What are your key crankbait "depth classes"

[Danny_716]

Hello, 

 

This is sort of an odd question I'm sure...But what are your key depth classes for crankbaits? For example; 3-5',  6-8', 10-12'...20-22' ect.

 

I know the obvious answer for most of us is all of them, but what if you were to "build" your crankbait assortment from the ground up, which would you focus on? Would you get, say, 1 crank in 2 or 3 patterns in every size of a series (6',10',14',16',20',25'..) Or would you focus on 2 or 3 key depths (10',17',20'..) and get duplicates of the same few patterns? Of course I know the depths vary depending on where you're fishing so I'll use myself as an example...

 

I'm gearing up for a tournament on Pickwick lake and plan to get an assortment of Berkley dredger crankbaits seeing that I receive a ~35% pure fishing collegiate discount. How would you go about building your collection? 

 

[J Francho]

I have many cranks, in many depth ranges.  I generally know about how deep they run, but really, If The crank is either digging too hard, or not hitting bottom (or cover, if snapping off weeds), I change the lure to a different depth.  I don't separate them by depth, but what I rod I use to to throw them, so it's more of a size/mass thing.

 

So, my advice would be to get an assortment from deep to shallow.  Find the one that runs right at that specific spot.  This will be more important than any action, profile, color pattern.  Get that bait in the zone first - that's probably 75% or more of getting on a crankbait bite.

[Angry John]

I would look for baits in the 8-12 foot region.  I have read a lot about crankbaits and this seems to be the zone that is most important.  Most of my cranking is done at this depth and it produces well.  If you have needs for off shore stricter like humps then a few baits that will hit the tops would also be in my box.

[Team9nine]

The answer would seem to depend on what your intentions are (the way you fish), and how well you know your local waters. To expand on that, if you are a tourney guy and going to be going to a variety of different waters, then you likely will need a little of everything covering all depth ranges. On the other hand, if you just fish locally on just a few waters most of the time, then you can likely get by with just a couple key depth ranges to start. I know for around here on our rivers and flatland lakes, you have to have a good set of shallow cranks (0-5') along with a good set of divers in the 8-12' range. That is because you'll either be fishing shallow cover along the bank, or fishing the breakline off points and flats, and on most of our waters, that is predominantly that 8-12 range. So I'd build that set first, then add a few others here and there as needed.

 

-T9

 

[J Francho]

Just now, Team9nine said:

The answer would seem to depend on what your intentions are (the way you fish), and how well you know your local waters.

 

Good answer, because around here, most stuff less than 12' has a limited window of use.  Location, location, location....

[Danny_716]

1 minute ago, J Francho said:

 

Good answer, because around here, most stuff less than 12' has a limited window of use.  Location, location, location....

I agree, I've never been a huge crankbait guy but I have a big tournament on Pickwick this may and all my research is leading to deep crankbaits (among a few other techniques) on off shore ledges. Problem for me is I live in New York and would need to have all my tackle prior to ever wetting a line there...And don't know if the fish are going to be sitting at 10', 15', or 20' etc. Untill I'm there. 

So I guess I can specify from the original question a little for my personal needs.... Out of the dredger series are there any sizes you wouldn't bother with, or any I should get more than others of? I'll list the specs below.

Model-->length, weight, dive depth 

10.5 --> 2.25", 1/2oz, 9-11.5'

14.5 --> 2.5", 5/8oz, 12-15.5'

17.5 --> 2.75", 3/4oz, 16-19.5'

20.5 --> 3", 7/8oz, 20-22.5'

25.5 --> 3.25", 1 1/8oz, 22-26'

[Fishin' Fool]

Is this a one day tournament or multi-day event?  You may want to have a back up finesse set up in mind like a drop shot or a Neko rig for after those fish have seen crankbait after crankbait swim by.

[Spankey]

0-13 ft. Various depths. For the most part. 

[scaleface]

  I just bought a Dredger in every size , all  Fire tiger .

[jimf]

To the original question I have a collection that more or less follows your "1 crank in 2 or 3 patterns" and then have all of the depths covered.  I like the Rapala DT series, and I'm pretty sure I have a few in every depth.   

[fishballer06]

I'm not sure about the Dredger series, but I know for the digger series, they have very loud rattles in them. In my past experiences, I've always done better with silent cranks in pressured waters, especially during tournaments where the fish are seeing tons of baits swimming by them. 

 

Just something you may want to keep in mind. 

[WRB]

You want a deep diving crankbait to be able to dive a few feet deeper than where the bass are holding. Diving deeper allows you to determine how deep it will go and hit bottom or cover, slow down or speed up.

Crankbaits I prefer to fish 3 depth zones; Bomber 7A or Wart for 5-8', Norman DD14 for 9'-12', Norman DD22 or Poe 300 for 14' to 18'. If the bass are deeper I go to a Scrounger jig, swimbait,  or jigs or worms. I may give the Berkley Dreager series a try this year for 14'-18 and 18'-22' depth Range, hope they run as advertised, never been able to get deeper than 18' casting.

Tom

[Bluebasser86]

I only classify mine as shallow, medium, or deep.

[A-Jay]

6 minutes ago, Bluebasser86 said:

I only classify mine as shallow, medium, or deep.

 

Me too and that's how the boxes are labeled as well.

A-Jay

[Danny_716]

3 hours ago, Fishin' Fool said:

Is this a one day tournament or multi-day event?  You may want to have a back up finesse set up in mind like a drop shot or a Neko rig for after those fish have seen crankbait after crankbait swim by.

2 day tournament and a day or 2 of prefish hopefully. But yes I fully intend on have a DS rigged up at all times (One of my favorite methods, only second to flipping structure).My main rigs are going to be cranks, swim baits, DS, t-rig, and jigs I believe

[Danny_716]

3 hours ago, fishballer06 said:

I'm not sure about the Dredger series, but I know for the digger series, they have very loud rattles in them. In my past experiences, I've always done better with silent cranks in pressured waters, especially during tournaments where the fish are seeing tons of baits swimming by them. 

 

Just something you may want to keep in mind. 

I'm actually holding both right now at a local shop, they do have the same rattles

3 hours ago, fishballer06 said:

 

 

[Cgolf]

I am with Bluebasser and AJay. When I thought about the 4 baits I do fish, Norman deep little n 9-12, Norman DD22 16+, Rapala DT16 and Crankin rap 13-14 I can cover 9 to 16+ with those four. Depending on the bite I may use the 16 ft bait in 10 fow to stir up the bottom like a craw would. 

[junyer357]

I have mine sorted by:

squarebills,

shallow 1-5',

med divers 5-10',

deep 10-15', 

extra deep/oversize cranks 15'+ and kvd 8.0s

lipless cranks

 

The bulk of mine by far are squarebills and med divers. I love throwing cranks on riprap and structure. My go to is either a 1.5 squarebill or a norman middle n, depending on depth fish are holding at.

 

Dont build a collection for just 1 tourny. Pick up some favorite/confidence colors for it perhaps, but build your collection on how and where you fish the most. I fish mostly weiss and neely henry so i have a lot of cranks under 10'. I dont have a dozen 8 and 10xd's total. I just dont throw them as much , weiss is only that deep on the river channel basicly. Most of my fishing there is shallow. 

[Cgolf]

Totally forgot about the shallow game, well that is because the simplicity of 4 baits that is my deep box, my shallow to 9 foot selection is ridiculous. I love squarebills and lipless baits and then have some other stuff that sees water quite a bit too. I really need to start tightening up my shallow game so I don't have to carry as many cranks to the lake.

[GreenGhostMan]

17 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

I only classify mine as shallow, medium, or deep.

 

This is how I do it as well.  

 

< 5ft  shallow

5-10ft  medium

>10ft  deep    

 

10ft+ may seem shallow for deep to some anglers, but that's how I fish.  

[ww2farmer]

22 hours ago, J Francho said:

 

Good answer, because around here, most stuff less than 12' has a limited window of use.  Location, location, location....

I don't find that to be the case, at least down here on Conesus, and Silver..............the limited window of use under 12' that is.

 

In fact just the opposite, the deep diving stuff has a more limited window. Bass in both these lakes are in 10' of water or less way more than they are deep........at least largemouth.

 

To the OP's question, I keep it simple. ..............,Sub surface, Shallow, Mid, Deep, extra deep, and lipless. I am not so concerned over small running depth differences in each category. This is basically how I "rank them" ,  sub surface are wake and/or baits that dive very little ,shallow cranks are less than 5', mid's are 5-10', deep's are 10+,  extra deeps are 15'+. and lipless are, well, lipless,  LOL.

 

 

[J Francho]

I'd agree with Conesus. Haven't fished Silver in years.  The bays off Lake Ontario (especially Irondequoit), the lake itself, definitely deeper.  Same goes for Hemlock and Canadice, where I've been doing most of my fishing.  I know when I hit lakes all over the place club fishing, it was true - Black, Cayuga, Seneca, Canandaigua, Chautaqua included.  That's not to say that shallower wouldn't work, but I always did better deeper.  Like anything, it's about adjustments to what is happening on that lake.

[Scarborough817]

1-4 shallow

6-10 medium

10-20 deep