Heavy crankbait rod

[10,000 lakes Bassin]

I just watched a video where Seth Feider said that he uses a diawa tatula 7’4 heavy, regular action rod for all his crankbaits from square bills to deep divers, and that it doubles as his chatterbait rod. Would that rod be a reasonable choice for a novice crankbait fisherman like myself, who also wants a rod I could use for chatterbaits? I mean if it works for Seth it’d probably work for me right? 

[Brian11719]

Suppose that depends on your definition of 'reasonable'. Here are a few I like from highest to lowest (in price):
Dobyn's Champion XP DC 736CB

St Croix Victory VTC72HM

Ark Randall Tharp Honey Badger TS-74MH-G

...that said in all honesty for me it's a toss between that St. Croix and Dobyn's both great companies and either of them would make a fine bladed jig rod that you can also crank with...the Ark is ok for the price but eventually you might start to notice the difference between a $125 rod and a $200 one.
 

[10,000 lakes Bassin]

9 hours ago, Brian11719 said:

Suppose that depends on your definition of 'reasonable'. Here are a few I like from highest to lowest (in price):
Dobyn's Champion XP DC 736CB

St Croix Victory VTC72HM

Ark Randall Tharp Honey Badger TS-74MH-G

...that said in all honesty for me it's a toss between that St. Croix and Dobyn's both great companies and either of them would make a fine bladed jig rod that you can also crank with...the Ark is ok for the price but eventually you might start to notice the difference between a $125 rod and a $200 one.
 

Thank you. Would a MH be a better choice than a heavy?

[MN Fisher]

7 minutes ago, August said:

Thank you. Would a MH be a better choice than a heavy?

For general cranking purposes I'd go with an MH rather than an H. I do have the Victory 7'2" H/M - but its for deeper cranks (11'+), larger squarebills and my 3/4oz+ Chatters/Spinners

For most cranking purposes I have the Victory 7'2" MH/F - that includes my lighter squarebills and all my lipless except my Ark Z-75 which is tossed on the H/M (it's a heavy beast)

[Bigbox99]

This rod can do 3/8 oz cranks to 1/2 oz chatterbaits.  It's expensive but awesome.  

[10,000 lakes Bassin]

2 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

For general cranking purposes I'd go with an MH rather than an H. I do have the Victory 7'2" H/M - but its for deeper cranks (11'+), larger squarebills and my 3/4oz+ Chatters/Spinners

For most cranking purposes I have the Victory 7'2" MH/F - that includes my lighter squarebills and all my lipless except my Ark Z-75 which is tossed on the H/M (it's a heavy beast)

Could I still use a MH crankbait rod for 3/8 and 1/2oz chatterbaits? What about the diawa tatula glass, tatula elite glass, or rebellion glass in MH? 

[Fishingmickey]

     Without knowing (fished with) the Diawa rod. it's hard to comment.  Crankbaits and Chatterbaits are two different animals in my book. Cranks have trebles. I prefer a moderate action rod for them. More parabolic bend to keep them pinned on the jump. 

     The bigger deeper divers (XD6 size and up) need a rod capable of casting a 1 oz or larger weight long distances. So your looking at a heavy action longer rod.

Smaller/shallower divers like MN said 11-12' or less a MH will do.

     Chatterbait's with the single hook I prefer a fast action for hook setting capability. The Diawa rod Seth uses is a regular action and might work just fine for both.

FM

[MN Fisher]

5 minutes ago, August said:

Could I still use a MH crankbait rod for 3/8 and 1/2oz chatterbaits? 

Certainly - my Victory 7'2" MH/M is rated to 7/8oz...when you factor in skirt, blades, hook and trailer - a 1/2 chatter or spinner should still be in it's range.

 

Note that the weight posted for chatter/spinner baits does NOT include the skirt, blades or hook...it's just the weight of the head...so a 1/2oz spinnerbait ends up weighing between 5/8 and 3/4 without trailer.

1 minute ago, Fishingmickey said:

The Diawa rod Seth uses is a regular action and might work just fine for both.

A Daiwa regular action is a M-MF - stiffer than a true M but still softer than a MF.

[10,000 lakes Bassin]

1 minute ago, MN Fisher said:

Certainly - my Victory 7'2" MH/M is rated to 7/8oz...when you factor in skirt, blades, hook and trailer - a 1/2 chatter or spinner should still be in it's range.

 

Note that the weight posted for chatter/spinner baits does NOT include the skirt, blades or hook...it's just the weight of the head...so a 1/2oz spinnerbait ends up weighing between 5/8 and 3/4 without trailer.

Thank you. I’m looking for a multi purpose rod I can you for both, and run 12-15lb fluoro. I think I’ll go with a Diawa MH glass rod of some sort 

[Bigbox99]

3 minutes ago, August said:

Thank you. I’m looking for a multi purpose rod I can you for both, and run 12-15lb fluoro. I think I’ll go with a Diawa MH glass rod of some sort 

If you can afford the 71MH Valkyrie then that's the rod.  

[Brian11719]

3 hours ago, August said:

Thank you. Would a MH be a better choice than a heavy?

I usually pay attention to the lure weight rating on the rod rather than the power rating the manufacturer says it is. For example that Ark rod says it's a MH but honestly it feels more like a heavy to me. Either way I've found if you look at the weight rating and then aim for the middle you should be in good shape. So, for example if a rod says its for 1/4-1oz then it will usually do great for lures that weigh 1/2-3/4oz. I also found it really helpful to buy a small digital scale and then weigh my lures (w/ the trailer and everything) just to get a better idea of how much the ones I like to throw really weigh. For bladed jigs I usually like 1/2oz lures so that and the trailer I like (zako) comes in at around .92oz. I also like throwing lipless crankbaits that weigh 3/4oz so both have been a good fit on my rod. Hope you enjoy whatever you end up going with!

[MediumMouthBass]

Most MH actual cranking rods have higher lure ratings then most heavy rods, pay close attention to its ratings instead of its power.

 

And most rods that do fantastic for deep diving cranks/chatterbaits would struggle with most square bills, keep that in mind. Unless you are throwing big massive square bills then that would probably be able to work.

 

Most common square bill is the KVD 1.5 weighs 3/8oz, and the KVD 2.5 weighs 5/8oz.

A 3/8oz Chatterbait weighs almost 1/2oz after trailer, and a 1/2oz weighs closer to 3/4oz.

And deep crankbaits vary in weight depending on if they are Strike King, Berkley Spro, Storm, Rapala....

Most of their deep divers range between 3/8-1/2-5/8-3/4-1oz.

If you plan on throwing lighter square bills like the 1.5 or ones in that size range you will probably want to get a different rod just for those, if you plan on using the 2.5's you can probably use the same rod for the deep cranks and chatterbaits.

Try to find a rod in the 1/2-1oz range, give or take some weight depending on what the lures you will most commonly throw weigh.

But for deep cranking ill usually go with a rod up to 1 1/2oz just because if im fishing 15-20' down im going to need a stronger rod, these crankbaits have alot of pull to them and put some stress on the gear, and thats before a bass bites one down that deep.

If you really want to get into cranking i wouldnt spend all the money on the rod, the reels equally important, the Lews BB1 Pro is a amazing reel, made for cranking too. It has a deeper spool letting it have more line be able to be used, its meant to cast very far.

When you are fishing deep cranks most of your casting distance isnt what you think it is, it takes quite alot of reeling that lure in to get it to its listed depth, well the farther you can cast the longer your crankbaits in the strike zone.

[Fishingmickey]

2 hours ago, August said:

Thank you. I’m looking for a multi purpose rod I can you for both, and run 12-15lb fluoro. I think I’ll go with a Diawa MH glass rod of some sort 

I've got the Rebellion in a MH and it is a "soft" rod. Two others to consider is Dobyn's Kayden or the Shimano Curado Glass. I have both of those two and Kayden 744C nails it for the Chatterbait. I have used it for crankbaits as well. 5XD or DD22 is it's sweet spot for deep diving cranks. The Curado glass CB rod is no slouch at either bait also.

[10,000 lakes Bassin]

5 hours ago, Bigbox99 said:

If you can afford the 71MH Valkyrie then that's the rod.  

I can’t unfortunately 

    I think I’ll go with the tatula glass MH regular, it should be good for crankbaits and chatterbaits. I don’t have the budget for 20 rods. I normally only bring 5-6 rod with me so I don’t really have space for technique specific stuff.

[softwateronly]

14 hours ago, August said:

Could I still use a MH crankbait rod for 3/8 and 1/2oz chatterbaits? What about the diawa tatula glass, tatula elite glass, or rebellion glass in MH? 

If you rip chatterbaits out of milfoil, give a MH/F rod a try as well.  If the rod has too much deflection before it pops free, I feel like I get less bites because it probably travels too far/fast from the strike zone.  

 

scott

[Big Hands]

Daiwa makes:

 

1) a Tatula 7'4" (TTU741HRB-G) heavy power composite spinnerbait, bladed jig rod rated for 12-20 lbs line and 1/2 to 1-1/2 ounce lure weights.

 

2) a Tatula Elite 7'4" Brent Ehrler TTEL741MHRB-G; rated as a MH for use with 10-20 lbs line and 1/2 to 2 ounce lures

 

3) the Tatula Elite 7'4" Randy Howell TTEL741MHRB; this version is rated for 12-25 lbs line, but only 1/4 to 1-3/8 ounce lures (SMALL SWIMBAT/CRANKBAIT/TOPWATER). Yes, the Daiwa website actually says "SWIMBAT", LOL. And, then on the rod itself, it says "BIG TOPWATER/SWIMBAIT/BLADED JIG".

 

 

I have the Randy Howell version of the Daiwa Tatula Elite 7'4" (TTEL741MHRB). 

 

The Brent Ehrler version is a composite, hence the "-G" in the model name.

 

The Randy Howell . . . Typical Daiwa oddity when trying to comparison shop.

 

I have mine paired with a Curado 200K (6.2:1) loaded with 15 lbs Big Game. It's become one of my favorite rods. It's definitely not a fast action; more like a mod-fast IMHO, and it handles it's business. I have caught nice bass out of the tules with it on 5/0 Flashy Swimmers with 4.8" Swing Impact plastics (and others) and scads of stripers on Gunfish, Sammy's, Pop-Max and Zara Spooks. 

 

I have another rod that is in the same category, and that is the Phenix X-13. It's a composite 7'6" rod rated for 12-25 lbs line and 1/2 to 3 ounce lures. LOL, I'd throw 2 ounce baits with it, but not sure about 3 ounce baits, but mostly because I also have an X-14, which is 7'11" and a bit beefier.

[Columbia Craw]

Alpha Angler Mag Rebound will do both and both well.  I consider this a very unique rod being its glass but has tremendous power.  It’s the most surprising rod I’ve purchased to date.

[rangerjockey]

You may want to check out the new Fenwick HMG reaction bait series.  

I have the 7ft2 MH that I throw chatterbaits on and it's the deal. especially at $150.

We don't have much of a deep crankbait bite around here, but I wouldn't hesitate to throw a DD22 on it.