Best/better crankbaits help

[Ksam1234]

I was trying to research crankbaits, all my tackle shop has is strike king, rapala, or the xps series.. I wanna try new crankbaits but unsure of which is good? They occasionally have a megabass lure or something but I don't wanna just use those, was looking st tackle warehouse at tons of cranks and just unsure, mainly shallow to medium divers as the lakes I fish only go to 20 ft. We have bluegills and pumpkin seed if that helps.  Live in western NY area

[Gundog]

I like and use the Norman Little N in watermelon craw and redear. They dive about 6-8 ft. depending on line size. Also Bomber Model A cranks dive to 6+ depending on line size. I mostly use dark green crawdad or smallmouth bass.

[NorcalBassin]

I've had a lot of success with Spro's Little John Series. Something about their size/design seems to trigger the fish in the clear water around here.

[scaleface]

I recommend to get two of each size Berkely Dredger .  Then your set for 6 to 23 foot . 

[Cak920]

If your fishing less than 15ft my favorite is the Rat-L-Trap.

if I want a diving lure my favorite is the Rapala x-rap suspending in hot head color

[Catt]

Bill Norman DD22, Bill Norman NXS, & Bill Norman DD22 HD!

[ww2farmer]

There's nothing wrong with those Strike King cranks your shop sells. Buy with confidence.

[riverbasser]

I agree with the dredgers. Along with SK red eye shads, and the spro rock crawler has become my go to around wood in 7-9ft. Even better than a square bill. 

[NorthwestBasser]

6th Sense... Cloud 9 c10's and crush 250md. Awesome baits, love em!!

[Ksam1234]

Thanks everyone, I see a lot of people for the Norman baits, I'll have to loook those up.  I have some rat l traps and some red eye lipless already , I'll check out 6th sense to as I use some of there baits already 

[Bankbeater]

If you are fishing shallow I would buy a Mann's 1 minus.

[scaleface]

For that 4 to 5 foot range the old school Fat Rap is still the first lure I rely on the most .  They can still be bought on-line .

[Smalls]

I seem to break bills off of cranks any time I’m fishing any sort of rip rap, so I try to only buy stuff with circuit board lips. Arashi, Spro, etc. 

[Spankey]

I've found the Norman Baits run the worse out of the package. But you can tune them up which is no big deal. Many others that are more productive in my opinion. They are not made in the USA anymore which was their big selling point at one time. Their prices never dropped when the stuff went to Guaddy to be made.

[scaleface]

8 hours ago, Smalls said:

I seem to break bills off of cranks any time I’m fishing any sort of rip rap

You bounced a few off the rocks ?

[Smalls]

2 hours ago, scaleface said:

You bounced a few off the rocks ?

I’ve got 3 brand new KVD 1.5’s that I have to send back because within 2-3 outings of fishing rip rap, the lips are all missing giant chunks. Fishing from the bank, with no exposed rocks. So I have to crank em 3-4 ft just to get to the bottom. 

 

But it that’s a good point, if you’re fishing a lot of exposed rock, that’s even more reason for the circuit board lip

[blckshirt98]

I've got boxes and boxes of different crankbaits from different brands, and I always find myself fishing either the Strike King squarebills or Rat-L-Trap lipless crankbaits 95% of the time.  I might tie on something else to mix it up, but it really comes down to finding a crankbait that feels right to you on the cast and retrieve on the gear you throw it on.  They all catch fish.

[WRB]

Norman DD14 and Bomber 7A for medium depth diver to 10'-12', DD22* for for 14'-16', MajorCraft Zoner Hunter** for 5'-8'.

Tom

* DD22's maybe too big for smallmouth.

** ideal Smallmouth crankbait.

[NHBull]

Anything over 8 and I go dredgers.

for shallower, 6th sense and Norman’s

 

Decide what type of wobble you want and hit rocks, I am really not sure how much it really matters beyond that

[BigAngus752]

Summary of a typical outing where I decide to try throwing crankbaits:

 

1.  Choose a depth. 

2.  Choose a Dredger or SK for appropriate depth and fish it awhile.

3.  Decide I chose the wrong depth so choose appropriate crank for new depth and fish it awhile.  

4.  Get fed up, put red, lipless crankbait of any reputable brand on and start catching bass.  

[Raul]

I’ve caught most of my fish with these :

 

Rapala Shad Rap 

Bill Lewis Rat L-trap

Whopper Stopper Bayou Boogie

Rapala Fat Rap

Storm Wiggle Wart 

[TOXIC]

Another vote for SPRO.  They make a model for every depth and style from lipless to flat sided to deep diver and everything in-between.