Braid Crankers Please Stand Up

[ec1]

Hey guys!

Just got me a Dobyns 705cb glass for jerkbaits, and am definitely going to try to learn how to crank.

Growing up fishing from shore at dams with cranks, braid was always the line of choice versus mono or fluoro (For fish landing purposes as you sometimes had to crane a fish up to 15 feet).

I do think that it will also transmit what the crank is doing much better. I've also heard from guys that don't want to feel anything when they're cranking other than when a fish is on the line.

 

I'm sure there's gotta be someone else out there doing it on braid. Any tips you guys have? Or anyone want to talk me out of this idea?

[Dwight Hottle]

Go for it your instincts are correct.  Since you are using a glass rod you have plenty of give in your system. The braid will get your baits down deeper & transmit better feel because of the no stretch. The braid also helps transmit if your bait picks up any weeds. Hooksets are easier with less drama. Just make sure you play around with your drag between light & medium until you have a chance to get in sync with the new tackle.

[Arv]

I just recently switched my cranking rig to braid and couldn't be happier. Especially using a cranking rod, you should be fine

[rockchalk06]

Go for it your instincts are correct.  Since you are using a glass rod you have plenty of give in your system. The braid will get your baits down deeper & transmit better feel because of the no stretch. The braid also helps transmit if your bait picks up any weeds. Hooksets are easier with less drama. Just make sure you play around with your drag between light & medium until you have a chance to get in sync with the new tackle.

X2

The 705CB will be less forgiving with treble hooks, but like DH said, adjust your drag. I went from mono to braid for cranking and learned the hard way with too heavy of drag set.

My reason for going with braid while cranking was to get my cranks back. I got tired of loosing 5-10 dollar cranks. Braid lets me get most back.

[wnybassman]

I have been using Spiderwire 30 pound Invisi-braid for a few years now.   It's on a St. Croix LTB 7' MH Moderate action.    No major issues.   I feel the rod is slightly wimpy for snapping large cranks out of weeds and a few times a year I will get over excited and cast a little too hard and the line will break on the cast.   If I stay settled down and let the rod do the work that is not an issue.  

 

After using braid for cranking for as long as I have now, I would find it very difficult to switch back.

[dodgeguy]

been cranking with braid on a 6-6 mh fast action rod for years with no problem.just relax your drag and don't horse the fish in.you can feel when a fish starts to suck the bait in before he hits it with my setup.walking the bait over rocks is the best.i use suffix 832 and have no abrasion resistance issues over rocks.you can feel when you're gonna snag and you can stop reeling and let the line go slack.usually it will float up and you can continue cranking.doing this with any other line is no where near as easy.

[Fishwhittler]

Braid is my preferred line for cranking.  My current cranking rod is a 6'10" glass M/M stick, but I plan on replacing it with faster graphite rod sometime.  I'll probably keep using braid when I switch to graphite; I don't bang my rods around and I usually have my drag set at only two or three pounds, so barring a bad rod blank there's little chance the rod will break.

[Marty]

I use braid for everything, including cranking, and haven't noticed any problems.

[flyfisher]

Another happy braid cranker here.....I use 8lb diameter PP on my bps PQ on my kistler helium cranking stick.

[hzzhangc]

X2

The 705CB will be less forgiving with treble hooks, but like DH said, adjust your drag. I went from mono to braid for cranking and learned the hard way with too heavy of drag set.

My reason for going with braid while cranking was to get my cranks back. I got tired of loosing 5-10 dollar cranks. Braid lets me get most back.

Just wondering do you guys use a leader with braid?

[rockchalk06]

Just wondering do you guys use a leader with braid?

Depends on the water clarity and type of cover. If its weeds, grass or pads, I go straight braid. Sticks and rocks, I use a leader for some abrasion resistance.

[hzzhangc]

Depends on the water clarity and type of cover. If its weeds, grass or pads, I go straight braid. Sticks and rocks, I use a leader for some abrasion resistance.

So in most case for cranks the fish wont see the braid? 

[rockchalk06]

So in most case for cranks the fish wont see the braid?

That's a topic that could be debated for years. I've had days where fish didn't seem to be turned off by braid in clear water and days they did. The Alabama rig has shiny wire and fish seem to hit it all the time.

This isn't gospel, but gin clear water a leader would be better. Stained water not so much. If your fishing stained water with no leader around brush, rocks etc, check your line for knicks often.

[hzzhangc]

That's a topic that could be debated for years. I've had days where fish didn't seem to be turned off by braid in clear water and days they did. The Alabama rig has shiny wire and fish seem to hit it all the time.

This isn't gospel, but gin clear water a leader would be better. Stained water not so much. If your fishing stained water with no leader around brush, rocks etc, check your line for knicks often.

Thanks for the reply, I'm just in the same situation that I dont want to lose the crank. I usually use 20 lb braid with 8 lb fluro leader. But in most case when I got snagged I would broke the leader.

[rockchalk06]

Thanks for the reply, I'm just in the same situation that I dont want to lose the crank. I usually use 20 lb braid with 8 lb fluro leader. But in most case when I got snagged I would broke the leader.

Unfortunately when your run a leader with less breaking strength than your main braid line, it will break under your braids breaking point. That's the crappy trade off when using a leader. I run 40# braid and a 20# fluoro leader when I need one. That ups the breaking strength and most factory hooks will bend loose. The KVD elites usually don't for me. But several veterans have said "if your not loosing lures, your not fishing the right places". Kinda why I fish jigs more than cranks. 3.50 is easier on my wallet than 5-10.

[ww2farmer]

Always have, always will crank with braid. 20lb Power pro for me. I fish a lot of grass, on some of the same water as wnybassman, and I have no trouble snapping  cranks free from weeds with cranking rods. BUT I use a longer, and more powerful deep cranking rod than he does, and if they are too much for my smaller cranking rod that I use for traps/square bills, I put those style baits on my swim jig/spinnerbait rod , it has a limber tip, and plenty of back bone. The only time I use a leader is if the pike are on fire. Fluorocarbon holds up to teeth way better than straight braid.

[derekxec]

i do everything with braid...and if they will hit a huge metal umbrella rig why would they care about braid lol

[BradGuenette]

I also fell in love with braid lately for cranking. There are so many upsides to it, stronger, smaller diameter and also comes through grass really well! The only thing I must preach is going to a soft rod and 2x trebles. I have been using the 705cb glass with braid all season and couldn't be happier. I also just got the 805cbRM and will also be spooling up braid on it!

In terms of leaders I usually tie on 4' of 8-10 pound mono so if they make a run close to or under the boat there is some give. I'm not worried about them being line shy.

[Hogsticker]

Okay, I'm standing. I think braid is the perfect compliment to a soft composite or glass rod. It brings the transmissions back into your hand. When fishing from shore, that extra distance braid affords you comes in handy.

[mikeeasttn]

A year ago I went to braid on most of my cranking and swimbait rods.  I use Shimano Crucial rods and custom glass rods for cranks and the same for swimbaits.  One thing I found that helped me was to go down one step on my rods actions.

 

For instance I would go from a heavy rod to a med heavy rod.  This will keep you from tearing the hooks from the fishes mouths and bending out swimbait hooks.  This is more important with the compostite rods than with the glass rods but it also helps when fishing the glass rods for myself.

 

I use Suffix 832 in different strengths but have also left some rods with the co-polymer and mono lines.  I tried loosing the drag on my reels before I went this route but for myself I felt I lost something when trying to set the hook.  Most fisherman I think do not have this problem but in some cases I was not getting a good hookset.

 

Also I gained more distance when casting using the braid.  In some cases with the heavy swimbaits when not using a large cap reel I would have to be careful not to spool the reel when making casts.