Watching the lipless crankbait in its lip fly in the opposite direction in a wad of hooks and line when the bass throws the lure is enough to make you break your rod. Robertson fishes crankbaits on a fiberglass rod to allow the fish to run without throwing the bait. You want to keep pressure on them without letting them throw it. Robertson goes with the lightest line possible to get maximum vibration and action. But he has used as heavy as 25-pound test to keep a bait swimming above the milfoil in just 2 feet of water.
Heavier line reduces action but keeps the lure from sinking as much.
Thomas also uses a fiberglass rod. When the fish hits while you're using a fiberglass rod, it gives you more flexibility, too, when you're setting the hook. Fiberglass is more flexible than graphite or the hybrid rods combining the two materials. Once hooked, a fish can move, swim, dive and jump on line spooled to a reel on a fiberglass rod and have less chance of jumping off. Robertson believes some anglers overlook specifics about lure color, water color and the dominant forage, which hurts their chances of success.