crankbait lips that are durable

[jimmyjoe]

   I like 1/2-3/4 oz. shallow cranks and squarebills around riprap because it catches fish. Some crankbaits have bills that shatter easily. This last year I broke Bill Lewis Echo and some Norman cranks ( I can't remember the model) on rocks. It seems that circuit board lips take abuse better, but they don't catch fish as well. So I like the clear lips.

   Black Friday is coming up, and I'd like to try some new cranks and squarebills. Anyone got a good word to put in for any brand in this weight of shallow cranks that have durable lips?

 

   As always, your help is appreciated.          jj

 

 

EDIT: The rod I'm using is the 7'-02" H/M fiberglass "Rip-n-Chatter" from St. Croix. It's rated 1/2 ounce to 1 and 3/4 ounce lure weights.

[fishballer06]

It's kind of the nature of the beast, fishing around rip rap like that. Try some Strike King and Lucky Craft squarebills and see if you have any better luck with them. 

[HaydenS]

https://www.rapala.com/storm/hard-baits/arashi-series/arashi-silent-square/Arashi+Silent+Square.html

These are great baits, and catch fish.  I threw these in a river for a day, in a couple feet of water, grinding super rough rocks, and they held up fantastically.  Circuit board.

Might check these out as well.   Circuit.

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Rapala_Otts_Garage_Slim_06_Crankbaits/descpage-OGS6.html

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Rapala_Balsa_Xtreme_BX_Brat_Squarebill_Crankbaits/descpage-RBEBSB.html  Plastic

[tander]

I fish a lot of rip rap and I have done real good with a Bandit 100. You can see some wear on the bill but I have never broke one.

[jimmyjoe]

45 minutes ago, tander said:

I fish a lot of rip rap and I have done real good with a Bandit 100. You can see some wear on the bill but I have never broke one.

   Yeah, I have used the Bandits. Great lures. I just was looking around for something bigger and heavier.        jj

[PressuredFishing]

6 hours ago, jimmyjoe said:

   I like 1/2-3/4 oz. shallow cranks and squarebills around riprap because it catches fish. Some crankbaits have bills that shatter easily. This last year I broke Bill Lewis Echo and some Norman cranks ( I can't remember the model) on rocks. It seems that circuit board lips take abuse better, but they don't catch fish as well. So I like the clear lips.

   Black Friday is coming up, and I'd like to try some new cranks and squarebills. Anyone got a good word to put in for any brand in this weight of shallow cranks that have durable lips?

 

   As always, your help is appreciated.          jj

Anything but rapalas, i break the lips off of rapalas too easily and they are way to expensive. Strike King's are only 5 dollars so if they break I don't really care.  

[papajoe222]

Cranks that have bills that are an extension of the body are the most resistant to breakage as everything is one piece.

If you've broken the bills on Norman baits, I'm hesitant to say this, but you're likely using a bait that runs too deep for ticking the rocks, which is all you need to do to trigger strikes. Cranks are designed to be bumped into something and should do so without damage to the bait. However, if you abuse any tool, sooner or later it will fail you.

[Fishingmickey]

41 minutes ago, jimmyjoe said:

   Yeah, I have used the Bandits. Great lures. I just was looking around for something bigger and heavier.        jj

JJ, have you tried any of the Spro RK series? The RK55 has been a solid crank bait for me.  I love me some rock crawlers!

FM

[Aaron_H]

You could give the Thunderhawk A10 squarebill a look, the bill is molded as part of the body and seems pretty stout, but I haven't thrown it myself.

[jimmyjoe]

3 hours ago, Fishingmickey said:

JJ, have you tried any of the Spro RK series? The RK55 has been a solid crank bait for me.  I love me some rock crawlers!

FM

 

   Those are 9-14 feet of depth. That's a bit deeper than what I want for fishing around here, but I can check w/ local fishermen to see whether there is info on them.  ? Thnx.

 

1 hour ago, Aaron_H said:

You could give the Thunderhawk A10 squarebill a look, the bill is molded as part of the body and seems pretty stout, but I haven't thrown it myself.

 

   That's a leetle bit light.

   I see now that I should have mentioned the rod that I'm using for this. It's a H/M St. Croix fiberglass rod from the Mojo Bass Glass family. I call her "Big Mama".  ?  She's rated 1/2 to 1 and 3/8 oz., and I found out the hard way that she doesn't like lures under a half ounce. That's why I had asked about lures that weighed from 1/2 to 3/4 oz.

   I'll edit my OP.          jj

 

 

[Fishingmickey]

Jimmy joe,

     SPRO has the RK50 which is 4-8' and the RK55MD is also supposed to be 4-8'. The RK50 is 5/16 oz and RK55MD is 1/2 oz.

FM

[jimmyjoe]

6 hours ago, HaydenS said:

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Rapala_Balsa_Xtreme_BX_Brat_Squarebill_Crankbaits/descpage-RBEBSB.html  Plastic

 

   I see that there's a Bx BIG Brat, too. It weighs 3/4 ounce, and it appears to have a reinforced bill. I thought they were just balsa, and I've never been fond of balsa around rocks. But evidently these have a plastic shell over the balsa! Who knew? (I didn't!)

   I'll at least try them.   ?

 

3 minutes ago, Fishingmickey said:

Jimmy joe,

     SPRO has the RK50 which is 4-8' and the RK55MD is also supposed to be 4-8'. The RK50 is 5/16 oz and RK55MD is 1/2 oz.

FM

 

   I now see that on TW! Thank you!

 

[king fisher]

I have had great luck this year on a 6th sense cloud nine mini mag square bill.  7/8 oz casts great, holds up well in the rocks, and comes with excellent hooks.  I'm not saying the bill wont break, but I haven't broken one yet and I crank mine through the rocks as fast as I can reel. 

[BigAngus752]

Another vote for the Storm Arashi.  Indestructible and, if you have your reeling cadence correct, the way they come through stuff is like magic.  As my Strike Kings and Spro's disappear through natural attrition I am replacing them with nothing but the Storms.  

[Munkin]

Daiwa use to make a bait with a titanium lip that you cannot break no matter what. 

 

Allen

[WRB]

The original vintage Bomber lures have metal square bill that is indestructible. The series runs from 200 to 600, 2” to 6”.

During over 50 years fishing Bomber around rip rap never broke one.

 The other original square bill is Arbogast Mud bugs, metal bill.

Don’y turn up your nose to these lures they catch bass as good or better then anything on the market today.

The 2 colors I used were Christmas Tree and black orange.

Change the hooks are good to go.

Tom

PS, EBay 

[Catt]

6th Sense Movement 80X is designed for crashing through thick shallow cover, ripping out of grass, & cranking rocks.

 

3.15" 5/8 oz 1-3'

[scaleface]

15 hours ago, WRB said:

Arbogast Mud bugs,

I still have some . Havent been used in awhile . They work good in rock . A buddy and I threw them one night on a riprap dam and both limited out .We kept twenty , 12 inch bass . Thats back in the days where the limits were more lenient and there were more big bass . 

[Aaron_H]

20 hours ago, jimmyjoe said:

   That's a leetle bit light.

   I see now that I should have mentioned the rod that I'm using for this. It's a H/M St. Croix fiberglass rod from the Mojo Bass Glass family. I call her "Big Mama".  ?  She's rated 1/2 to 1 and 3/8 oz., and I found out the hard way that she doesn't like lures under a half ounce. That's why I had asked about lures that weighed from 1/2 to 3/4 oz.

   I'll edit my OP.          jj

 

Looks like I should sign up for the Derek Zoolander Center for Kids Who Can't Read Good ? 7/16oz almost made the cut, too.

[Chris Catignani]

18 hours ago, WRB said:

The original vintage Bomber lures have metal square bill that is indestructible...

Change the hooks are good to go.

Some of those Bombers had the hooks and screw eyes as one part.

[WRB]

The wooden Bombers have hook hangers, the later plastic lures have screw eyes. Just cut off the old hook, add a split ring with now hooks.

Tom

[scaleface]

I probably have a dozen Hellbenders and Bomber Water Dogs . Dont remember ever using them , they were given to me . I heard they did not dive quickly and steeply so were better utilized as a trolling lure rather than a  casting lure .

[WRB]

Hell Benders and Water Dogs are more of a trolling lure and never had much luck using them. 

The Bomber 7A is still one of my favorites and kept 2. Don’t know what the newer 7A’s are like, the originals are very durable lures, mine are years 30+ years old.

Tom

[Chris Catignani]

47 minutes ago, WRB said:

The wooden Bombers have hook hangers, the later plastic lures have screw eyes. Just cut off the old hook, add a split ring with now hooks.

Tom

Tom...the wooden Bombers are the same way...they actually have a (third) metal piece that goes in the recess.

If you were to cut off the hooks and replace them with split rings what you would end up with is a lure whos hooks get tangled up together when you cast.

[WRB]

No, not on the 300 and up series. You can open the screw eye a little to remove/replace the treble hooks, the squeeze the eye tight.

Tom