What are generally considered the best performing 3-5’ crankbaits for $10 or less?

[Brian11719]

The 3-5 foot range seems to be the most saturated market in terms of different options that are out there so I don't know that you are going to get an easy consensus like you would for say a 1/2oz bladed jig...in my case I like strike king and 6th sense in this range...lucky craft is also good and fwiw not all their squarebill crankbaits are silent and I actually prefer the ones that aren't since I tend to throw these in a huge lake with a lot of background noise...the bill lewis 2.5 atv also looks good but I haven't actually tried one of those.

[DinkDonkey30]

12 hours ago, Ohioguy25 said:

But why are all lucky craft cranks silent?

Really, 6th Sense outperform KVD?? That is news to me. I thought they just looked pretty, is this a widely shared sentiment or just your personal experience?

Thanks, I actually have a good number of those ATV and I like them a lot. I knew they casted great but I wasn’t exactly 100% on their performance. I will fish them with more confidence now! 

In my experience a lot of anglers find the 6th sense cranks outperform many other mfgs. 6th sense baits overall perform very well for me. They have a few plastics I dont care for but their hard baits are very reliable namely the cranks, and jerk baits. I dont care for the spinner baits and havent tried the bladed jigs.The vega frog sucks in my opion but some people really like it. Ive had better luck with other brands as far as frogs go.They have an oddball crank with a metal squarebill that moves side to side I've had mixed success with but wouldn't recommend.There top water walking baits are second to non for me which I also throw and have tried a ton of different makers.The dogma in bone and the wake bait in bone are magic in my area. 

[rangerjockey]

20 hours ago, Ohioguy25 said:

But why are all lucky craft cranks silent?

Really, 6th Sense outperform KVD?? That is news to me. I thought they just looked pretty, is this a widely shared sentiment or just your personal experience?

Thanks, I actually have a good number of those ATV and I like them a lot. I knew they casted great but I wasn’t exactly 100% on their performance. I will fish them with more confidence now! 

If you want rattles get the LC 1.5 DRS. 

Speaking of LC 1.5's I see TW is selling some custom painted by TK Stanley. I traded him some pre Rap warts in exchange for some of his 1.5's a while back. 

The guy is a heck of a painter.

[MediumMouthBass]

SPRO, 6th Sense, 13 Fishing, and Lucky Craft are the only ones worth buying IMO. Berkley is also worth mentioning, because their Dredger, Money Badger, and Frittsides are really great fish catchers, but their other cranks are junk that break bills off constantly. Strike King (minus the R.E.D. Shad and Hybrid Hunter) all feel and look cheap, id expect to buy them on Temu. Rapala feels the same to me, and because of what they did the my favorite cranking/glidebait brand (13 Fishing) i will boycott anything Rapala until my last breath.

 

What i would do if i had to start fresh, would be to run down to BPS. Buy Frittsides on sale now for 50% off, next find the nearest Ollies store near me and load up on every $5 13 Fishing crank they have left, and while im there pick up $6 Lucky Crafts. Finally wait for Midway to put Spro RKCrawlers on sale around $6-8.

[Columbia Craw]

Lucky Craft 1.5

6th Sense Crush 50 or Munch

Norman Speed N

Bill Lewis ATV

SK Chick Magnet 

Norman Fat Boy

Spro Little John (on sale)

[Dan N]

6th sense crush 50 for me, I have a bunch. Good hooks , and they offer loud rattle, faint rattle , and silent. 
I also like Rapala , but dang , them balsa baits are fragile! Don’t slap them on the water, and 1 bad cast that hits a rock or something solid can be the end of that bait.

should add: 

6th sense occasionally has ridiculous deals on certain colors or what not, got some as cheap as 2.99. At least they used to . Haven’t looked this year cuz I already have about 50 of them.

[Ohioguy25]

On 3/21/2025 at 10:22 PM, Dan N said:

6th sense crush 50 for me, I have a bunch. Good hooks , and they offer loud rattle, faint rattle , and silent. 

Where are you seeing this? I’m only seeing a faint rattle.

[Dan N]

2 hours ago, Ohioguy25 said:

Where are you seeing this? I’m only seeing a faint rattle.

On the 6th sense website. I have the App. When you click on a color of crank bait, below it should pop up options for size, and type of rattle. Not all colors have every option. , and if orderd thru retailers like Bass Pro Shops, this might not be offered. I always orders directly from 6th sense.

[Darth-Baiter]

my catchingest shallow crank is a Bill Lewis (i think)..maybe the ATV.  i throw it into grass and it yanks out beautifully.  the bass crush it as it comes out.  

 

it is nuts.  i have this ugly orange brown one.  our local Delta bass love it.  

[Ohioguy25]

4 hours ago, Darth-Baiter said:

my catchingest shallow crank is a Bill Lewis (i think)..maybe the ATV.  i throw it into grass and it yanks out beautifully.  the bass crush it as it comes out.  

 

it is nuts.  i have this ugly orange brown one.  our local Delta bass love it.  

Love that crankbait 

On 3/23/2025 at 4:35 PM, Dan N said:

On the 6th sense website. I have the App. When you click on a color of crank bait, below it should pop up options for size, and type of rattle. Not all colors have every option. , and if orderd thru retailers like Bass Pro Shops, this might not be offered. I always orders directly from 6th sense.

So you can’t get those options on TW?

[Dan N]

Sorry, not sure , I always ordered directly from 6th sense .

[crypt]

On 3/18/2025 at 10:39 PM, papajoe222 said:

I know that square bills are currently popular, but another option is something like a Bomber Model A. They offer different models for different depth ranges and are not only affordable, but they are fish catchers.

This....

[KP Duty]

When I discovered  how easy it was to catch bass on a shallow squarebill...I wanted every one ever made.

[king fisher]

11 hours ago, KP Duty said:

When I discovered  how easy it was to catch bass on a shallow squarebill...I wanted every one ever made.

Me too.  Then I went out and bought more than I could use in a lifetime.  Now there are new ones that everyone says are far better than the square bills I already have.  The Monkey watched Tactical Bass'n and is constantly telling me to buy some Bill Lewis square bills and give them a try.  My problem is if I try them and like them, I will buy more, and my old baits will never get used.  I have decided to not buy anymore square bills.  I will fish the ones I have.  If the bass don't like the square bills I already own, I will fish a bladed jig.  The Bait Monkey approves of this plan because he loves it when I loose and have to replace a Jack Hammer.  

[KP Duty]

1 hour ago, king fisher said:

Me too.  Then I went out and bought more than I could use in a lifetime.  Now there are new ones that everyone says are far better than the square bills I already have.  The Monkey watched Tactical Bass'n and is constantly telling me to buy some Bill Lewis square bills and give them a try.  My problem is if I try them and like them, I will buy more, and my old baits will never get used.  I have decided to not buy anymore square bills.  I will fish the ones I have.  If the bass don't like the square bills I already own, I will fish a bladed jig.  The Bait Monkey approves of this plan because he loves it when I loose and have to replace a Jack Hammer.  

I definitely have 2-3 lifetimes worth of squarebills.  You will have an epic day or two on another bait that will trigger the Silverback 'monkey'.  

 

On topic- if you haven't tried the LC KJ flat 1.5...it is dynamite.  You can get 2 on the auction site for the price of one @ msrp.

[Ohioguy25]

1 hour ago, KP Duty said:

I definitely have 2-3 lifetimes worth of squarebills.  You will have an epic day or two on another bait that will trigger the Silverback 'monkey'.  

 

On topic- if you haven't tried the LC KJ flat 1.5...it is dynamite.  You can get 2 on the auction site for the price of one @ msrp.

Everyone talking about LC but they’re almost all silent 

[TnRiver46]

Spro, Norman, luhr Jensen, and a wild card I haven’t seen mentioned yet is freedom baits RAD series

 

 

[rangerjockey]

1 hour ago, Ohioguy25 said:

Everyone talking about LC but they’re almost all silent 

What makes you think you only need rattles. The silent models work also. They offer DRS in the 1.5 2.0 and 2.5. what other sizes are you looking for.

[KP Duty]

1 hour ago, Ohioguy25 said:

Everyone talking about LC but they’re almost all silent 

That's how I like'em generally.  I don't know why LC wants $18.99 retail for a 1.5 with the Deep Rattle Sound vs $7.99 for the silent version 🤷‍♂️.

[Cdn Angler]

Can't go wrong with a Cotton Cordell Big O in 77 size. It's cheap (5-6$), it looks cheap, and the hardware is not great (bait itself is reasonably durable though), but that little dude just gets bit by anything that swims.