CrankBait Rod Action

[J.Vincent]

I know the general rule of thumb for experienced crankbait anglers is to use a Composite or Glass Rod, and I've owned plenty of Composite rods over the years (my favorite was the discontinued Team Daiwa TD-s Crankin Rod) but in the past few years Ive consistently found myself using Moderate Fast Graphite for all of my moving baits, regardless of depth. I actually like the added sensitivity a Moderate Fast Graphite offers when crawling a crankbait on bottom. In your experience and opinion, is the added sensitivity not worth the trade off ? are there other anglers who also prefer Moderate Fast Graphite for cranking or is this 100% the wrong tool to use for Mid to Deep Cranking ? 

[Yumeya]

I don't think its the wrong tool, its personal preference IMO.

 

I like glass, I have a St-Croix LTG rod and love it, best crankbait rod I have used...

[papajoe222]

If it works for you, what difference does it make?  I know guys that use braid for cranking because they’re confident in doing so. I prefer graphite in a cranking rod for the added sensitivity. I’ve tried a glass rod, but didn’t care for it. 

[Jrob78]

I like glass and fluorocarbon for pretty much all cranking but it's personal preference, use whatever you like.

[CroakHunter]

In big deep divers I like glass and braid. But mid and shallow I like a moderate fast and copoly. 

[BoatSquirrel]

I think you are on to something and can broaden the use for topwaters and bladed jigs as well.  Glass rods all felt heavy and dull to me.

[Allaroundfishing]

I use a graphite rod for all my shallow to mid diving, I personally use a Lews 7ft MH fast taper. Even though the rule of thumb is mod fast and mod action the fast taper has worked wonder for me. I truly enjoy that rod for squarebills and lipless cranks. If i'm throwing something like a Dt-10 through Dt-14 i use a Favorite Fishing "balance" 7ft MH Mod-fast action. those are my two main cranking rods and both are graphite, so i wouldn't be too worried about it, graphite has more sensitivity and really allows me to feel the bills grinding on rocks or hitting grass. I would definitely keep with graphite if it works for you.

[Paul Roberts]

I use fast graphites in my cranking, which nowadays, is mostly shallow to mid. A do a lot of weed-ripping here too, and I need the power there. I gave up fiberglass in... 1981. This is not to say there isn't better glass, or good glass rods out there. I still have an S-Glass Steelhead plug rod. But... I only used it for Hot-Shot side-planing. My regular plug-n-drift rod was a lovely high modulus graphite, that was made... back when few knew how to make use of the wonderous potential graphite promised, properties we can now simply take for granted. ?‍♂️

[Boomstick]

Last season, I used a MH/MF glass (composite) rod for all of my moving baits, although a rod that stiff as far as crankbaits goes it's a better action for fishing square bills in grass or around stumps, or deep divers where you can use that extra power to pull them out from the extra depth but I made sure to use lines with stretch (not braid). It also makes a great spinnerbait and bladed jig rod. This year, I picked up a M/MF glass rod for crankbaits which I will run with 12lb fluro, and I'll run 15lb fluro on the MH/MF.

 

As far as being glass or graphite, if the power and action of the rod are right then it shouldn't matter if it's graphite or glass. Glass is a little heavier and in most cases does not transmit vibrations as much as graphite although my son has a MH/MF graphite rod and I find my MH/MF rod does mute vibrations but I'm able to notice some more minor things I can't on his graphite rod at the same time, it's hard to explain. Glass is also heavier, but it doesn't bother me personally.

[Yumeya]

I use braid to leader with my glass, its like the best of both worlds

 

No stretch for good hookups and crankbait depth.

 

And there's nothing like that buttery smooth power curve of glass when you have a nice fish at the end of the line trying to throw your crankbaits.

 

[Team9nine]

Never cared for any all glass rods I’ve tried. 50/50 on composites - just depends on how it’s made. Lower level graphite in a more moderate action has always worked out best for me. 

[Tennessee Boy]

Rick Clunn has said that fishing a crankbait on a graphite rod almost cost him a classic win because the sensitivity caused him to loose fish.  Anyone agree with him that sensitivity is bad when fishing crankbaits?

[Team9nine]

2 hours ago, Tennessee Boy said:

Rick Clunn has said that fishing a crankbait on a graphite rod almost cost him a classic win because the sensitivity caused him to loose fish.  Anyone agree with him that sensitivity is bad when fishing crankbaits?

I agree, but only to a point. It's a fine line. I think rod action starts playing into the equation more as sensitivity goes up. I believe you can be either too sensitive, or not sensitive enough. I like playing in the middle.

[waymont]

5 hours ago, Yumeya said:

And there's nothing like that buttery smooth power curve of glass when you have a nice fish at the end of the line trying to throw your crankbaits.

Hey how do you like that St Croix glass rod? I checked out the 6'10" medium at Cabelas and it felt awesome, maybe a little tip heavy.

[Yumeya]

On 3/4/2019 at 9:06 PM, waymont said:

Hey how do you like that St Croix glass rod? I checked out the 6'10" medium at Cabelas and it felt awesome, maybe a little tip heavy.

I have the 7'4" MH and love it, I use it almost every time I go out on the boat.