Best Shallow Running Crankbait

[JCrzy4Bass]

Bought a Bandit 200 Series because the colors they had for the 100 were very limited.  I like the action and wide wobble the crank gets.  I chose white as the color.  Ran it for about 30 mins today in a cove and around points but it was hot as all get out as soon as the sun was up at 7:30am and the water right now is hot.  I also bought another Mann's -1 in a black and chrome color and ran it for about 20 minutes or so by a fishing pier, wood pilings, and rocky shoreline with no success.  The bite was just hard at this particular lake today, they didn't want cranks, senkos or spinners, or topwater.  Not a bite in 4 hours... worst day out in forever.  I will give these some shots next time I'm out though sometime next week.  Thanks for all the input guys.

[MALTESE FALCON]

My favorites are:

1-Rapala Shallow Shad Rap

2-Bomber Square A

3-Norman Mad N

Falcon

[Shad_Master]

If you are looking for something really shallow - check out the Mann's Waker

http://another site/tv_play.asp?id=109

this is supposed to be a link to a video on another site in case it doesn't work.  Since I apparently can't list "the other site" - PM me for more info

[Triton9]

storm subwarts are good for waking, and if you want a crank that runs from 1-4 ft choose a Bandit 100 series

[Brad_Coovert]

I guess "best" depends on what you want to do.

Take some of my cranking.  I love a Norman Thin N in the fall.  I just kill fish with it at that time of the year.  Rest of the year, hardly a fish.  A Method crankbait does well for me in colder water aswell, but for some reason, I do much better with these in the spring.

Summer is my favorite time to fish shallow crankbaits in flooded wood.  Bomber Square A, Norman Fat Boy, Manns Minus Series, Lucky Craft CB001 and Lucky Craft BDS Series baits get a workout.

Good luck with your search!

Brad

[Stringjam]

Another bait you might try is a Bomber Flat A - - I have custom wooden and plastic baits from D-Baits, Catching Concepts, Lucky Craft, Bee-Zee, Zoom WEC, On-The-Line, Megabass, O.S.P., H&T Balsa, Jackall, Ever Green, Tiemco, etc.etc.etc... - a WELL DESIGNED bait is a well designed bait, whether is plastic or wood.   A lure made of balsa won't be superior to a lure made of plastic JUST because its made of balsa.  

The Flat A reacts very much like some of the best custom cranks I have, and at a VERY good price.   You're fishing waters where you're getting more bites on subtle baits, so a small flatsided bait would be my FIRST choice for throwing a crankbait.  A Luhr-Jensen Speed Trap is another good option.    

[cdabelow]

Manns Baby 1- has caught a lot of fish for me.  I do best with the Alabama Shad

[Chris]

WELL DESIGNED bait is a well designed bait, whether is plastic or wood.   A lure made of balsa won't be superior to a lure made of plastic JUST because its made of balsa.    

A few years ago A guy wanted me to test out some lures and give some input on what I wanted in a bait. The guy understood that at the level I was fishing and the knowledge I had when it came to cranking in general was rather vast. I also understood what it took to build a crankbait from scratch and the things outside of the box that you could do to a crank to make it do some wild stuff. I also understood some of the down falls that many of the lures had. Some of the issues where casting distance, how well it can go through cover, will it track straight at high speeds, will it search, when it is cast to a target will it tumble or fly straight, how well it hooks a fish, vibration, do the fish like the bait signature.

I agree:

A lure made of balsa won't be superior to a lure made of plastic JUST because its made of balsa.    

But a lure made the way I want a lure made makes a big difference. My name is on that lure because it is a heck of a fish catching lure not because I saw $$ I don't make a dime and don't want nothing I was just happy to help. I just wanted to help create a great shallow water lure that I can throw in some nasty stuff and catch fish. It took well over a year and many different designs to get a lure to do what that lure does. A lot of knowledge went into building that bait.

[Stringjam]

WELL DESIGNED bait is a well designed bait, whether is plastic or wood.   A lure made of balsa won't be superior to a lure made of plastic JUST because its made of balsa.    

A few years ago A guy wanted me to test out some lures and give some input on what I wanted in a bait. The guy understood that at the level I was fishing and the knowledge I had when it came to cranking in general was rather vast. I also understood what it took to build a crankbait from scratch and the things outside of the box that you could do to a crank to make it do some wild stuff. I also understood some of the down falls that many of the lures had. Some of the issues where casting distance, how well it can go through cover, will it track straight at high speeds, will it search, when it is cast to a target will it tumble or fly straight, how well it hooks a fish, vibration, do the fish like the bait signature.

I agree:

A lure made of balsa won't be superior to a lure made of plastic JUST because its made of balsa.    

But a lure made the way I want a lure made makes a big difference. My name is on that lure because it is a heck of a fish catching lure not because I saw $$ I don't make a dime and don't want nothing I was just happy to help. I just wanted to help create a great shallow water lure that I can throw in some nasty stuff and catch fish. It took well over a year and many different designs to get a lure to do what that lure does. A lot of knowledge went into building that bait.

Very cool - - having a hand in the design process and getting exactly what you want must be a trip when it all works out and you end up with a fish catching crank.  Whittler's baits look great and I'll probably pick up some before I'm done.  

My comment was merely made in the context of the post - - finding a good inexpensive crankbait.  I think a lot of plastic lures are far too underrated because of the stigma of plastic being inferior.  I have some of the best cranks out there, and a lot of my go-to baits are plastic - simply because of superior design characteristics (Lucky Craft Flat CB SR and RC1.5, Storm Wiggle Wart and Lightnin Shad, Imakatsu IK-400R, Megabass Deep-X 200) - - I also have wooden baits that are my go-to's - - it all depends on the conditions and the application that each crankbait is designed to accel at.   I even have some crankbaits made of FOAM that are killer.  

[T-rig]

Here's one of those cranks made of foam, like Stringjam mentioned:

Duel (Yo-Zuri) Zombi Crank 1

My favorite shallow crank is the LC Flat CB SR.

[Tpayneful]

My best overall crankbait this year has been the Bandit Footloose.  It runs 12 inches or less.  The best color has been pearl with a black back.  I killed them on my lake and the Potomac in the spring.  The grass has been too thick to really throw it this summer on the Potomac or at least the areas that I like to fish.  I think it outperforms the Mann's -1 series by a mile but it is no skin off my back if they don't throw the Footloose.  

I catch a few here and there on other crankbaits but I just have't been throwing them much this summer.