crankbait] really comes in handy,” Fritts says. “Downsizing is the secret to fishing in tough conditions.”
The former Bassmaster Classic champ believes bigger is not always better when cranking for bass. “Bass like small baits,” he says. “Day in and day out, they will bite a small bait better than they will a big bait.” Fritts compares cranking with small lures to finesse fishing a shaky head with a little worm. “Bass bite it because it is small,” he says. “That is what bass are used to feeding on. They feed on a lot of things that are smaller.”
His favorite lure for finesse cranking is the Berkley Digger 3.5 (1 1/2 inches long) and the 4.5 (1 3/4 inches) crankbait. He describes the crankbaits as tiny and similar in size to baitfish fry. The North Carolina pro suggests there are some other small crankbaits on the market, but those lures usually feature fat bodies. Fritts favors the Digger because he says it has a small profile with a thin body shape that still has a “hard vibration” despite its tight wiggling action. “It displaces water but not really aggressively,” he says.
The Digger excels for Fritts whenever he cranks shallow rocks, which is his favorite target for finesse cranking. “When the lure hits something it bounces around, but it always comes back and tracks true,” Fritts says.
He employs his finesse cranking tactics when fishing shallow on rivers, tidal waters or heavily pressured lakes. He chooses the 3.5 Digger for fishing less than 6 feet deep and switches to the 4.5 version when he wants to crank down to 8 feet.
