Best Crank Baits?

[cdabelow]

I want to work on crank fishing.  I tend to fish with soft plastic and jigs a mojority of the time but I want to broaden my tactics.  Does anyone have any suggetions of a few cranks that produce for them? I fish several different kinds of lakes, reservior, and rivers).  Thanks in advance for any and all help!!

[Lucky Craft Man]

I was in a similar situation where I wanted to get into crankbait fishing.  Therefore, I purchased every Rapala DT there was in two different colors (Chartruese colored and Shad colored).  I figured that would give a me a diving crankbait for almost every depth (at least up to 16 ft).  Also, I like how it states on the lip of the DT crankbait how deep it goes, which eleminates guessing how deep a particular lure will dive.  My crankbait fishing success has really improved with this system and I didn't break the bank on buying a ton of different crankbaits (though I did break the bank when I bought a G Loomis 7'6" MH Crankbait Rod, which by the way is a great rod).  

[skunked_again]

the Rapala DT is a good crankbait, i toss it 85% of the time when cranking. the drawback is the price tag that goes along with the bait. i personaly dont like the Rapala Glass Rap. maybe its me but i dont catch the fish with those like the DT series. personaly if i was just starting out id probably buy the Bomber brand baits. the price doesnt kill you and have a lot to choose from.

[Guest ncbass24]

Like skunked_again said, all bomber cranks are great buys. I especially like the fat free shad series. I own a few lucky crafts, which are great baits, but fifteen dollars a pop is alot of ca$h for a bait that gets hung up often.

[Ky_Lake_Dude]

Strike King has like 8 different crankbait series and they don't break the bank, neither do Bandit Crankbaits.

[Guest the_muddy_man]

I have been having great sucess with cranks lately. The three that have been outperforming all the others are; Norman DD22,Rapala DT's and the BPS XPS Pro Series Cranks. The Crawfish patterns in greens and browns are doing better than the orange and reds. Bluegill patterns also hve been hot.

I try to use a crank rated deeper than the water i am fishing. I crank em down and bounce em off of rocks,stumps etc usually get a hit right after the lure makes contact with something and i make a slight pause or slow sown the retrieve.

I have to say These are the lures that I use becuse I can't  I can't afford the pricier Japanese models , so I can't give any experience with stuff like the LC series. But I am consistantly putting fish in the boat with the 3 baits mentioned

[cdabelow]

If money were not an issue (and of course it is) would you buy Lucky Craft?  Do you feel they produce more fish?  Also, does anyone have any experience with Jackall??  I have seen some very good looking bait from that particular company!!  Thank you for all your help!!

[Bass Hammer]

I'm no expert by any means but I crank alot.

I don't get caught up in the names....I just try to learn how different baits act.

LCs are a very consistant bait that runs great straight out of the box. That being said I don't care for alot of their models other than their flat mini series. As far as Jackall goes...same thing. Some I like some I don't. Some baits are wood like a DT and some are plastic....very different "feel" to me.

One thing to consider....if you're not banging that bait off of everything around it, you're missing out on alot of fish. Obviously you will get hung up and loose some baits so....I wouldn't start out by buying a bunch of high end stuff. Especially when you factor in color and depth. You can get a bunch of baits in a hurry.

Normans, DTs, Bombers will get you going.

JMO

[Guest the_muddy_man]

If money were not an issue (and of course it is) would you buy Lucky Craft? Do you feel they produce more fish? Also, does anyone have any experience with Jackall?? I have seen some very good looking bait from that particular company!! Thank you for all your help!!

MONEY IS THE ISSUE FOR ME.i HAVE TAKEN TO FIND OUT WHAT WORKS,AS TO WHAT I CAN AFFORD. THE THREE CRANKS I MENTIONED ARE AFFORDABLE TO ME SO THAT IS WHAT I USE. I HAVE NO HANDS EXPERIENCE WITH THE HIGH END STUFF SO I HAVE NO OPINION ON THEM 8-)

[cdabelow]

If money were not an issue (and of course it is) would you buy Lucky Craft? Do you feel they produce more fish? Also, does anyone have any experience with Jackall?? I have seen some very good looking bait from that particular company!! Thank you for all your help!!

MONEY IS THE ISSUE FOR ME.i HAVE TAKEN TO FIND OUT WHAT WORKS,AS TO WHAT I CAN AFFORD. THE THREE CRANKS I MENTIONED ARE AFFORDABLE TO ME SO THAT IS WHAT I USE. I HAVE NO HANDS EXPERIENCE WITH THE HIGH END STUFF SO I HAVE NO OPINION ON THEM 8-)

Thank you for your help.  I understand and believe me money is a concern as well for me.  All I am trying to do is get an idea  if there is truly a difference justifying the monetary difference. I hope I didnt upset anyone. That definately was not my intent.  Thanks again for everyones help.

[ernel]

Rapala is a good lure for the money, as are the others mentioned. I have Bombers, Bandits, Strike King, Rebels, BPS, Team Diawa, and Lucky Craft.  I also make my own cranks to hit specific depths with different actions. I can honestly say that there is a time and place where one action will be more to a basses likeing than the other. And yes color will matter more at times than you know.

Just because the lip on a DT says 10, 16 or whatever, does not mean that will be the depth it will run. (You can get almost 18' if you are willing to go down to 6lb floru) You can gain depth by using flourocarbon line instead of mono of the same test. Flouru carbon has less stretch which adds to sensitivty, but it sinks insted of floating. You can also gain by going to a smaller diameter mono line as well.

So my .02 is buy lures from a company that is established or that has proven itself overtime. Somedays L/C will out produce all other lures in the box, and other days it will be an old Rapala or Bomber. Crankbaits are all the same in one respect, they are a tool designed to preform a specific function. Now you just have to pick the right tool for the job.

[skunked_again]

If money were not an issue (and of course it is) would you buy Lucky Craft?  Do you feel they produce more fish?  Also, does anyone have any experience with Jackall??  I have seen some very good looking bait from that particular company!!  Thank you for all your help!!

MONEY IS THE ISSUE FOR ME.i HAVE TAKEN TO FIND OUT WHAT WORKS,AS TO WHAT I CAN AFFORD. THE THREE CRANKS I MENTIONED ARE AFFORDABLE TO ME SO THAT IS WHAT I USE. I HAVE NO HANDS EXPERIENCE WITH THE HIGH END STUFF SO I HAVE NO OPINION ON THEM 8-)

heres a good tip for guys who like to hunt and toss crank baits. during the hunting season when lakes are down a bit we strap on the .22 pistols and go and hunt lakes that have a lot of rip rap. we always walk the north bank and look for crank baits that have been busted off then washed up on the bank. 2 new treble hooks youre ready for your favorite cranking waters.

[Guest the_muddy_man]

Hey Dabs you didn't upset anyone. Sometimes I jusy use capitals,b/c of diabetes my eyesight stinks and i need to see what I am typing, my spelling and grammar is horrible as it is

[cdabelow]

Any particular color that anyone would recommend.? I am going to buy shad colors and I believe baby Bass.  I have done really well in past summers on the Baby 1- in Alabama Shad buty it has not produced for me as well this season.

[jaystraw]

I'm really new to bass fishing, but I've been a trout fisherman my whole life.

I got hooked when I went bass fishing with a friend and he had me try his Rapalla F9 in Gold (I think it's a gold shiner replica). I had never seen one lure get so many fish in different parts ofthe day(well, until my smallie catching black jitterbug experience the last two days that I'll be posting about sometime soon). I also have it in F-5 for trout, believe it or not.

But, as good as the golden is, the Rapalla F-11 in silver catches bigger fish and gets a bit deeper I think. I also caught three, 2 to 3.7 pounders in a row the other week with it.

I also had good luck with one of the "anniversary" lures in a reddish gold colr. I cannot rememebr the number, but it is a special edition lure that is weighted differently and seems to catch fish for me.

As you can tell, I'm a big Rapalla guy, but I've been having less luck with them lately, and more with Jitterbugs.

[Bass Hammer]

Any particular color that anyone would recommend.? I am going to buy shad colors and I believe baby Bass. I have done really well in past summers on the Baby 1- in Alabama Shad buty it has not produced for me as well this season.

Chrome, Shads, Reds, Browns, Greens/Firetigers cover everything for me.

Color is not #1 on my list. I pay more attention on matching the action to the conditions.

Color to me is more about contrast to the light penetration.

[bugman]

I live in the Cleveland, OH area and fish for LM in many ponds, lakes and Lake Erie. That's right LM in Lake Erie! As of late my LC cranks have been out performing all oher cranks 3:1. The square billed LC in American Shad or Chart Goast around rocks have been the ticket this summer. Now that the water has been warming up I will use a mid and DD LC cranks in the colors listed above.

I don't know if I'm ready to sell all my other cranks and buy only LC's but my confendence in these lures is very high at this time.

[Rattlinrogue]

I think Norman CB's are the best.I also like Rapala Shad Rap and DT series.

[cjensen]

Here's my input.

Shallow: Lucky Craft RC 2.5 (throw in timber/stumps/riprap and hang on.)

Middle: Rapala DT6,10

Deep: Rapala DT16, Bomber Fat Free Shad

[Avalonjohn44]

You cannot go wrong with a bandit.  They have 4 different depths: Footloose 0-1 foot, 100 2-4 feet, 200 4-8 feet, and the 300 which is over 8 feet.  They make a ton of colors, and each lure is only $4.  They are sturdy, have interesting paintjobs, and I have never had one not run true right out of the box.

For me, Bandits outfish every single other crankbait out there, including the mega-priced baits.  

[largemouthbass]

I would go with a luckeycraft crankbait  

[gatrboy53]

each brand has different characteristics and are needed in different situations.the shape,size and action(wobble) makes the difference in catching fish on any particular day.color is important at times but the least of the factors in using a particular bait.im fishing scattered brushpiles now and lose a couple baits a day,and no matter what i pay for it it kills me to lose a favorite bait.i buy alot of my cranks off ebay.i dont use hi dollar baits,cant stand the thought of losing it.right now my go to crank is the strike king pro model series baits,normans,bandits,.you gotta have some fat free shads,berkly frenzys,shad raps.personally i use very little dt's,i just dont have the confidence to throw them much.shallow water i use bandits and bagleys mostly.

to me the most important thing you gotta do if your serious about crankin is tune your baits.very few run true outta rhe box.this is where the foreign models excell .alot of the higher baits are pretuned and have good hooks on them.if it aint tuned right the fish aint gonna bite it and if dont have good hooks you aint gonna put many in the boat.hope this helps,mike

[ww2farmer]

to me the most important thing you gotta do if your serious about crankin is tune your baits.very few run true outta rhe box.this is where the foreign models excell .alot of the higher baits are pretuned and have good hooks on them.if it aint tuned right the fish aint gonna bite it and if dont have good hooks you aint gonna put many in the boat.hope this helps,mike

I agree about the hooks, but sometimes (not all the time) just SOMETIMES, a bait that runs crooked is a valuable tool, especial around timber/dock posts. I have De-tuned baits at times to get bit. Yeah..........sounds crazy but it works.

[gatrboy53]

yes, i have some that run sideways that i use to run under docks and the likes.most cranks im targeting depth and either structure or cover and want it to be precise.

[BIG M]

I'm a little biased but I feel my own baits are the best all around crank baits.