crankbaits: your favorite 5-9 ft'ers (mids)

[Jeff H]

Curious what you guys have as favorite mids.  I think overall mine would be the Rapala DT Flat 7 and the old #7 Fat Rap. 

[Munkin]

Bandit 200

Rebel Deep Wee-R

SK 4 series

 

Allen

[Bankbeater]

Cordell Big-O. 

[The Kangler]

Love the Spro Little John MD.  Citrus Shad kills in my lakes.  

[Jelvas]

Rapalas DT6/DT10! I love the entire DT series, they flat out catch fish.

[ww2farmer]

Around here 5'-9' feet of water is usually covered in thick milfoil, coon tail, or other assorted grasses, so any thing that dives down into it is an exercise in frustration and futility. Early in the year when it's only a couple feet tall,  I use a lipless crank that I let sink into the grass and "rip" it out or a suspending jerkbait that hovers over the top of the grass. Then later, once  the grass starts getting near the surface, I use a squarebill that will dive down a couple feet, tick the top of the grass, and use a pause and pop retrieve to trigger strikes. I will also parallel the "wall" of grass on the deep side with a 5xd, letting it bang bottom, and/or get hung on random clumps of grass out side the main weed bed and again use a "pause and rip" to trigger a bite. I'll do the same  on the shallow inside grass line with a squarebill, or an ultra shallow diving crank that only goes down a foot or so.

 

In rocky area's of this depth zone, or where the grass is a little more sparse, a 3xd gets the call, I'll toss it right up to the bank and let it bump and grind all the way back to the boat. Some guys like flat sided balsa bodied baits for this in cold water, like a shad rap, etc...but I have found the 3xd to out fish them on my home lake, no matter what time of year.

 

My favorite baits/colors for each situation listed are:

 

Lipless: 1/2 oz Strike King Red Eye Shad in Chili Craw for stained water, and Natural Bream for clear.

 

Jerkbaits: SK KVD 200 in Yellow perch on sunny days as it's translucent, and Natural bream on cloudy days, as it's a solid color. I tend to reserve jerkabaits for clear water conditions.

 

Squarebills: SK KVD 1.5 in spring, in natural bream in clear water, orange belly craw in stained water. I switch to the 2.5 when I am looking for a big bite, or if this bite is on fire. I'll alternate between the 1.5 and 2.5 all year long depending on the mood of the fish. During our summer algae blooms, I switch to Chart. black back on cloudy days, and Chart. Sexy Shad on sunny days.

 

3xd's + 5xd's: I like Sexy Ghost Minnow in clear water, Chart. sexy shad in stained water on sunny days, Chart. belly craw on dark days in stained water, and Rootbeer any time smallmouth come out to play.

 

That's my K.I.S.S. approach to cranking from the inside grass line (usually 4-6 feet) through the grass, and then the out side edge (usually 8-12' feet)

[Bigchunk]

Spro fat poppa 55

[NHBull]

The new dredgers are havi me rethink this.....so far they all are outstanding!

[iceintheveins]

Rapala DT6

Storm Wiggle Wart

Bandit 200

Norman Middle N

Bomber 6A

[RoLo]

I'd have to go with the Bomber 6A (citruse)

followed by the Rapala DT 7  (parrot)

 

Roger

[scaleface]

I use my old standby's . Rapala Fat Rap, Rebel Deep Wee R , Storm Wiggle Wart an Bomber Model A ..

[Bluebasser86]

Wiggle Wart, Wild Thang, Digger, Bandit 200.

[Turkey sandwich]

Fat Raps and Fat Free Shad/Fry/Fingerlings are probably my best producing in that range, but the DT series have also served me well.  My collection has grown quite a bit for that range, so hopefully I'll have some new favorites by the end of the year.  

Also, post frontal and in cool water, it's still really hard to beat the Shad Raps/Shallow Shad Raps.

[smalljaw67]

Bagley Sunny B, Rapala DT-6, DT Flat 7, and the Bomber 6A.  Honorable mentions goes to the Bomber Fat Free Shad BD5 Fingerling and the Rapala DT-10 only because I tend to use these less as I'm usually fishing shallower water and these run slightly deeper but make no mistake, those are fish catchers and when I break them out I normally will catch fish.

[Hez]

11 hours ago, The Kangler said:

Love the Spro Little John MD.  

 

X 2...love the flat sided wobble they provide.  Gives the fish a different look 

[Scarborough817]

L.C. RTO DD 1.5 & 2.5

Ima Pinjack 200

Rapala DT6

[Megastink]

I think the Strike King Series 4 is very underrated.

[A-Jay]

Spro Rock Crawler

A-Jay

[Scarborough817]

12 hours ago, NHBull said:

The new dredgers are havi me rethink this.....so far they all are outstanding!

have you noticed more depth with them? and what do you fish them on?

[fishballer06]

DT6

Shad Rap

Wiggle Wart

LC Flat CB DR

[NHBull]

14 minutes ago, Scarborough817 said:

have you noticed more depth with them? and what do you fish them on?

They get to depth quicker.

i use a 6:1 ratio and the cadence is comfortable

Have used 8 lb Tatsu and 10lb 832

Hope that helps

[WIGuide]

Rapala DT 6's & 10's, Bomber Fat Free Fingerling, Spro Little John & Little John MD

[whitwolf]

Rebel deep wee r's and Norman deep baby n's.

[WRB]

Bagley Killer B

Norman DD14* and Bomber 7A both really good at 9'.

Iovino Zoner Hunter (original Wiggle Wart).

Tom

[Columbia Craw]

These,