No More Deep Cranking

[papajoe222]

I just finished a four day outing on one of my favorite lakes in northern Wisconsin. As this lake is fairly deep, deep cranking had been my go to summer presentation. 
After two hours of cranking, l was done. This old body just couldn’t continue to grind it out for ours, in spite of the success l’d been having.  
I opted for a 3/4oz Red Eye Shad letting it drop to the hard bottom and slow rolling it with occasional pauses. That produced a couple of fish, but when l began stroking it off the bottom things really picked up. 
looks like deep cranking is a thing of the padt for this old codgee. 

[TcRoc]

I get it.. curiosity ...what gear ratio were you using the whole time?

[scaleface]

I still do it . Have you tried the Dredgers ? They dont fight back as hard as other lures . 

[jimmyjoe]

   I tell you what .... I have the perfect solution for you. I'll come on up when you go fishing, and we'll go out in your boat. I'll bring my H/M fiberglass rod and my Tranx 300a reel, and I'll do all the retrieving for you. Heck, I'll even go so far as to do the casting for you! That's just the kind of super-nice guy that I am!

   All you have to do is drive and supply the lures, the sandwiches and the drinks.

   Sounds good to me. How's it sound to you?   ?????     jj

[Captain Phil]

Deep cranking is for young folks and athletes.  You can do the same thing and cover a lot more water by trolling.  

[the reel ess]

I'm mostly done with it myself. I'll slow roll a lipless crank and even resort to a C-rig sometimes. Most places I fish now are shallow and weedy anyway.

[WRB]

1 hour ago, papajoe222 said:

I just finished a four day outing on one of my favorite lakes in northern Wisconsin. As this lake is fairly deep, deep cranking had been my go to summer presentation. 
After two hours of cranking, l was done. This old body just couldn’t continue to grind it out for ours, in spite of the success l’d been having.  
I opted for a 3/4oz Red Eye Shad letting it drop to the hard bottom and slow rolling it with occasional pauses. That produced a couple of fish, but when l began stroking it off the bottom things really picked up. 
looks like deep cranking is a thing of the padt for this old codgee. 

Red Eye Shad is a lipless lure with little water resistance. It wasn't deep cranking that bothers you as much as stroking the rod up. 

Explain your stroking technique, may we can offer some help to reduce the fatigue.

Tom

[scaleface]

16 minutes ago, WRB said:

Red Eye Shad is a lipless lure with little water resistance. It wasn't deep cranking that bothers you as much as stroking the rod up. 

Explain your stroking technique, may we can offer some help to reduce the fatigue.

Tom

He resorted to the Red Eye Shad after hours of deep cranking .

[WRB]

1 hour ago, scaleface said:

He resorted to the Red Eye Shad after hours of deep cranking .

Ah I see said the blind man.

Tom

[RoLo]

 

When you're chucking a deep-diving plug, the first third of the retrieve is wasted on diving down

to the running depth, the last third is wasted on climbing back to the surface, so only the center third

of the retrieve is running at optimal depth. Trolling is a wise substitute for deep-cranking,

which is not only body-friendly, but the running depth is sustained throughout most of its linear coverage

 

Roger

[Columbia Craw]

My deep cranking rod has a secret compartment in the butt cap filled with ibuprofen.

[papajoe222]

1 hour ago, Columbia Craw said:

My deep cranking rod has a secret compartment in the butt cap filled with ibuprofen.

I went that route for a few years. In 
fact, you may have gotten the idea from me. 

[Heartland]

3 hours ago, RoLo said:

 

When you're chucking a deep-diving plug, the first third of the retrieve is wasted on diving down

to the running depth, the last third is wasted on climbing back to the surface, so only the center third

of the retrieve is running at optimal depth. Trolling is a wise substitute for deep-cranking,

which is not only body-friendly, but the running depth is sustained throughout most of its linear coverage

 

Roger

Long lining, is another way to skin the cat. 

[Bluebasser86]

Underspin or swimbait on a jighead slow rolled is a good substitute without all the resistance.

[WRB]

Scrounger jig works at nearly any depth.

Tom

[Dens228]

13 hours ago, RoLo said:

 

When you're chucking a deep-diving plug, the first third of the retrieve is wasted on diving down

to the running depth, the last third is wasted on climbing back to the surface, so only the center third

of the retrieve is running at optimal depth. Trolling is a wise substitute for deep-cranking,

which is not only body-friendly, but the running depth is sustained throughout most of its linear coverage

 

Roger

In my kayak bass tourney's trolling is not allowed. 

[garroyo130]

Rapala countdowns are another seldom spoken about option which may be closer in action to the deep diver than the lipless crank is.

 

 

Also, thats rough, man ... what ya got for sale??? 

[Paul Roberts]

Summer deep cranking often relies on speed to trigger. I used to do a lot of "speed-trolling" for pike, using Bombers and Hellbenders to hit those 20+ft weedlines. The speed and banging is what caught fish. The Bombers were good bangers, the Hellbenders excelled at "ripping", which meant while the boat threw a decent wake, getting on the rod and "stroking" it, I suppose like pappajoe was doing. We'd often do this upon spotting a good mark on the flasher. Rip, rip, BAM!

 

Spoonplugging, at least in summer, relied on speed too. Lots of ways to take advantage of that speed trigger. Deep-cranking may be the most brutal. Still it's useful for the precision and immediate repeatability you can get. I've been pondering a wrist brace, as that's where I feel it most. I don't want to damage those important tendons and joints. I plan to be cranking, typing, and other such stuff for some time yet.

 

 

[Teal]

13 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Underspin or swimbait on a jighead slow rolled is a good substitute without all the resistance.

A 7 inch hammer on a 1/2 ounce under spin worked well yesterday.    Caught 9 in 3 hours in 12- 18 fow, working deep flats adjustment to a main channel.  Powell 723 rod.  2 of them were over 4 pounds easily.  I hate deep cranking I try everything else first.   I didnt get bit on a 1/2 once trap yesterday, but stroking ior straight retrieve on a trap is a primary technique this of year 

[TnRiver46]

17 minutes ago, Paul Roberts said:

Summer deep cranking often relies on speed to trigger. I used to do a lot of "speed-trolling" for pike, using Bombers and Hellbenders to hit those 20+ft weedlines. The speed and banging is what caught fish. The Bombers were good bangers, the Hellbenders excelled at "ripping", which meant while the boat threw a decent wake, getting on the rod and "stroking" it, I suppose like pappajoe was doing. We'd often do this upon spotting a good mark on the flasher. Rip, rip, BAM!

 

Spoonplugging, at least in summer, relied on speed too. Lots of ways to take advantage of that speed trigger. Deep-cranking may be the most brutal. Still it's useful for the precision and immediate repeatability you can get. I've been pondering a wrist brace, as that's where I feel it most. I don't want no damage to those important tendons and joints. I plan to be cranking, typing, and other such stuff for some time yet.

 

 

That exact tactic catches the heck out of smallmouth bass as well, including the world record. But we all know old records are fake anyway.......

[WRB]

Trolling is a forgotten skill by today's bass anglers because the "pro's" can't do it and either can the weekend club anglers.

Trolling deep cranks is the best method to teach new anglers about deep cranks because it's very effective technique.

How you hold the rod is the key to deep cranking, can't palm the reel and need to use the long handle agianst your fore arm for leverage during the retreive.

If I can deep crank for hours anyone can.

Tom

[RoLo]

1 hour ago, WRB said:

you can't palm the reel but need to use the long handle against your forearm for leverage

 

Tom makes a point that’s frequently overlooked.

 

If you’re planning on a day of deep-cranking, or have hopes of horsing pigs out of heavy cover,

forget about rods with a short, pistol-grip handle. Regardless of its intended use,

I’ll generally reject any rod with a handle length under 12 inches.

 

Roger

[scaleface]

The Dredgers get deep fast and stay there . They have a tight action, are smaller than other lures that run the same depth and are not as hard to retrieve  . The only drawbacks are they dont come in a rattleless version and they snag easily because they suspend rather than float . A Dredger 25.5 is a lot easier on the wrist than the 6XD's and out dive them ..

[Bankbeater]

I quit deep cranking years ago. I stick to lipless cranks, spinnerbaits, and chatterbaits now. 

[frogflogger]

On 7/18/2020 at 3:11 PM, Captain Phil said:

Deep cranking is for young folks and athletes.  You can do the same thing and cover a lot more water by trolling.  

Trolling is the most overlooked approach to bass fishing. You can learn a lot about a lake and catch fish you would normally miss.