Cover photo courtesy of FLW Tour.
Two crankbaits were some of the top lures to be used at the First FLW Tour event at Sam Rayburn in 2019. Crankbaits were part of all the Top 10 with the exception of one angler. The first FLW was one for the record books with super low temps and the final day being postponed due to high winds. The weather was defiantly one of the biggest topics for this event. High winds and even higher water really challenge these anglers is winter to pre-spawn fishing conditions. Water levels that were as much as 10ft higher than normal just help cover up the locations of these fish. Crankbaits still came out as the most popular technique of this tournament.
Crankbaits dominated the Top 10 at Sam Rayburn even through very tough conditions. So here is how crankbaits rounded out the top of the list for FLW Tour.
- The Berkley DT series carried Terry Bolton to his first-ever FLW Tour event win. While Terry was the only person in the Top 10 to use the DT series. He did win with an assortment of DT crankbaits and that’s what puts it at the top of the list. The assortment included the DT 10, DT 14, and DT 16. So, was it the action of the lure and/or colors that made the difference here? The main color for Terry was the demon, click on the link below to check it out and more from Rapala.com. By the way, I went to check out Tackle Warehouse and this color is completely sold out!!
- The prominent crankbait of the Sam Rayburn FLW Tour event was hands down the Strike King XD series. 5 of the Top 10 anglers used Strike King XD series crankbaits to help push them towards the top. This included Nick Lebrun who gave Terry Bolton a run for his money and also put up some major weight on day one with 29lbs 2oz. The Top 10 used a combination of XD5 and XD6 crankbaits. A shad color was a top pick of the pro’s for this event.
- A few other crankbaits were used by Top 10 anglers, those crankbaits included Berkeley Bad Shad, Bandit 300 Series, Bomber Fat A, and the Salmo Rattlin’ Hornet. Some of these aren’t the most popular amongst anglers but they proved just as effective at catching these bass in not so ideal weather condition.
Crankbait Color was another notable item of interest at this event. The colors were equally split between two colors that are some of the most popular. Those two colors consisted of Red Craw and Shad Color. The Shad Color was the color of all anglers who used the Strike King XD and the Red Craw was the color of choice for Bolton and his Rapala DT series. The other notable mention of crankbaits also used the red craw type color.
So, what are your thoughts when it comes to the color and style of crankbait used?
Which crankbait do you prefer? Comment below and let’s see who comes out on top amongst other anglers.
Semper Fish!
Joe, The National Angler
