Best Budget Cranking Rod

[acmintun]

I am sure this question has been answered before but I was wondering what is a great casting rod for crankbaits. I am on a really tight budget, new father, saving for a wedding etc and Ive had the luck of meeting some very helpful and generous people on here. That being said I really LOVE fishing and it is the only thing I can do for me time/alone time. I have one rod and reel mainly for fishing jigs, but now I want to see what everyone thinks is a really good budget medium cranking rod

[PersicoTrotaVA]

What is a really tight budget?

[timsford]

I was really happy with the skeet reese short mag rod. I sold it because i found some really nice seeker rods at a yard sale but it was awesome for the price. It was 65 with free shipping at tackle warehouse. It was fiberglass and had a great action and could throw any crankbait i tried up to 3/4 ounce. The academy ethos composite rods get pretty good reviews but ive never tried one. I had a mh lightning rod shock for awhile. It has a composite blank with a little softer tip for braid and worked pretty well. Havent tried the medium but my mh was darn good at crankin and spinnerbaits for the money. The Powell deisel crankin rod is great for the price from what i hear but i never have tried that particular rod in the deisel line. I have the spinning version though and im pretty pleased with it.

[timsford]

All those rods are 65 or less. As far as cheaper than that you could get an ugly stick. Its not super sensitive by any means but has a soft action thats perfect for cranking and they are almost impossible to break. Mines been through a ton of abuse and ive had it going on 15 years

[smalljaw67]

Abu Garcia has a moderate fast Vengence for $50, it is a 7' medium power with a mod-fast action so it should be a decent cranking rod.

[Catch and Grease]

Berkley cherrywood, Its 20 or so dollars and is a good rod. I use one for my lipless cranks and shallow square bills because it is a M/F. just be careful not to buy the MH/F if your gonna be cranking.

[Grantman83]

Tec spec generation 1 cranking rod can be had for like 25 bucks at dicks if you can find them

[CarolinaBoy4Life]

Alot of people would suggest the Crankin Stick from BPS.

[fishballer06]

Like others have said, not sure what your budget is, but the Fenwick HMG for $99 and the St. Croix Premier Cranking Rods for $129 aren't bad rods. But again, I don't know how much you're looking to spend. 

[kikstand454]

Lots of great suggestions here all over the price spectrum.

Ill just add that if you want to get the ugly stik, go with the "graphite lite" series with the cork handles. Its 100times the rod the regular ugly stik is and is not much more money.

[gulfcaptain]

I'd go with the BPS Crankin Stick.  

[tholmes]

Abu Garcia has a moderate fast Vengence for $50, it is a 7' medium power with a mod-fast action so it should be a decent cranking rod.

 

^ I have one of these, and it's a very good crankin' rod for not much money.

 

I also have a 7' medium Ugly Stik Lite that I use for deep crankbaits. To me, it fishes a little more toward the medium heavy part of the spectrum, but its moderate action and fairly soft tip make it a good rod for deeper cranks.

 

Tom

[iabass8]

Tec spec generation 1 cranking rod can be had for like 25 bucks at dicks if you can find them

This or a 7' MF lightning rod sub 40$ and will shallow crank just fine.

[ABW]

I own the older model Powell Diesel 7 ft MH Moderate fast rod. It works great for rattle traps, squarebills, even spinnerbaits. 

[Bluebasser86]

If you have one by you, the Academy 7' MH/M cranking rod is a great rod for the money. Keep your eyes open and you can get them on sale for $40 pretty often. The BPS cranking sticks are nice rods too. 

[Dave P]

X2 on the Diesel

[iceintheveins]

BPS Crankin' Stick.

[Gabriel052]

Wright and McGill Skeet Reese cranking rods are at dicks and Walmart from $60-$70. These are really high quality rods. I read some other user mention the Academy Sports rods, H20 express.. I have never had any experience with their rods but my buddy has a reel from them and I use their hard baits. Both of those are amazing products

[Master Bait'r]

I'll tell you what, for a really cheap rod those Berkley Amps have always impressed me.  Find yourself a one piece in the length and action you want and you've found a winner in my book.  No better absolute entry level priced rods out there imo.  

[boostr]

I just bought the Skeet Reese 7' MH/ MF Crankbait S Glass rod with Discount for 69$ at Dicks. They are also selling Duckett Ghosts for 99$ Tried the SR out yesterday feels nice. Definitely takes some getting used to casting a softer rod.