Which crankbaits to get started with?

[AustonW]

Alright guys, I'm still relatively new to bass fishing. I've got some crankbaits already but it is a sporadic few. Being very basic here, but what cranks would you recommend going and getting to have a decent beginner setup? It seems every time I want to throw on, I don't have the right one for depth or color for that matter. Not necessarily asking for specific brands but if you want to recommend one, I won't be mad. And every time I go looking at the tackle shop, I get overwhelmed. I know this thread is probably beating a dead horse, but I need some help. I was thinking maybe getting the same basic colors for each depth zone, but you tell me. Thanks in advance. 

 

Auston

[QED]

The running depth(s) is something that you have to decide.  For a basic set that doesn't hurt the budget, I'd get a shad or Tennessee shad finish along with a crawdad finish that resembles crawdads in your area.  Weight(s) depends on your fishing gear/style.  Finally, I prefer balsa baits such as rapala/bagley's but it's not a critical variable.

 

Don't get carried away with too many running depths, finishes, and weights or the combinatorial explosion will kill your budget.

[SWVABass]

Get some square bills, some mid range stuff as well. Unless you have a boat or yak I would stay away from deep divers for now. Colors sexy shad, white, light brown and chartreuse black back. Should have you pretty well covered.

[Yuddzy]

Before you start buying anything, consider the depths you'll be fishing at. If you fish shallow more often than deep, it makes sense that your quantities of shallower running baits would be bigger. Don't get too carried away on buying different depths of crankbaits, just use your noggin and buy to meet your needs best based on where you fish.

 

As far as colors go, I wouldn't worry too much about it. I usually aim to have some natural colors, something bright, and something dark to meet most situations. You can search the forums here for opinions on colors if you'd like more information about that, it should be applicable to crankbaits. Choosing colors isn't an exact science, variety is key. Also don't go overboard here. 

 

Lastly, there's 3 distinct types of crankbaits that I can think of right now.

1: Lipped crankbaits - these are the fellas with some sort of lip that dive to a certain depth when retrieved. 

2: Squarebill crankbaits - A subset/special type of lipped crankbaits, these dive shallow and are used to knock into heavy cover. 

3: Lipless crankbaits - Crankbaits with no lip, may be fished at any depth by letting it sink/adjusting retrieve.

 

If you want the skinny on how to fish each of these types, search the forums for better information from far more experienced anglers than me. This is merely a quick summary to point you in the right direction.

 

Remember: buy what meets your purpose, for example, you very well may have no use for deep diving crankbaits depending on how and where you fish.

 

Cheers 

[MickD]

Rapala DT series, get the depths that you think will most be used in your fishing.  Great cranks!

[gulfcaptain]

So cranking is a huge rabbit hole as you can see just in a few replies. So basics, color I agree with some, a natural bait fish color, one bright,  and a red craw version. I'm not gonna go into lipless, so Rapala makes the DT series, good baits. Strike King as well, 6th sense. All are good. Basics, 1.5 size square bill, then a  Rapala  DT 6/ Strike King series 3, DT 10/ 3XD. That covers you down to about 12ft. Now here is where I get simple 5XD in a Strike King will cover you to almost 15ft, 6XD is the next and will cover most deep crank needs almost everywhere.  You can look at those models and compare to what you're liking and adjust.  They are just easy models to refer to in sizes  and cover from 3ft to 15+. I normally carry 2 of at least 2 of each color I fish incase you loose one you have a spare.  

[WRB]

What rod and reel do you plan to use for diving crank baits?

Boat or shore angler?

Tom

[gulfcaptain]

Just now, WRB said:

What rod and reel do you plan to use for diving crank baits?

Boat or shore angler?

Tom

The other cranking rabbit hole. 

[Sphynx]

I guess for colors I try to keep things as simple as possible. I keep natural colors, in this category I include crawfish colors, shad colors, sunfish colors, and ghost colors. I keep bold colors, things like clown, heavily chartreuse colored baits, fluorescent colors etc. Then there's reflective colors, which are pretty self explanatory. In these categories I like things that overlap for depths, so one of each color group most representative of your water conditions going 1-3ft, another one going 2-5ft, then maybe 4-10 etc. I have way too many cranks, and have pretty much something for every occasion, but you definitely don't need that many to get going.

[AustonW]

9 hours ago, WRB said:

What rod and reel do you plan to use for diving crank baits?

Boat or shore angler?

Tom

I’ve got a glass rod but I’ve also got a couple of graphite rods to throw them on. My glass reel has a 5.6:1 on it or something close to it and my graphite rods have a little faster reels. I have a boat but I don’t get to use it with twin 2 yr olds. So I find myself bank fishing ponds or taking a kayak out if I’m lucky more than being on the boat

[DaubsNU1]

This is good information!

 

My first cranks were lip-less Rattle-Traps in various sizes. Chrome-blue seemed to work best and caught everything from crappie, to bass, and even Musky. Easy to cast and retrieve, they can be worked at many different depths. 

 

I've never been a big fan of deep diving cranks...could never get them to the depth I wanted, little success...and with the moss / vegetation here in Nebraska, very much a pain to fish.

 

I recently started throwing square-bills and have actually had some good success. KVD 1.5 in bluegill color does well. I've ordered some 6th Sense 50x. Bluegill colors seem to do well, as well as something natural, and bright silver / shiny.

 

Good luck!

[WRB]

2 hours ago, AustonW said:

I’ve got a glass rod but I’ve also got a couple of graphite rods to throw them on. My glass reel has a 5.6:1 on it or something close to it and my graphite rods have a little faster reels. I have a boat but I don’t get to use it with twin 2 yr olds. So I find myself bank fishing ponds or taking a kayak out if I’m lucky more than being on the boat

You will have lots of time to bass fish in a few years, the twins are more important now.

Shore fishing ponds the old Rapala Jointed Minnow J11 is excellent. You can wake it or swim it or crank it.

I suggest picking 1 brand like Berkley Fritz Side or Dredger series. Since your lakes have Bluegill, Shad and crawdads those 3 basic colors is all anyone needs. Sthallow running 1-4 and medium 5-8 should cover your needs until your boat fishing deeper areas.

Tom

 

[LrgmouthShad]

14 hours ago, MickD said:

Rapala DT series, get the depths that you think will most be used in your fishing.  Great cranks!

I'm no crankbait aficionado. Far from it. But I think this is great advice for a brand line. These crankbaits get down to their advertised running depth quickly and have a tight, natural wobble that will produce well, well into the winter down to frigid temperatures. I think I would get something like a silver black back, a gold black back, a sexy shad, and a color that matches the forage in your lake well, and then a crawdad color.

 

Edit:

Wait a minute! 

 

I forgot something. 

 

Please get some 05 size shad raps. 07 is good too. In colors I mentioned. Again, not a crankbait aficionado, but shad raps are timeless. It is probably a mistake that I do not fish with these crankbaits more often.

[bowhunter63]

Cant go wrong with Rapalas or the Rock Crawler by Spro 

[Bankbeater]

Around this time of year a lot of the water I fish begins to fill up with vegetation so I fish mostly shallow running crankbaits that don't dive deeper than 3 or 4 feet.  By slowing down the retrieve I keep them about 1 to 1-1/2 feet deep.  Just deep enough to run them over the top of the coontail.

As far as color goes, most of the time I just use a firetiger, craw, or shad crankbait.

[AustonW]

I’ve got a couple of dt’s now but never throw them because, like I said earlier, its never the right color or depth. I guess i need to just suck it up and buy a few at the time. 

Another thing is i get confused is when to throw a squarebill vs roundbill vs shad rap vs whatever other crankbait. 

[papajoe222]

Go with shallow and medium divers with different bill types and body sizes. The bill will dictate not only the depth it will run, but how much it will wobble.  When I'm targeting a specific depth, I'll change the body size to larger or smaller (the bait not including the bill), as often times the fish will show a preference toward one or the other. IMO, that size is more important than the bait's color.

[roadwarrior]

Red Eye Shad

Norman Fat Boy

Bandit 200

[tholmes]

4 hours ago, roadwarrior said:

Red Eye Shad

Norman Fat Boy

Bandit 200

These are great choices^

Add a few Bomber Flat A and Squarebills to the mix. 

 

Tom

[roadwarrior]

The Fat Boy is a square bill.

[AustonW]

Thanks guys. So pretty much three colors for each depth zone i want choose. And squarebills for shallow stuff. Whats the difference in say a shad rap vs a dt?

[WRB]

I personally don't like shad Raps because the length to weight ratio makes them difficult to cast with bait casting.

The Rapala  Fat Rap series imo is a better choice. The DT series series is fatter and shorter the Fat Rap, newer lure that is more popular.

With few exceptions Shad colors are better in shallow to medium divers and Crawdad colors in medium to deep divers.

Bass rarely do deeper the eat shad perfect using the surface or looking up for shad. Crawdads on the other hand are bottom dwellers the bass look for scooting along the bottom.

Tom

[NoShoes]

Spro Aruku Shad’s cast like a missile. I think any kind of lipless is dummy proof. 

[casts_by_fly]

Lots of good advice already. I’m a dt convert. I have lots of 4/6/10/14 and a couple 20 plus the fat and OG series now. The dt series are good general year round baits. The OG are tighter wobble and great early season but also in pressured water or heavy cover. The dt fat are classic square bill wide wobble. Those three cover most everything for me.

 

lipless are a different story and I just go red eye shad 1/2 oz. I have a few…

[TriStateBassin106]

For a squarebill I'd go with the Strike King kvd 1.5 & lipless crankbaits either the Strike King red eye shad or a Ray Lewis Rat L Trap