When the air temperatures in this neck of the woods starting climbing into triple digits we go out with one thing in mind, top-water bass.
However, there are times when bass are just a little shy about hitting the surface. There are niche baits designed specifically for this situation. Yup, we’re talking about wake baits.
Today we’re going to look at the Storm Arashi Rattling Wake-Crank to see how this new addition to the Arashi family performs.
The Spec’s
The Wake-Crank is 2 3/8 inches with a weight of 9/16 oz. The bill is made using circuit board material as well as incorporating Arashi’s self-tuning line tie. The belly hook hanger is rotated so that you can change out the hooks in favor of a larger size if you choose to but the stock hooks are more than adequate for the bait.
The hooks that come with the bait are short shank, round bend trebles with the rear hook being slightly smaller than the belly hook. With this configuration, there is no way for them to foul on each other either when casting or during the retrieve.
The body of the bait has wide shoulders with a narrow tail that has specially designed grooves that help give the bait its wide wobbling action. There is also molded in gill plates with 3D eyes to complete the package.
The Wake-Crank is available in more than a dozen colors generally designed to imitate some form of baitfish with a few flashy patterns included.
The only color that we have fished is the Black Chart Shad. The bait that we obtained had no obvious imperfections on it. The finish was consistent, hooks sharp, split rings all round and closed. So far, so good.
Our Rig and Retrieves
We fished this on a Daiwa Tatula rod mated with a Tatula Type R reel spooled with 10lb Hi-Seas Grand Slam Co-Polymer line.
This rig allows for excellent distance with the Wake-Crank as well as having the power to control fish around cover.
Our first cast with the Arashi, as with all new lures, is short so that we can really examine a baits characteristics on the retrieve. With the Wake-Crank the rattle makes itself known immediately. It is loud with a fairly high-pitched clack against the sides of the chamber.
The action of the bait is that of a true wake bait. In other words, this bait stays very near the surface always creating a wake. It does not dive to the point that it disappears from sight. On the contrary, it always has some part of the lure, however small, visible at the surface.
The tail of this bait is where the action is as it kicks out hard in its side to side wobble. The combination of its wobble and rattle combine to create a noisy surface disturbance that can call fish from distance.
Simple, Not Simplistic
This is not an idiot bait, meaning, you don’t simply throw it out then wind it in waiting for a fish to strike. We have found that varying your retrieve is the most effective way to fish the Arashi Wake-Crank. There are so many ways to fish this. It’s only limited in the sense that it will not dive.
One of the ways that have produced multiple fish for us is to start cranking it in and as you’re reeling, simply slow down then speed back up again. You can change the cadence with every cast until you find what the fish are looking for.
Another retrieve is to incorporate short pops of the rod tip as if you were using a walk the dog style lure. Again, varying your speed as you’re doing this seems to be key to enticing the strikes.
You might also try casting the Wake-Crank out and employing a start-stop retrieve. The pauses are up to you but don’t need to be consistent. On the contrary, the more erratic we were able to make the bait behave, the more fish we’ve caught.
In our testing, using the mindset of making the lure appear like a fleeing, flailing, dying baitfish the more attention we got.
Most of the fish that have come on the Arashi have come out of nowhere to absolutely crush this bait. We haven’t seen followers that peel off at the last second. When they hit this plug, they hit it with the intent of eating it.
Our hook-up percentage has been excellent. This plug just seems to be bite sized so that every fish we’ve landed has had more than one hook point solidly in the jaw.
Lots of folks enjoy fishing top-water baits. However, wake baits can be just as effective if not more so when the bass are short striking more traditional surface plugs.
The Storm Arashi Wake-Crank has proven to be reliable, better than average in durability and certainly able to draw strikes from bass.
| Storm Arashi Rattling Wake-Crank | |
|---|---|
| Overall Rating |   |
| A sturdy, inexpensive & effective lure | |
See ya’ on the water …
