Determining Crankbait Depth

[Texasangler14]

Hey guys, one of my most unproductive lures is a crankbait. I plan to work on this as much as i can over the next few months. My question is about how to choose a depth. I know it depends on what depth im actually in (duh) but i have always thrown a square bill towards a bank and in shallow cover. What i mean is, lets say i want to throw a 6XD and come up on some shallower water, does running a 6XD in 8 - 10 feet hurt its action (i wouldnt think so) but just trying to figure my best plan of attack. This is a noob question and i know it but great advice is always given on this site and i just want to become better with a CB.

[flyingmonkie]

IMO, the more stuff you can bang your crank into, the better!  Unless I'm targeting wood with square bills, then I'm trying to get my crank to drive into the bottom... in which case you'll want a crank designed to go deeper than the water you are fishing.  PLOW BABY, PLOW!

[martintheduck]

Valid question indeed bud. Idea with cranks is to get bottom contact, yes, but when using a crank in its proper depth range, it will scape the bottom and be able to bounce off objects. So say you are throwing a DD22(deep crank for 20ft of water) in 6ft of water.... the action of the bait will be terrible and it will just DIG into the bottom. It will have a terrible action to it. I fish cranks I find myself changing depths or colors regularly, so something I started doing last year was using a swivel clip for my crank baits. I can easily swap out a DD22 for a 5xd and go from fishing 20ft of water to 10 ft of water. 

[TorqueConverter]

Hey guys, one of my most unproductive lures is a crankbait. I plan to work on this as much as i can over the next few months. My question is about how to choose a depth. I know it depends on what depth im actually in (duh) but i have always thrown a square bill towards a bank and in shallow cover. What i mean is, lets say i want to throw a 6XD and come up on some shallower water, does running a 6XD in 8 - 10 feet hurt its action (i wouldnt think so) but just trying to figure my best plan of attack. This is a noob question and i know it but great advice is always given on this site and i just want to become better with a CB.

 

 IMO yes throwing a crank that dives much deeper than the depth you wish to fish hurts the action of the crank by dredging the bottom.   When making momentarily bottom contact with a crank the swimming action is lost but is then regained once off the point of contact.  This is known as deflection.  Keeping the crank in a perpetual state of bottom contact is not the same as keeping it is a perpetual stale of deflection as the bait is never allow to strut its stuff and swim properly.  What is favored in a crank is a fantastic swimming action with, if applicable, the occasional deflection.  A great swimming motion is #1 and this motion must be applied to the appropriate depth.  "appropriate depth" is going to be right around the depth of the lake where you are fishing give or take -+1 foot.

 

IMO the best actions that exist in the crankbait world, be damned the target species, are the Rapala DT series from 4 to 20.  The catch on these baits are that they cannot withstand the abuse from fishing them super shallow so that they dredge the bottom.  If you do this you will experience bill failure.  They need to be swam just off the bottom occasionally making contact with bits of the bottom that stick up.  If you are breaking bills off them then you are probably doing something wrong, unless these wrong things are netting good bags of fish, then you are probably dong something right and a bait change is necessary.  All cranks dredged off the bottom look the same and if that is how you are getting bit then you should probably throw an inferior bait that is able to withstand the abuse unlike the DTs or any Rapala for that matter.

[NathanW]

I always try to use a bait that is a little deeper. You go too much deeper and your are asking to lose that bait unless you really slow your retrieve.

 

I dont think crankbait fishing requires as much science as some do. I have caught so many bass on a SK Pro Model 5 in 4-8 foot of water you wouldnt believe it. As long as you get bottom you will catch fish. Just look for something that casts well and gets into the strike zone quickly. For a guy that has little cranking confidence, go pick up a few SK 3XD in chart shad or gizzard shad and I promise you your luck will change.

[smallieking]

let the fish tell you. sometimes digging a crank into the bottom will trigger bites. a 6xd in ten feet tho would def dig a ditch in the bottom and youll snag up a lot and pick up a lot of debris from the bottom(leaves sticks garbage). And the crank will have no swimming action that is built into the crankbait. I believe the crank has to make contact with the bottom but just enough to make the bait deflect here and there, not too much. I can get a strike series 5 down  to ten feet on ten pound flouro line. this may be a better set up for you. if you want more bottom contact but less than the 6xd try a series 5XD on 15-20lb flouro. the 5xd can get down to 15ft, but with the heavier line it will make it run shallower somewhere around 12feet which would bump the bottom a lot in 10 feet but still have decent swimming action. and with the 5xd your not losing the profile of the bait unlike switching to a 3xd. the 3xd is a much smaller profile which for me never produces the big bite im looking for when im cranking.

[Texasangler14]

great advice fellas. i fish deep lakes now but will be going to shallower water and just thought i would ask. I am embarrassed sometimes how inept i am at cranking. I just always pick up my confidence baits when i get flustered and i never get better. Im trying to change that. I appreciate the help!

[Texasangler14]

I really like the swivel idea. ive read that before, and it doesnt affect the action too much eh? I figured if anything it would allow it to have a bit more since it is able to move side to side more freely.

[martintheduck]

I really like the swivel idea. ive read that before, and it doesnt affect the action too much eh? I figured if anything it would allow it to have a bit more since it is able to move side to side more freely.

 

 

It does give it a wider wobble, for sure. I tend to only take the swivel off in the colder months or if they are short striking me.

[jhoffman]

unless youre really smoking fish you should be changing crankbaits fairly frequently. I personally am trying to get better about that aspect, lazy i guess.

[bigbill]

I use the ball bearing locking snap swivels. Your getting a wider wobble that's for free because the snap swivel acts as a hinge so the side to side movement is smoother too.

I use my hummingbird portable fish finder to tell me how the bottom layout is besides the depth and where the holes are.

Then I can use the proper crankbait for that depth.(I'm fishing from shore) it's no different than a boat only backwards.

I also skip around fan casting the area too. I don't do side by side casts next to each other. I "skip cast" the area. I do use shallow cranks, med depth cranks and deep bottom bouncing cranks were knowing the depth allows me to use the correct depth lure.

[Nice_Bass]

I keep it simple. Dd22 all day er day and another rod with a lipless crank if under 4 feet or so. If I am not digging bottom then I dont fish a crank but I treat it almost like a jig in shallower water and you can end up fishing them fairly slow digging and releasing. Find a brand a love it is the beat advice I could give.