Crank Bait Depth

[russ8605]

i was doing some reading about using crank bait and it was saying how important it is to make sure that the crank bait hits it max depth for the best chances of luring the fish. but how do you know when it get to that depth or what the depth is of that bait.

[PABASS]

I am not a crank bait fisherman but I do love watching my bass shows and Mr Horton and KVD both suggest several things to make sure your crank bait is performing its best.

First you need to know the depth of the water either by a good topo map, using a pole and a cheap flotation device or maybe just wadding out and using a stick, of course best method would be electronics to confirm what you may already know. This is how you know the depth of the water, if the crankbait is not hitting bottom with a DT16 and you know that water is 12 feet then you crankbait is not performing like it should.

Find a cement pond it might make this easier.

Ways to make crankbaits dive to recommended depth are;

Lighter line 10-12# fluorocarbon will get you down deeper.

Making sure the crankbait is running true, Glenn May has a video on this and if you do a search on youtube you can see it in action.

Hooks, getting away with the biggest hooks that you can.

And making sure the bill of the crankbait is clean and sharp so to speak, youtube this as well.

[BobP]

It's usually pretty simple. Ideally, you want a crankbait to at least touch the bottom or hit cover while you retrieve it. Most bites come as the crankbait deflects off the bottom or off cover. As far as the depth of a particular bait - note on your sonar the depth of the water on a submerged flat and run your crankbait over it to see if it is hitting the bottom. That's really the only way to guarantee a bait is running at a particular depth with the distance you can cast and the line size as determining variables. You will generally find that many crankbaits run shallower than their "advertised depth". For instance, a Norman DD-22 runs 18 ft deep on a 100' cast with 10 lb line. There are some exceptions like the Rapala DT series of baits which usually run to their advertised depth (a DT16 will run 16 ft deep, etc). You should also know that almost without exception, crankbaits run at their max depth for only a short part of the retrieve and it is usually from 30 to 12 ft from the boat. If you want more/earlier bottom contact, you can "over-gun" it by using a crankbait that dives to 12 ft in 8 ft of water, etc

[tomustang]

Depth is usually stated on the box, for some baits out there that don't list a depth you can find them online in blog, retail site, or the manufacturers site.

Results vary by line size and type, but more importaintly if your not reaching your max depth then just go one size deeper.

When it comes to cranks you can get carried away and buy an arsenal, at that point it's always good to scribe or mark each bait for the depth that it does.