Veritas And Mgx For Cranking - What Line Should I Use?

[ChicagoEd]

Hi everyone,

 

I was looking for a little advice.  I am going to be bass fishing Lake Shabbona in Illinois tomorrow.  I plan on doing some cranking on a new setup i am trying out.  My rod is a Vertas Winch 7' Medium 3/8-3/4oz paired with an Abu Garcia MGX reel.  I plan on throwing cranks for bass.  My two main questions are:

 

1) What line do you recommend for this setup?  Fluoro, braid, mono?  Any particular brand you recommend?

2) I'm really slow at tieing my knots so I was thinking of putting a leader on my crank baits so that i can swap them out quickly.  Will that effect my catch rate?  Will it make the cranks run poorly?  Is that a totally wrong thing to do?  Do you recommend a better way to quickly swap crank baits?

 

Thanks for your input!!!

[tbone1993]

I would say upgrade the rod to a nice glass rod and have a great crankbait setup. Not trying to **** on the veritas but it really is a $45 rod paired with a much more expensive reel.  That being said 12lb fluorocarbon, seaguar* or berkley 100% fluorocarbon.  Get faster at tying knots a snap is just another ***** in the chain. Its just one more thing to go wrong imo. If you are changing your bait that means that you are not catching fish so what is the hurry? I never changes baits when I am catching fish so I just tie directly to the bait.

[ChicagoEd]

Tbone, thanks for the info.  Yes, I change baits when I'm not catching fish.  I'd like to spend more time casting than swapping out lures.  I will definately start working on improving my knot tying skills.  Was just hoping there was a faster way.  What rod do you recommend for cranking?  You mentioned Veritas is a crappy rod, what do you think would pair nicely with the MGX?  And why a glass rod?  Are those better than graphite rods?

[gr8outdoorz]

Hi everyone,

 

I was looking for a little advice.  I am going to be bass fishing Lake Shabbona in Illinois tomorrow.  I plan on doing some cranking on a new setup i am trying out.  My rod is a Vertas Winch 7' Medium 3/8-3/4oz paired with an Abu Garcia MGX reel.  I plan on throwing cranks for bass.  My two main questions are:

 

1) What line do you recommend for this setup?  Fluoro, braid, mono?  Any particular brand you recommend?

2) I'm really slow at tieing my knots so I was thinking of putting a leader on my crank baits so that i can swap them out quickly.  Will that effect my catch rate?  Will it make the cranks run poorly?  Is that a totally wrong thing to do?  Do you recommend a better way to quickly swap crank baits?

 

Thanks for your input!!!

 

As long as you are not throwing deep cranks that MGX and Veritas Winch will be a good setup. I have the Veritas Winch 7'6" MH/M paired with a Revo Winch I throw cranks that dive below 10 ft. For shallow cranks and lipless cranks I prefer a higher speed reel witch is what you have in the MGX. 

1) for line: I like 15lb fluoro for shallow cranks and 10lb fluoro for anything under 10 feet. 

2) for knots: I personally use a DuoLoc snap due to it allowing the bait to wobble freely. This can be achieved also with any loop knot or a split ring. I don't use split rings just because the line can pinch between them and work loose.

 

There are many ways to fish cranks. You just have to learn what you like the best.

Hope this helps!

[ChicagoEd]

gr8outdoorz!  Thank you for that info!  Incredibly helpful.  I have the abu rvo3 winch that i swap out when i throw deep cranks.  but I do use my veritas/mgx setup for shallow to mid, at least thats what i have been trying .  I like it because I noticed i dont get snagged up as much because it seems to pull out of snags pretty quickly.  With that said, i still havent caught anything in my last two outings, which is why i'm a little tired of tieing and retieing lures.  I like the 15lb fluoro recommendation, i'll expiriment with that on and see how it runs.  I mostly throw the xcalibur xr50 and xrk50 lipless but also a few of the strike king shallow and mid square bills.  I'll try that fluoro on my setup. 

 

I love that duoloc snap recommendation. Are you putting the lure directly on the snap?  Or do you have a line tied to each lure and than just loop it on the snap?     

 

Thanks again for the advice!

[Koofy Smacker]

I would say upgrade the rod to a nice glass rod and have a great crankbait setup. Not trying to **** on the veritas but it really is a $45 rod paired with a much more expensive reel.  That being said 12lb fluorocarbon, seaguar* or berkley 100% fluorocarbon.  Get faster at tying knots a snap is just another ***** in the chain. Its just one more thing to go wrong imo. If you are changing your bait that means that you are not catching fish so what is the hurry? I never changes baits when I am catching fish so I just tie directly to the bait.

Just curious. How is the veritas a $45 rod?

[ChicagoEd]

Just curious. How is the veritas a $45 rod?

Not sure, I paid $99 for mine at BassPro.  Are they sold for less through other outlets?

[Koofy Smacker]

Not that I have seen. They are all 99 unless you find them on sale somewhere but never down to 45 dollars...

[Diggy]

I tie the line directly to a snap using a trilene knot and then just change the lures as needed. I put the snap thru the split ring thats on the lure. 

 

99.9% of the time. I use fluoro. mono, yo zuri hybrid.....  12lb ...I dont care

 

I have a rod with braid also Ill use if thats the only one I have on me or sometimes I want to rip lipless cranks out of heavier weed

[ChicagoEd]

I tie the line directly to a snap using a trilene knot and then just change the lures as needed. I put the snap thru the split ring thats on the lure. 

 

99.9% of the time. I use fluoro. mono, yo zuri hybrid.....  12lb ...I dont care

 

I have a rod with braid also Ill use if thats the only one I have on me or sometimes I want to rip lipless cranks out of heavier weed

Thanks Diggy, I think gr8outdoorz suggested that same strategy.  I'm going to try it tomorrow on 15lb fluoro.  Hopefully i dont get skunked again.

[ChicagoEd]

I tie the line directly to a snap using a trilene knot and then just change the lures as needed. I put the snap thru the split ring thats on the lure. 

 

99.9% of the time. I use fluoro. mono, yo zuri hybrid.....  12lb ...I dont care

 

I have a rod with braid also Ill use if thats the only one I have on me or sometimes I want to rip lipless cranks out of heavier weed

Diggy, what size snap do you use?

[ColdSVT]

Just curious. How is the veritas a $45 rod?

well kinda it is...since it costs less than 45 bucks to make lol.

just like almost every single rod out there at that price point

[Diggy]

Diggy, what size snap do you use?

Honestly, I dont even know. I just look on the shelf and buy one that looks sturdy

[ChicagoEd]

Honestly, I dont even know. I just look on the shelf and buy one that looks sturdy

sounds good, I'll just look for one that seems sized correctly for my cranks.  Thanks!

[tbone1993]

Just curious. How is the veritas a $45 rod?

 

If you look in a dealer book they show cost and recommended msrp and such. Theyre around 45-55 to purchase as a dealer suggested msrp is $99.  I prefer reels from a reel manufacturer and rods from a rod manufacturer. The dobyns glass rods are awesome as well as the st croix glass rods.  For the mgx i would go higher end. Nothing wrong with having the veritas in your arsenal  I just wouldnt pair that with my best reel. 

[jtesch]

_{I've been using Senshi mono and love it for cranking. The line has an oily feel to it like it was treated with a conditioner from the factory and is super smooth and nicely priced}

[Koofy Smacker]

If you look in a dealer book they show cost and recommended msrp and such. Theyre around 45-55 to purchase as a dealer suggested msrp is $99.  I prefer reels from a reel manufacturer and rods from a rod manufacturer. The dobyns glass rods are awesome as well as the st croix glass rods.  For the mgx i would go higher end. Nothing wrong with having the veritas in your arsenal  I just wouldnt pair that with my best reel. 

St Croixs have a markup of over 60% on their legends.. Just for comparisons sake. Doesnt make it a cheap rod if it only costs 100 to make, because they spend a lot more than that developing it.

 

Not to derail the thread. To answer the OP, if yor going with shallow to medium divers I would start with either 12-15 lb mono or fluoro. Mono brand doesnt really matter, fluoro stick with Seaguar or Berkley 100%

[Quitlimpin]

_{I've been using Senshi mono and love it for cranking. The line has an oily feel to it like it was treated with a conditioner from the factory and is super smooth and nicely priced}

Senshi is a fantastic line but I've found it's abrasion resistance to be far from adequate. I love it for deep/open water fishing, but if I'm in any kind of timber or rocks, it's a heartbreak waiting to happen.

[flyfisher]

If you look in a dealer book they show cost and recommended msrp and such. Theyre around 45-55 to purchase as a dealer suggested msrp is $99. I prefer reels from a reel manufacturer and rods from a rod manufacturer. The dobyns glass rods are awesome as well as the st croix glass rods. For the mgx i would go higher end. Nothing wrong with having the veritas in your arsenal I just wouldnt pair that with my best reel.

It isn't a $45 dollar rod to make it is probably 1/2 of wholesale cost otherwise how would they make money?? Besides, a rod is worth what people are willing to pay and the veritas is a nice rod for the price.

Anyways I would use whatever line as they all seem to work. I personally run 8lb diameter power pro super slick tied to a snap to facilitate easier bait changes.