New Crankbaits Need Help???

[hawghunters]

My suggestion would be look for the most bang for your buck. It will allow you to have even more crankbaits. Honestly I get a lot of my crankbaits at dicks sporting goods. The Excalibur crankbaits the have there are like $3 as well as miscellaneous strike king and bomber cranks will be on sale. Take on of those $25 off $100 purchased coupons and that will be a TON of crankbaits haha. I throw a lot of my crankbaits in cover so buyin lucky strike isn't much of an option. I only use their pointers cause most decent jerkbaits are over $10.

[roadwarrior]

Don't spend all of your money at once, other things pop up all the time.

[wwarren8200]

Thanks for the tips I might check out Timber Tigers but Im going to for sure buy some 10XD's. You guys should go check out a very good friend of mines website www.BERcustompainting.net/blog he does custom paint jobs on crankbaits and has a fair price for it too. Thanks,Will W.

[Crankinstein]

definitely check out some cranks with different bill styles too. Luck E Strike RC Freak and Freak Jr have a deep diving square bill lip that offers some great action. River 2 Sea cranky M is another good one. If your looking for more main stream brands I'd recommend Rapala DT series as well as SK KVD series plus the original SK series as well. As always replace hooks and make sure your baits are running true. For colors I'd say fire tiger, craw, sexy shad, and natural shad are all good starting points depending on water color and available forage. You can always sub a few colors in and out depending on what you local lake has to offer.

[wwarren8200]

Thanks man I only wish I could afford Lucky Craft. I am getting some SK though, thanks, Will W.

[wwarren8200]

Thanks for the great advice, Will W.

[NathanW]

Dont buy a 10XD unless you have a rod that can handle them, same goes for 5xd and 6xd. It would be a waste of money. I have not thrown the 10XD yet but I prefer to throw the 5 and 6XDs on a 7'11" MH glass rod. The 10XD might require a rod of the same length but with less bend like possibly a swimbait rod or a graphite crankbait rod.

Thanks for the tips I might check out Timber Tigers but Im going to for sure buy some 10XD's. You guys should go check out a very good friend of mines website www.BERcustompainting.net/blog he does custom paint jobs on crankbaits and has a fair price for it too. Thanks,Will W.

[wwarren8200]

My crankin rod can definitely handle 10XD's. It is 7' 11" Heavy and casts 3/8-1 1/2. Thanks,Will W.

[WIGuide]

The 10XD comes in at just under 2oz. so that'd be stretching the limits of your rod. 

Personally these are the majority of the crankbaits I throw:

Xcalibur Square bills

Rapala DT10's 

Bomber Fat Free Fry -cover the same depth as the dt's but offer a smaller profile

Rapala DT 14's 

Bomber Fat Free Shad

I've also got other cranks to fill in other specific niches I want covered, but this accounts for the majority of mine. 

[wwarren8200]

Nice choices those would kill em here! My rod is pretty stiff as it is a mostly graphite rod. It handles 10XD's and bama rigs like a machine. Thanks,Will W.

[mprestonSEK]

I agree with the majority here, SK squarebills are a good place to start. Pick up the some shad and bluegill patterns and go from there. Another crankbait series to take into consideration would be the Bandit series(100,200). Another great crank that always runs true and produces fish.

[TorqueConverter]

I really like the BPS XPS cranks.  I know they are a cheapy house brand but their actions are top dollar, atleast for the baits I have thrown.

 

Working your way down the water column:

 

The big size 3/4oz BPS The Egg is a killer wakebait and a big fish producer.  I prefer it to the Ima Roumba because it can be powerfished down to about 10'' and tear through cover like a squarebill due to it's high stability.

 

My favorite squarebill is the BPS XPS Silent Squarebill.  Its very high bounacy, light weight plastic and fantastic action have allowed me to have some great days on the water.  It has consistantly kicked the crud out of every similar sized squarebill I own but it's not what I would call a big fish bait due to its size.  It's rated up to 5 feet but don't believe it.  It's a 3 footer all day long.

 

I really like the BPS XPS Deep Diver for the 15 foot range.  It's got a nice tail kicking action with a bit of roll to flash those two tone colors at the fish.  The action is a bit slow, but the movents are good.  Loud knocker rattle, good color selection ect.

 

 

The Rapla DTs are great as well.  I don't think there is a finer 6 foot crank than the DT-6.  If there is, I'd loved to see it.  The DT-20 is also a fine bait.  I prefer the Dt-20s to the 6XD but the 6XDs are much cheaper and have a very similar action, just a bit slower. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[wwarren8200]

Thanks for the great advice! It really helped me out. Thanks,Will W.

[backcast88]

I have a few Strike King's and I don't really care for them. 

 

I prefer Spro and Rapala crankbaits.  I have used some Bandit's and Bomber's but find myself reaching for a Spro or Rapala b/c I seem to catch way more fish with them and I have more confidence with them.  If I was spending $180 or so I would get:

 

Rapala Shad Rap 07 and/or 08

Rapala DT (any depth would be good)

Spro Little John

Spro Little John MD

Spro Little John DD

Spro Fat Papa 55 or 70

 

I would get a combination of the cranks listed above to cover all water depths.  For colors, I would get a shad pattern, a craw pattern and something bright like chartreuse or citrus shad.

[wwarren8200]

Thanks for the advice. Thanks,Will W.