Super User Catch and Grease Posted July 4, 2014 Super User Posted July 4, 2014 Without electronics you are just guessing where to throw the crank and how deep to run it. Waste of fishing time IMO. Won't be able to see any breaks or underwater points or any other structure that will hold fish. Might as well cover your eyes with a bandanna and start casting. The exception would be square bills of course. Crankbaits and electronics are like peanut butter and jelly, but I was just saying crankbaits can produce if you can find the fish and you don't always need electronics to do that. Quote
bassnbornboy Posted July 4, 2014 Author Posted July 4, 2014 Well, you want it to get to where the fish are! Cranking is an electronics game really. If you see the fish on a break in 10 feet of water then you back off and get a crank down there. For the crank you mentioned, it will dive 13 feet with 10 pound mono. So with 12# fluoro it would dive to about 12 feet, 12# mono about 11 feet. So I would choose one of those two. You want to crank it down until it hits bottom and then reel as slow as possible to still make bottom contact. Another example. If you saw fish in 8 feet of water, you would take that same crank and tie it on 14# line to get it to dive about 8-9 feet. If you do not have multiple rods to adjust depth with, then you need multiple cranks covering all depths and each one of those cranks in different colors so you can switch cranks to hit the right depth. You don't want to be adjusting depth with crank speed unless you absolutely need to, it will be hard to duplicate over and over. Okay so let's say I have a crankbait with a running depth of 8-14 feet. What pound line to run at 8 feet? At 14? Is there a way to go more/less than that range? Quote
Kevin22 Posted July 4, 2014 Posted July 4, 2014 Crankbaits are rated on 10# line for maximum depth. So the 14 feet would be with 10# mono. You can drop down to 8# flouro and get an extra foot or two as well.. If you don't mind breaking off a ton of cranks. To get it to run at 8' is just a guessing game. I'd say with a range that broad it would be 14-17# mono. You'd have to find a spot of 8' water and give it a toss to see how each crank runs. A great tip I saw on a pro's video once was to learn your cranks! Spend a day on the water when the fish aren't biting just learning your crankbaits. Pick a brand that you want to learn and learn it. For instance, strike king crankbaits (my favorite). Get some series 3, 3xd, 4, 5, 5xd, 6, 6xd and learn them. Toss them on different lines to known depths and see how deep each one dives. Write it down as you go, with the brand and poundage of line and how deep the crank went on that line. When you are all done make a couple copies and have them laminated. Put one in your boat and keep the others for your record. That way lets say you are on the water and are marking a big school of fish 12' down over 20' of water. You can pull out your sheet and see that you found out a series 5 will dive 12 with 12# seaguar invizx. So you grab your reel that has the correct line, slap it on a crankbait rod if it isnt already, tie on the series 5 and catch those fish. Quote
bassnbornboy Posted July 4, 2014 Author Posted July 4, 2014 Crankbaits are rated on 10# line for maximum depth. So the 14 feet would be with 10# mono. You can drop down to 8# flouro and get an extra foot or two as well.. If you don't mind breaking off a ton of cranks. To get it to run at 8' is just a guessing game. I'd say with a range that broad it would be 14-17# mono. You'd have to find a spot of 8' water and give it a toss to see how each crank runs. A great tip I saw on a pro's video once was to learn your cranks! Spend a day on the water when the fish aren't biting just learning your crankbaits. Pick a brand that you want to learn and learn it. For instance, strike king crankbaits (my favorite). Get some series 3, 3xd, 4, 5, 5xd, 6, 6xd and learn them. Toss them on different lines to known depths and see how deep each one dives. Write it down as you go, with the brand and poundage of line and how deep the crank went on that line. When you are all done make a couple copies and have them laminated. Put one in your boat and keep the others for your record. That way lets say you are on the water and are marking a big school of fish 12' down over 20' of water. You can pull out your sheet and see that you found out a series 5 will dive 12 with 12# seaguar invizx. So you grab your reel that has the correct line, slap it on a crankbait rod if it isnt already, tie on the series 5 and catch those fish. Alright! Talk about descriptive answers. Thanks Bro! 1 Quote
Super User aavery2 Posted July 4, 2014 Super User Posted July 4, 2014 Without electronics you are just guessing where to throw the crank and how deep to run it. Waste of fishing time IMO. Won't be able to see any breaks or underwater points or any other structure that will hold fish. Might as well cover your eyes with a bandanna and start casting. The exception would be square bills of course. Rick Clunn won 4 classic titles, largely fishing crankbaits without the aid of modern day electronics. I admit electronics make it much quicker , but it can be done without. Quote
Kevin22 Posted July 4, 2014 Posted July 4, 2014 I'm sure he had some sort of depth finder on that boat. They've been around since before B.A.S.S was founded. I remember a picture of bill dance when he was a young man holding up a bass on an old tri-hull boat with an old super 60 on it. Quote
Super User Catch and Grease Posted July 4, 2014 Super User Posted July 4, 2014 Everyone has a depth finder on their boat, its a line and sinker. Quote
Super User Montanaro Posted July 4, 2014 Super User Posted July 4, 2014 You gonna drop that line and sinker over every square foot? 1 Quote
Super User Catch and Grease Posted July 4, 2014 Super User Posted July 4, 2014 You gonna drop that line and sinker over every square foot? No, because I have a depth finder Quote
Super User Catch and Grease Posted July 4, 2014 Super User Posted July 4, 2014 I was mainly just trying to be a smart arse, fishing a big lake that your not familiar with without electronics is gonna be very difficult Cranking that is Quote
Super User whitwolf Posted July 4, 2014 Super User Posted July 4, 2014 To the OP. You're going to get many different answers and the only thing you can do Is see what works best for you. I know it's nice to have a starting point and like the rest of us It's how you learn. If you have the time I highly suggest reading this: http://www.bassresource.com/fish/crankbaits.html I don't have the time at the moment but I'm going to try and find either and article or some posts from a guy named chris who broke down the crank bait like I have never seen. aavery, durn fine post, I don't think you should ever apologize for passing along Information! Quote
Super User whitwolf Posted July 19, 2014 Super User Posted July 19, 2014 a bump for this: http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/72766-a-rare-insight-into-crankbait-fishing/ Quote
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