Who fishes cranks!

[SKramer]

This year I really want to get down with some crankbaits. I have never caught a fish on a crankbait, probably because I never throw them but still. I need some advice from those of you that actually go out and rip em! My main question is what action/power rod do I need?! I'm probably going to be using medium to deep diving cranks. What reel should I use? Do I want a 7.1.1? or a 5.3.1? whats the deal!


Tell me what you use!

[HawgZWylde]

I use a medium power 7' rod with a 6:4, my rod has a very parabolic bend to it and works quite nicely. Use 10lb fluorocarbon line to get the bait down deeper, unless you are running a shallow runner on the bank, then 12-15lb line is fine. The 5:3 is better if you have it as it is slower and has more cranking power. My 6:4 works fine for me, I'm just conscientious about keeping it slow. Don't be afraid to bounce it off structure i.e. rocks, wood, etc as that is what triggers strikes. Reel very slowly, when you feel it hit something give it a slight jerk. If you feel it starting to snag, back off a little and slightly "jiggle" the rod and it will usually free up. Expect to lose some, it's the nature of the bait. If you're not hitting structure and losing a few, you are not fishing it correctly. Use different cadence i.e. crank, pause, crank, slight jerk, pause, crank. Vary the amount of time you pause the bait, and count the number of times you crank, varying that as well until you get bit. If the fish are real aggressive you can burn the crankbait, or speed it up if you will. Buy the correct crankbait for the depth you are going to fish it. It takes awhile to get used to it but stick with it, once you learn it, it's a good technique to have in your bag. Feel free to ask more questions. Good luck...

[Dr. MindBendo]

It's lots of fun catching bass with cranks. I would recommend a 5.3.1 reel for fishing crankbaits since you want a slower retrieve. Other than that what Hawgzwylde posted is spot on.

[basstard2013]

Its important to tune your crankbaits to ensure they run straight. Some situations will require your lure to veer to the left or right a bit but generally you want it to run straight. The presentation will look more natural and the bait will preform like it is designed to ie. diving to the correct depth. Go on Youtube and search "Tuning Crankbaits" for some demonstrations on how to tune your lures. Hope this helps.

[SKramer]

I use a medium power 7' rod with a 6:4, my rod has a very parabolic bend to it and works quite nicely. Use 10lb fluorocarbon line to get the bait down deeper, unless you are running a shallow runner on the bank, then 12-15lb line is fine. The 5:3 is better if you have it as it is slower and has more cranking power. My 6:4 works fine for me, I'm just conscientious about keeping it slow. Don't be afraid to bounce it off structure i.e. rocks, wood, etc as that is what triggers strikes. Reel very slowly, when you feel it hit something give it a slight jerk. If you feel it starting to snag, back off a little and slightly "jiggle" the rod and it will usually free up. Expect to lose some, it's the nature of the bait. If you're not hitting structure and losing a few, you are not fishing it correctly. Use different cadence i.e. crank, pause, crank, slight jerk, pause, crank. Vary the amount of time you pause the bait, and count the number of times you crank, varying that as well until you get bit. If the fish are real aggressive you can burn the crankbait, or speed it up if you will. Buy the correct crankbait for the depth you are going to fish it. It takes awhile to get used to it but stick with it, once you learn it, it's a good technique to have in your bag. Feel free to ask more questions. Good luck...


Hell yeah Hawgz! thats exactly what im looking for! Appreciate it sir! What rod do you use. Im in love with dobyns so im probably going to look for a crankbait rod from them. And what are your go to brands for cranks?

[SKramer]

So would you say a medium power rod is ideal for cranks? what would be the pros and cons between a M and MH

[dockboy]

If you want a Dobyns, go with a 705cb. The 704 is great for small stuff but will be overloaded by larger cranks like a Norman DLN.

[HawgZWylde]

So would you say a medium power rod is ideal for cranks? what would be the pros and cons between a M and MH

Yes, but with that being said, find one with a good parabolic bend to it. All manufacturers have different bends, some have too much backbone in the middle of the rod, some are just spaghetti. The rod I use I found kind of by accident. I can't spend a boatload of cash on gear at this point in time so I use certain rods and reels for multi purposes. A few years ago I was at BPS and they had a sale on their extreme reels for 49 bucks. Ya, the green color is kinda loud but they really are pretty good reels. Well, at a later date, they had a sale with a combo that included a "special edition" rod and the older version of the extreme reel (HT10HA). I bought it just for the reel as I found the extremes to work very well. I have 5 and after hundreds of LMB's caught, they have never failed me, and I can cast a country mile with no birdnests using any bait and line combination. They had 2 left, a medium, and an MH, I bought the medium. It's a really cheap rod but it turned out to work perfect for the crankbait techniques that I employ. And here's the kicker, I lost that rod a year ago January at DVL and found it this past January. It was covered with moss and algae. I took it home and cleaned it up, it has some minor cosmetic damage but still worked fine. I took the reel completely apart, everything inside looked as if it was still brand new. I re-oiled and greased it and it works absolutely perfect. Not bad for a 59$$ investment huh?

I just bought a Dobyn's rod from Last Chance a few months back and now I am going to replace all 9 of my rods one by one with them. To me, they are that good. Not sure I'll replace that cheap BPS rod though as it really works good for me, but as dockboy said, if you use the larger cranks, you might want something with a little more bone to it as the one I use does load up with the bigger cranks. Just make sure it still possesses a good parabolic bend to it. There are many crankbait specific glass rods out there as well. Don't buy one that's stiff, you don't want to yank the trebles out of the fish's mouth.

As for the crankbaits themselves, I just match the hatch. Shad, bluegill, and crawdad colors. Floating, suspending, silent, or rattle, you just have to let the fish tell you what they want. There are so many out there that work I couldn't begin to list them all but I will say this, at BPS, there is a discount bin with cheap cranks you can buy for about 2 bucks apiece, I'll buy several then take them home and paint them using various colors of finger nail paint, again, I match the hatch of the body of water I'm fishing. I also change out the cheap trebles and replace with owners. Some I add feathered trailer hooks to, others I don't. I painted one up to look like a goldfish and added orange feathered trailer hooks, it works killer when the fish are active, aggressive, and on the banks. I also use Strike kings, Normans, Rapala's, Luck-E-Strike, Lucky Craft, Bandits, etc. etc. Far too many to list but most do work. I stick with natural colors in clear water and go to chartreuse in stained water, and in dark or heavily stained water, I'll use black or red.

Here is a good read from TackleWarehouse regarding crankbaits and gear;
http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/guides/crankbaits.html

Hope this helps ya! Good luck...

[Caliyak]

Kramer, I'm a kayak guy so I troll cranks. Cranks can be rewarding trolling along rocks, weeds, trees and structures. This past weekend I caught a 14in rainbow on a crank. I am currently using a Bomber Fat A. I have used Rapala also. I troll cranks in the fall, winter and prespawn. I will troll top water cranks in the hot summer nights. keep in mind, I'm on a kayak trolling for exercise and for fishing. :Smile:

[SKramer]

Yes, but with that being said, find one with a good parabolic bend to it. All manufacturers have different bends, some have too much backbone in the middle of the rod, some are just spaghetti. The rod I use I found kind of by accident. I can't spend a boatload of cash on gear at this point in time so I use certain rods and reels for multi purposes. A few years ago I was at BPS and they had a sale on their extreme reels for 49 bucks. Ya, the green color is kinda loud but they really are pretty good reels. Well, at a later date, they had a sale with a combo that included a "special edition" rod and the older version of the extreme reel (HT10HA). I bought it just for the reel as I found the extremes to work very well. I have 5 and after hundreds of LMB's caught, they have never failed me, and I can cast a country mile with no birdnests using any bait and line combination. They had 2 left, a medium, and an MH, I bought the medium. It's a really cheap rod but it turned out to work perfect for the crankbait techniques that I employ. And here's the kicker, I lost that rod a year ago January at DVL and found it this past January. It was covered with moss and algae. I took it home and cleaned it up, it has some minor cosmetic damage but still worked fine. I took the reel completely apart, everything inside looked as if it was still brand new. I re-oiled and greased it and it works absolutely perfect. Not bad for a 59$$ investment huh?

I just bought a Dobyn's rod from Last Chance a few months back and now I am going to replace all 9 of my rods one by one with them. To me, they are that good. Not sure I'll replace that cheap BPS rod though as it really works good for me, but as dockboy said, if you use the larger cranks, you might want something with a little more bone to it as the one I use does load up with the bigger cranks. Just make sure it still possesses a good parabolic bend to it. There are many crankbait specific glass rods out there as well. Don't buy one that's stiff, you don't want to yank the trebles out of the fish's mouth.

As for the crankbaits themselves, I just match the hatch. Shad, bluegill, and crawdad colors. Floating, suspending, silent, or rattle, you just have to let the fish tell you what they want. There are so many out there that work I couldn't begin to list them all but I will say this, at BPS, there is a discount bin with cheap cranks you can buy for about 2 bucks apiece, I'll buy several then take them home and paint them using various colors of finger nail paint, again, I match the hatch of the body of water I'm fishing. I also change out the cheap trebles and replace with owners. Some I add feathered trailer hooks to, others I don't. I painted one up to look like a goldfish and added orange feathered trailer hooks, it works killer when the fish are active, aggressive, and on the banks. I also use Strike kings, Normans, Rapala's, Luck-E-Strike, Lucky Craft, Bandits, etc. etc. Far too many to list but most do work. I stick with natural colors in clear water and go to chartreuse in stained water, and in dark or heavily stained water, I'll use black or red.

Here is a good read from TackleWarehouse regarding crankbaits and gear;
http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/guides/crankbaits.html

Hope this helps ya! Good luck...

Much appreciated! Thanks for your time it really helped me out a lot!!