Top 10 Lucky Craft Lures - #6
By: “Triton” Mike Bucca
(www.tritonmike.com)

With the extensive lineup of baits that Lucky Craft has I can certainly understand why it might cause a lot of people mass confusion on what tool to purchase and for what job. I have received countless emails pertaining to my opinion of various baits in the Lucky Craft lineup. I have been fishing with Lucky Craft lures since the late 90’s and I have also been on the Lucky Craft Pro-staff for the past year and a half. As a fishing guide here in Georgia with over 200 days a year on the water, I have extensive experience in using pretty much every bait in their entire lineup, and several Lucky Craft baits that aren’t even offered here in the U.S. I felt this top 10 list would help ease your pain in your bait selection before you plop down the bucks for one of these fine pieces of craftsmanship. Do keep in mind that these are the top 10 baits that I find myself using most often and they are listed in no particular order.

Be sure to check in here at Probass.net often, as I will give a different review on my top ten Lucky Craft baits that I rely on the most. You just might be surprised to see some of the baits I rely on everyday that you might not think is an effective bait.

#6 Moonsault CB 250

The Moonsault CB250 is my #6 pick of my top 10 Lucky Craft lures. The CB250 comes in 8 different shad and crawfish colors and dives approximately 8-9 feet with 8-10lb fluorocarbon. The CB250 is a slow floater and does not suspend and the entire color selections for the CB250 can be seen in the picture enclosed.

The Moonsault CB250 is a new model crank that has just come out in late 2004 for Lucky Craft. The CB250 comes with dual #6 hooks and is approximately 2.5 inches long and weighs in at a 1/2oz in weight. This bait is kinda like a cross between a regular crankbait and a lipless crankbait. The rattles in this bait are very similar to a lipless crankbait as the rattles are pretty loose for a different sounding rattle than other cranks in this size range. Take a look at the Ghost Minnow picture above to get a better idea on the rattle system setup of the CB250.

The CB 250 is only one of 6 crankbaits in the moonsault line. Find below others listed with their depth diving range from shallowest to deepest to give you the overall picture of the CB Line and I will also include overall length of the baits.

CB 001 = 1 foot/ 3 inches in length
CB 050 = 1.5 foot / 2.2 inches in length
CB 100 = 3 foot / 2.25 inches in length
CB 200 = 6 foot / 2.25 inches in length
CB 250 = 9 foot / 2.5 inches in length
CB 350 = 12 foot / 2.5 inches in length

Smallmouth and Spotted bass combo caught on a CB 250 crankbait on Lake Wheeler on the Tennessee River, just below Guntersville Dam

The CB 250 is my go to ultra clear water crank, but I have to admit the entire Moonsault line is SUPERB!! But if I had to pick one crank out of this lineup it would be the CB 250. When my water clarity gets into the 4ft or greater range I use the smaller profiled CB 250 in place of the bigger profiled Flat CB DR, which I use mostly in deep stained water. To clarify when exactly I use the three top 10 cranks (BDS 4, Flat CB DR and the CB250) already mentioned in previous rankings, I will put them in outline format to eliminate any confusion.

BDS 4 =shallow stained/muddy water
Flat CB DR= Deep stained water
Moonsault CB 250 = Clear deep water

My favorite way to fish the Moonsault CB 250 is to fish sunny rocky shorelines surrounded by clear water. During the colder months, I find a lot of fish moving up and down the bluff walls to feed and to sun themselves on the rocks. Since the rocks on the bluff walls are a notoriously great conductor of heat when the sun shines on them it creates a nice warm thermal refuge for the fish during the colder months of the year. By having my boat positioned right up against the bluff wall I like to make my casts at about a 45 degree angle to the bluff wall so the bait is covering both the shallow part of the rocky shoreline as well as the deeper part and I try to bang as much rock and wood structure as I can to entice a strike. The CB250 enables me to cover both depth ranges effectively in clear water without changing baits. Sun ladened rip-raps are also a very good area to fish the CB 250 as well.

Sunny rocky shorelines like the one above is a prime time place to try the Moonsault CB 250 during those frigid winter days.

I have to admit the biggest disadvantage of the CB 250 right now is it is not available in a variety of colors, actually only 8 colors at this writing. I have a strong notion that the color choices will increase hopefully in the near future. For clearer water applications, I tend to go as natural as possible such as Ghost Minnow, American Shad, and Metallic Ayu. As a general rule of thumb when the water temps get below 45 I tend to reel very slowly just bumping the cover as I go along with brief pauses and this works well since this bait is a slow floater. Water temperatures between 45 and 55 I use a medium speed retrieve and 55 and warmer warp speed with a 6.3.1 gear ratio is the ticket for me especially for spots and smallmouth, which typically like a fast retrieve to begin with.

As far as equipment is concerned, Again, I like to use fluorocarbon line. More specically I like to use 8lb fluorocarbon line when fishing the CB 250. When using 8lb line just be very careful that you check your line and your knot often especially if you are fishing around a lot of rocky areas. Fluorocarbon is a sinking no stretch line and it also allows the crankbait to dive more effectively to its maximum depth by using a small diameter line. Also, due to the low stretch characteristics of fluorocarbon you will have no problem detecting the strikes, which are often very subtle when fishing both crankbaits and jerkbaits. Besides fluorocarbon line being more expensive than most monofilaments, I am finding that fluorocarbon also lasts 3 times longer than regular mono making it a very economical choice for the frugal angler. The most affordable brand of fluorocarbon is Triple Fish Fluorcarbon, which can be found at (www.triplefish.net). Most medium light or medium action rods are great choices for using the CB 250. I like to strictly use a 6ft 6inch rod for the CB 250. It allows me to have more control by having pinpoint accurate casts.

That’s my review of my #6 pick of my most often used Lucky Craft baits. I have found the CB250 is a very effective lure not only for just for clear water applications, but also for different species of fish like Smallmouth and Spots.

BTW were getting closer and closer to #1 and #2 which are my overall favorite Lucky Craft baits to fish.

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