Crankbait Comparison.

[coots]

I am a semi-new serious bass angler. Fished most of my life but it has alaways been texas rigging, spooks, frogs in matted grass etc on Lake Guntersville.

 

I am fixing to broaden my arsenal into the spinnerbait / crankbait lures and I have done a lot of reading here on bassresource and watched a bunch of YouTube videos from here and KVD / Mike Ic and other pros regarding the cranks.

 

Looking around, it appears that Lucky Craft is the top notch 'mercedes' of the crank bait world. I am not willing to dump that kind of money into these portion of my tackle box "yet". Not until I learn more about them and how to fish them.

 

Reading around there seems to be two really decent 'budget' cranks that I am looking into and wanted some opinions on each of those, or some you would say is better than these in this price range.

 

1. Academy Sports H20 Xpress CRS

2. Strike King KVD 1.5 / 2.5's

 

Now I know bassresource video said to buy up 5-6 of different colors and run 'shallow' water cranks until you learn them. Which is fine because me and my boat partner usually don't go into deep water to often. We simply just haven't fished it enough to make an impact when it matters. We plan on getting out there and trying it out this year... but still.

 

We love fishing banks, outlets into the river that have flats and grass just under the water surface, some shallower not deep creeks etc.

 

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

[TNBassin']

The H2o baits are great. All of them. Best value in fishing.

[deaknh03]

I have had good luck with the H2O baits as well. A very good deal, as are many of the Academy lures.

[PondBoss]

I will echo what has been said.  Can't go wrong with H2O baits, and you can get 4-5 for the price of 1 Lucky Craft.  

[War Eagle 44]

I really like the KVD baits, especially the 1.5's. I've caught tons of fish on these lures and they aren't so expensive that you feel horrible if you lose one. I only have three colors of this bait that I fish routinely; Sexy Shad, Chartreuse Black back, & White Black back. If I can't get bit on one of these then usually they aren't hitting squarebills with the exception of one bait, the RC 1.5 in Copper Green Shad color. This bait is my all time favorite squarebill, I really wish SK made a color similar to this but they just don't right now.

 

I guess the only drawback I can think of for the KVD bait is that you need to replace the trebles as soon as you take the bait out of the package. The stock ones are garbage, especially on a body of water like Guntersville where there are lots of big bass.    

[Ima Bass Ninja]

You can get 2 h2o cranks for the price of 1 kvd. Also the h2o line is very diverse and well done as far as color, much better than the kvd. The durability of both are about equal in my eyes.

H2o wins hands down for me.

[Avalonjohn44]

I fish both, prefer the KVD 1.5. They catch more fish for me than anything else. Period. I love the BPS exclusive colors as well, they have sore lipped many a fish in NoVA last year and so far this year...

[Comfortably Numb]

Another vote for the H2O Xpress CRM and CRS for value and performance. The sunfish patterns are real nice.

 

I have been using the new Rapala Scatter Rap Crank in Bluegill and doing even better with that one. The wide lip is very snagless too. No weeds in my lake so not sure how weedless.

 

Caught two 20+ pound carp on it too

[Marty]

I have a KVD 1.5 and it's a good bait.

 

You're new to crankbaiting and may find the selection very daunting, which it is. There are dozens of brands and styles that are effective fish catchers and you will have to make some arbitrary decisions on what to purchase. Decide on a price range and a running depth that corresponds to the water you'll be fishing and buy a few name brands or private brands from stores you trust. After you get a little experience under your belt you'll have a better idea of what you want.

 

Now I know bassresource video said to buy up 5-6 of different colors and run 'shallow' water cranks until you learn them.

 

 

I haven't seen the video, but in my personal belief and experience that is not necessary. Many anglers believe that color is not near the top of the list of factors that make fish bite. I carry no more than two colors, typically something muted, like shad or bluegill, and something louder, like firetiger. Obviously, I have no idea of what my fishing would be like if I carried 5-6 colors, but I'm very confident that adding more crankbait colors is not high on my list of things that I have to do to improve my results.

 

Good luck. I think crankbaits are one of the best lures out there when it comes to attracting strikes.

[Jrob78]

I've gotten to where I try to buy multiples of just a few colors. I like to have a shad, a bluegill and a bright, normally chart/black, blue/chart or firetiger. The H20 baits are great, especially for the money. They have excellent paint jobs and decent components. They also make a silent version now. The KVD cranks and XCalibur XCS cranks are also very good for the money.

[coots]

I'm not sure if this is legal on the forum or not, if it's not please let me know and I'll edit. But KVD explains his color choices and some other parts of crankbait fishing in this article on bassmaster. 

I found it interesting and a little educational for me since I'm new to it.

 

http://www.bassmaster.com/tips/vandams-best-6-crankbait-colors

 

I was thinking that where we typically fish, banks shallow creeks, river openings into the channel etc. I'll probably buy around 6 or 7 of them... 3 in the 'natural' colors in the 1-2ft, down to 6ft and then a deeper diving one for when I practice that depth, 3 in the 'brighter' colors, char/black, firetiger etc. in the same depths and then maybe pick a couple of the bluegill looking ones up. 

 

From my understanding and reading it's natural colors during brighter sunny days and the brighter char/black - firetiger in the murky water cloudy days.

 

Any other tips is greatly appreciated. 

[Hogsticker]

I've never used any of the H2O baits, but in my experience it is worth the extra 2 bucks to buy a bait that has some decent hardware on it. The BPS stuff is a must change IMO. Spro and Xcalibur are a few brands of several that come with quality split rings and hooks that you won't need to swap. I hate changing those suckers

[rockchalk06]

I've never used any of the H2O baits, but in my experience it is worth the extra 2 bucks to buy a bait that has some decent hardware on it. The BPS stuff is a must change IMO. Spro and Xcalibur are a few brands of several that come with quality split rings and hooks that you won't need to swap. I hate changing those suckers

H2O baits come with heavy duty VMC hooks installed. I like H2O hard baits and strike kings. I probably have more SK's than H2O's. That said. The stock SK's hooks suck compared to the VMC's

[Blues19]

I like strike king baits, I also like bomber baits.  You should think about some of the bomber squarebills while your out and about

[PondBoss]

Also a big fan of the Bomber Square-A's it's probably my main shallow crank.  Ask ole' RockChalk I've got a few of every color and lots of a few colors.