Custom built balsa wood crankbaits come in a wide array of shapes and sizes depending on who is cutting, shaping and painting them. These homemade lures are limited in the number produced due to how time consuming it is to make them; in addition to each one having a distinctive shape and bill. It’s that distinctive shape and bill that makes each one of these baits perform differently. Other attribute will also come into play like the angle of the bill and how it is weighted. Since no one custom built balsa wood crankbait can be used to fish in every situation, CP Series Crankbaits designed a series of balsa wood crankbaits that anglers can use to catch fish all year long.

The CP Series Crankbaits come in three different models. Each one is hand crafted and was designed by Craig Powers or CP as his friends know him by. Of course, Powers is no stranger to bass fishing. He is currently fishing in FLW Tour events all across the United States. Yet no matter where Powers goes, everyone knows him for his ability to cast and catch bass with a Rebel Pop-R and his own personal line of custom built balsa wood crankbaits, the CP Series Crankbaits. “There are three balsa wood crankbaits that I make right now in the CP Series Crankbaits. Series 1 is a search bait with a tight wiggle that can dive up to six feet. It was designed to cast far, reel in fast, and cover a lot of ground.” explained Powers. Since the crankbait runs so shallow, Powers prefers to fish with the Series 1 CP Series Crankbait in the spring or fall. “Early in the spring, I like to fish the Series 1 where rock changes to pea gravel or into a clay bank; in the fall when the fish are chasing bait fish on the flats is a great time to catch them on the Series 1, but I don’t limit myself to just those situations,” said Powers. As a general rule of thumb, Powers likes to fish it anytime you would fish a lipless crankbait. “One lake that an angler should always take a Series 1 CP Series Crankbait with them is on Kentucky Lake. It’s a phenomenal lake for the Series one because of how shallow the banks are. There are few 45-degree banks so a shallow running crankbait that can cover water fast works best. The Series 1 also can be fished in clear or stained water,” said Powers.

The Series 2 CP Series Crankbait has a larger bill with a steeper angle compared to the Series 1 and the line tie is also directly to the bill. Due to the angle of the bill, the Series 2 can be fished around and in thick cover. Being built from balsa wood also makes the Series 2 extremely buoyant allowing it to be casted in to cover without hanging up; in addition to giving it unique ricocheting action when deflecting off cover. “The Elk River on Wheeler Lake is a great example of where the Series 2 will catch a lot of bass and anglers should fish with it. It’s loaded with lay downs, log jams, stumps and plenty of cover for anglers to cast to and around,” said Powers. Powers likes to fish the Series 2 in water that has a little stain to it and of course around cover.

The Series 3 CP Series Crankbait was designed to be fished deeper and has a tighter wiggle than the Series 1 or Series 2 crankbaits. “Prespawn before the bass move back into the flats and after the spawn is a great time to fish with the Series 3; in addition to late fall when they are migrating back towards deeper habitat. I like to fish it on riprap, limestone banks, around chunk rock or any 45-degree bank,” said Powers. Another key area an angler should fish the Series 3 crankbait is on transition banks. “Bass will load up on transition banks as they migrate back and forth,” said Powers. One lake that Powers likes to fish the Series 3 on is Table Rock Lake in Missouri. “It has miles and miles of steep 45-degree banks with limestone, chunk rock and riprap to fish,” said Powers. Other lakes that Powers like to fish the Series 3 on are Beaver Lake, Bull Shoals, or other highland reservoirs. Powers also stated that it really doesn’t matter what the water clarity is for fishing with the Series 3. Even though each of the custom built balsa wood CP Series Crankbaits (www.cpbaits.com) have their own design, bill shape and bill angle, they all have a inserted weight so they can be casted farther, but not so much to diminish the buoyancy of being made from balsa wood, a turned eye on the backend that allows anglers to use larger hook without tangling, and are hand painted and dipped in a special extra durable clear-coat.

No one lure or even custom built balsa wood crankbait can be used to catch fish all the time. Some situations require the angler to fish around heavy cover where a crankbait needs to deflect off wood to draw strikes; it maybe that the bass are scattered around in shallow water like in the spring right before the spawn and anglers have to make lots of casts and cover a lot of water; bass will also move to deeper water where the crankbait needs to dive deep around steeper banks. That’s why Powers designed three crankbaits to cover all the different situations and depths. All an angler has to do is go fishing by the numbers…Series 1, Series 2, or Series 3.

Custom Built Balsa Wood CP Series Crankbaits by the Numbers Provided by Brad Wiegmann for CP Baits.