No More Deep Cranking

[Hower08]

Instead of cranks try fishing either a scrounger head or a wobble head. Both get the same results if not better than a crank at times 

[A-Jay]

When the bottom composition & cover allows,

cranking a swinghead along or on the bottom can be fairly productive.

It's certainly a lot less work.

A-Jay

[michael1]

On ‎7‎/‎19‎/‎2020 at 10:57 AM, WRB said:

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

I'll bite, as I have long wondered about this technique. I can certainly see the advantages, assuming no boat traffic and somewhat of a consistent depth you'd be able to get it deeper and run it in the strike zone for a longer period of time. I assume you have to hold the rod in your hand versus a rod holder, correct? I would assume if it were not in your hand it would be difficult to detect a bite or know if you got hung up on something, right? Any other tips or things to consider?

 

[WRB]

The trolling technique works good. I make lazy S turns and try to follow a depth range using sonar, also give you a heads up what is below the boat before the lures get there. The S turns changes the lure speed.

Run the lure next to the boat to optimize speed usually about walking pace. Points are a little tricky, I turn straight out run past the end then stop and reel in the lure. Make a straight out and trolling back toward shore swinging along the depth range I want. Don't troll over a point if it gets too shallow to fast.

I make a long cast then let out a few more feet, no more then 100'.

Hold the rod to learn how the lure feels running clean, hitting bottom or fowling weeds.

Hard to mis a strike with the boat moving forward.

Tom

[scaleface]

No better way to find stumps than trolling .

[papajoe222]

On 7/18/2020 at 1:33 PM, TcRoc said:

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

A Revo Winch. Don't quote me, but I believe it's a 5.3:1 with a 100mm handle.

[TnRiver46]

15 hours ago, michael1 said:

I'll bite, as I have long wondered about this technique. I can certainly see the advantages, assuming no boat traffic and somewhat of a consistent depth you'd be able to get it deeper and run it in the strike zone for a longer period of time. I assume you have to hold the rod in your hand versus a rod holder, correct? I would assume if it were not in your hand it would be difficult to detect a bite or know if you got hung up on something, right? Any other tips or things to consider?

 

If you are asking about trolling, it’s a no doubter when you get a bite, regardless of the rod being in your hand or in a rod holder. A 10 inch bass will double it over even at 1.7 mph 

[garroyo130]

On 7/18/2020 at 1:49 PM, scaleface said:

Have you tried the Dredgers ?

You praised these pretty highly on this thread so when my amazon order for shakey heads was delayed again today, I just decided to cancel and give the Dredger 20.5 a shot. I'll report on how she does. 

 

Thanks for the suggestion!

[Ogandrews]

7 hours ago, garroyo130 said:

You praised these pretty highly on this thread so when my amazon order for shakey heads was delayed again today, I just decided to cancel and give the Dredger 20.5 a shot. I'll report on how she does. 

 

Thanks for the suggestion!

Dredgers are awesome baits. Less resistance and a smaller package than most other baits that fish in that depth zone. 
 

People on this forum always laugh at me for saying this but if you want to really make deep cranking easy then get a tranx 300 5.8.1. The low ratio combined with the larger spool makes a deep crank feel like a little squarebill. If you really want to do it right than get a power handle from a high gear tranx to replace the paddle handles and you’ll have no issue if you want to continue deep cranking. Such a smooth and powerful reel as well, there are other reels that size on the market, I’ve owned almost all of them and just do yourself a favor and get the tranx. Like everyone else has said though there are a lot of other techniques out there, a swimbait on a heavier head is super easy to fish and a lot of the time will get a bigger bite than a crank bait will.

[garroyo130]

Just back to post an update here. So I received my Dredger 20.5 on Sat and finally got to fish it today. I threw a short cast to see the action and while @scaleface described it as suspending it does rise it just kind of turns before rising as opposed to most lures that back out and up and then start to 180 if you feed them line. I had a feeling this would be an issue in the area I was fishing and sure enough ... 1st cast ... solid snag. Not sure what happened but I believe it may have gotten into a rock crevice then turned to get wedged. 

 

With all of that said, resistance was about on par with the Academy H2O Xpress CRD+ crankbaits but definitely less than my other deep divers.

[scaleface]

16 minutes ago, garroyo130 said:

So I received my Dredger 20.5 on Sat and finally got to fish it today. I threw a short cast to see the action and while @scaleface described it as suspending it does rise it just kind of turns before rising as opposed to most lures that back out and up and then start to 180 if you feed them

I have at least one that slowly sinks . Some rise slowly and some suspend . The 8.5 and 10.5 have all risen but the deeper ones rise only slowly if at all . 

 

Were you able to get your bait back ?

[Hook2Jaw]

35 minutes ago, garroyo130 said:

Just back to post an update here. So I received my Dredger 20.5 on Sat and finally got to fish it today. I threw a short cast to see the action and while @scaleface described it as suspending it does rise it just kind of turns before rising as opposed to most lures that back out and up and then start to 180 if you feed them line. I had a feeling this would be an issue in the area I was fishing and sure enough ... 1st cast ... solid snag. Not sure what happened but I believe it may have gotten into a rock crevice then turned to get wedged. 

 

With all of that said, resistance was about on par with the Academy H2O Xpress CRD+ crankbaits but definitely less than my other deep divers.

How well do you catch them on the CRD+?

[garroyo130]

16 minutes ago, scaleface said:

I have at least one that slowly sinks . Some rise slowly and some suspend . The 8.5 and 10.5 have all risen but the deeper ones rise only slowly if at all . 

 

Were you able to get your bait back ?

? Shes belongs to the deep now. 

 

The area itself is just a difficult to fish area. Its a quarry that got filled when they hit an underwater spring. The particular area Ive been fishing lately is a pretty large rock pile but Ive wondered if there is some type of rod iron, tools, or machinery down there. 

Just now, Hook2Jaw said:

How well do you catch them on the CRD+?

Its been my most consistent producer in the shad pattern. It does not dive to advertised depth (realistically running about 20' max) but it gives good feedback and has decent action.

 

I am not sure if its the lip angle as it enters the body or the length of the bill but something helps it deflect of the rock much better than other crankbaits. 

[garroyo130]

On 7/18/2020 at 11:49 AM, scaleface said:

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

Back to update this dead thread as I found something with less pull than the Dredgers ... 

 

Finally gave the Mann's Stretch T20  a shot. I was hesitant as I wasn't sure if it would do well since it seems to be a trolling lure. Anyhow if you want something that hits 15 - 18' with virtually no effort, this is the ticket. 

 

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/brandhardbaits.html?from=basres