Crankbait Running Depth Question

[Dypsis]

I was on TW this weekend stocking up on some cranks and came to this question - when a company, whether it is the retailer or the company itself, give a dive to depth is there any sort of standard for what size line they are using to come up with this?

 

I was wondering after I saw some small differences on dive to depths.  For example - Norman Deep N Little on TW they list it as 9-12' but Normans site says 12-14'.  

 

I know I can always change line to help adjust the depth, but I was wondering what size line companies are using to get these results.  Or maybe it varies completely from company to company.

 

Thanks,

Matt

 

 

[Ozark_Basser]

10# mono usually. Maybe not on the super heavy ones, but on the -15ft cranks its 10# mono.

[scaleface]

We need a thread on how deep different baits go. I know how  some of my old ones perform but newer baits I have to guess.

on 12 lb mono

Deep Little N's are what i reach for in ten foot of water.

Deep Wee R's in 8 foot ,

Fat Raps at 6 foot .

 

 .

[junyer357]

its been my experience there are alot of variables in how deep a crank runs, such as line size and type, retrival speed and maybe even rod action to a degree. I know in the winter i downsize my line sizes and use fluoro to get my cranks that extra bit deeper. My dad and i have fished identical lures but in diffrent colors and with the diffrence in our setups one of us may be bouncing off riprap but not the other at times. I prefer a 6'6-7' med-mod (for all but deep divers) and he prefers a med heavy fast always. I think this is why and where you can get big diffrences in running depths On the same crank.

One more thing to consider is diffrences in mass production too. Some lures are simply sweeter than others identical to them. I cry when i lose one of those "proven winner" lures.

[fish365]

A lot of crank manufacturers list on their website what # line makes the lure get to what depth. Also remember that fluoro and longer casts/strolling will get the same lure even deeper.

[papajoe222]

I'm sure there are a lot of variables the manuf. use when determining running depth, but I would venture somewhere in the 10lb. range.  Remember that a slight increase or decrease in line diameter results in a difference in inches  on an average cast, not two or three feet.

Some guys may say the only way to determine the running depth of a crank is to tie it on, cast it to the shallow end of a swilling pool and see where it stops making bottom contact. I don't have a pool and my average cast is a lot longer than any swimming pool I've ever seen and that's important because those that dive more than six feet or so take a while to get down to running depth.

I prefer to cast them to an area that I know the depth of and try to determine how quickly the bait makes bottom contact. If it makes contact sooner than I expect, it likely runs deeper that the known depth and if it only ticks the bottom occasionally, it's right on and I'll mark the lip accordingly. I was surprised to discover that identical baits from the same company can run at foot or two different.

[smalljaw67]

Crankbait running depth is based off of it running on 10lb monofilament. Of course different brands will have different diameters and it can cause the bait to go deeper or shallower but the number is just an estimate. I always go off the first number, if something has a wide range like the Rapala DT Thug, 4' to 8', I'm using the number 4 and when I throw that bait it is usually in the 3.5' to 4.5' zone and it will hit bottom.

[Dypsis]

Thank you for all the responses. It looks like I'll use the depths provided as a guideline and real world testing to find out.

[Choporoz]

Call me naive or lazy or intuitive or stupid...whatever....but 5 minutes after I take a crank out of the package I usually have no idea what the manufacturer's 'listed depth' is unless it is stamped on the bill.  I grab one from the tackle box based on what I think it will do and what I think I want it to do.  If it doesn't, I adjust.

[BobP]

Depth depends on line size, cast distance, and how high you hold the rod while retrieving. Companies used to overstate depths when there were fewer truly deep diving crankbaits available but thankfully that is not so prevalent anymore. Suspending versions usually dive one foot deeper than floaters and going down in line size from 14 to 12 will also get a bait down an extra foot.

[smalljaw67]

Call me naive or lazy or intuitive or stupid...whatever....but 5 minutes after I take a crank out of the package I usually have no idea what the manufacturer's 'listed depth' is unless it is stamped on the bill.  I grab one from the tackle box based on what I think it will do and what I think I want it to do.  If it doesn't, I adjust.

 

You can usually get an idea of depth based on the size of the lip on the bait. My Friend has small cards like you find on top of a Rapala box and he writes the depth down and puts it in the slot with his crankbait.  I do things different, I put shallow cranks in their own box, and in the box I separate the ones that run less than 3', they go on the left side, and the ones that run 3' to 5' go on the right side. Then my medium divers are the same way, and these are all 3700 series boxes, my medium divers are 6' to 12' and the ones that dive 6' to 8' go on the left and 9' to 12' go on the right, if you organize like that it will take the guess work out and it really helps when you have a lot of baits.

[WRB]

TW doesn't test the products they sell, they use the mfr's supplied info.

How a mfr determines diving depth is unknown, no standard is used.

If a MFR had a 60 yard test pool with depth gage at 30 yards, we could use that as a standard...doesn't exist to the best of my knowledge.

Tom