It’s the secret bait of the pros…you have heard that over and over, but when you are talking about balsa wood crankbaits it’s really true. Recently, I went out fishing with a professional angler to do a story about a new lure. Sure it was a hot lure that everyone wants, but secretly the professional angler confided in me that his stash of balsa wood crankbaits was his real treasure which catches fish year round on most reservoirs and rivers. Building and painting these true treasures demands craftsmanship as a constructional engineer in additional to being an artistic graphic designer when painting the finished balsa wood crankbaits. James Marshall, owner of On The Line Crankbaits, designs, builds, and paints custom built balsa wood crankbaits.

The art of building custom balsa wood crankbaits doesn’t come easy and you won’t learn to do it overnight. Often you have to learn to do it the hard way which can prove to be an expensive lesson. Marshall has followed in the steps of other custom balsa wood crankbait builders through stages of learning. “I didn’t have anyone to show me the way,” Marshall continued, “as fate would have it, I found a used machine in Kentucky and learned how to use it myself. Of course, I had to learn how to make a mold first to make the crankbaits.” Before an angler can fish with them On The Line Crankbaits goes through a 35 step process. Each one has to be cut, sanded, dipped in a special primer, dried, eye placed or painted on, lips cut and installed, painted, clear coated three times before being completed and tank tested. One of the most important parts is the lip on a balsa wood crankbait. On The Line Crankbaits come with one  polycarbonate-lexan bills, molded lips, circuit board-micarta lips depending on the model. Each has their own advantages to using it. “My Poe’s 300 and 400 body styles have a mold lip and is built from cedar to increase action and depth; in fact it’s the only ones I make with cedar while the new DJ 2.0 has a micarta lip,” said Marshall. Besides the wooden bodies and special lips On The Line Crankbaits have a custom paint finish. “All of the color patterns represent a shad, crawfish, perch, bream, or some kind of forage a bass will eat, but what I am really excited about is my new HD-High Definition with gills and face paint designs,” said Marshall. Living in North Carolina, Marshall sees a trend in color patterns used by anglers in nearby waters. “In North Carolina chartreuse classic, school bus, anchovies, citrus, homer, and Clark Gable are popular color patterns, but blue heron is the best seller,” said Marshall.

Why do professional anglers prefer balsa wood crankbaits over molded plastic ones? The best difference is how these balsa wood crankbaits react in the water. Balsa wood crankbaits have an enticing movement backing up when paused; in addition to tracking or running erratically when retrieved. As for which model balsa wood crankbait professional anglers prefer, they keep it simple using flat sided balsa wood crankbaits on bluebird days when a more subtle action is required to catch bass and a round sided balsa wood crankbait when fishing around wood or cover for a erratic bouncing action.

On The Line Crankbaits have over 10 different shapes available including flat sided, oval, cigar shape topwater, and a new wake bait style. They are available online at www.onthelinecrankbaits.com, Phone (336)215-5315 or check out his Facebook page at One The Line Crankbaits.

Now the secret is out, but you have the advantage of knowing why and which style of balsa wood crankbait to get. Why not get what the pros are using to catch more and bigger stringers of bass. It can be our little secret.

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Custom Balsa Wood Crankbaits by On The Line Crankbaits was provided by Brad Wiegmann Outdoors for On The Line Crankbaits.