Thinking about a a crankbait rod

[Gov C Tyree]

Going to Kentucky Lake in about a month.  I have heard a lot about fishing ledges and dropoffs there with crankbaits.

I am thinking about either the $100 Falcon Low Rider or St Croix Premier rods or I might splurge for the $160 Falcon Cara T7 Reaction or the St Croix Avid.

I mostly fish in Florida, however, and have had only occasional luck on crankbaits, and don't know how much I would use this rod on a regular basis, so I am kind of leaning to the cheaper Falcon (Low Rider) or cheaper St Croix (Premier).  I could, however, use this rod throwing lipless cranks over hydrilla or eelgrass fishing my usual Florida places.

What would be the forum's choice given my stuation above?  Would it be worth the extra $60 upgrading to the Falcon Cara or St. Croix Avid?

Also, what length - 6' 6" or 7'?

And . . .  what would be a good reel to match it with?

[Gone_Phishin]

Unless your casting in tight quraters, or beating the banks, it's almost always better to crank with a longer rod, especially if you need to winch a fish out of the cover you were talking about. So, I'd go with the 7 footer. JMO

As far as a reel is concerned, if you are going to be fishing lipless cranks the most over the lifetime of this setup, get a reel with a higher gear-ratio, or IPT (inches per turn). If you are going to mostly use this combo for deeper cranking, go with a reel with a lower gear-ratio.

If you can swing it, it's always worth it to upgrade to the best tackle you can afford.

[Olebiker]

I'm getting a couple of Bass Pro Shops gift cards for Father's Day and I am thinking about the American Rodsmiths David Fritts cranking rod for deep cranking the river channel on Lake Talquin.  Does anyone have any experience with it?

I thought about buying the Lamiglas Skeet Reese rod, but BPS doesn't seem to carry it any more.

[roadwarrior]

I have the Avid AC70MM saddled with a Shimano Chronarch.

Sweet!

8-)

[Bass_Fanatic]

I am convinced that for cranking you can't beat a 7 ft. M St. Croix Premiere Cranking rod teamed up with a Shimano Curado D with 5:1 gear ratio.  A 6.3:1 will wera you out quick.

[booneangler]

the David Fritts cranking stick is good i have three of them. But the Fenwick Elite Series cranking stick is pretty nice to i havent fished with it but it feels awesome and a good length i think it is 7'3.

[Olebiker]

I am convinced that for cranking you can't beat a 7 ft. M St. Croix Premiere Cranking rod teamed up with a Shimano Curado D with 5:1 gear ratio. A 6.3:1 will wera you out quick.

I'm not sure about pulling a DD14 or DD22 with a Medium power rod.

[AnthonyRSS]

Go with the Skeet Reese Cranking rod.  He had about 6 in his rod locker at the Southern Challange.

Anthony

[Gov C Tyree]

OK, I think I have narrowed my choices down to the Falcon Cara T7 Reaction Model CCB-5-173DR-T7 or th St. Croix AvidAVC 70 MHM or the Lamiglas Skeet Reese SR705.

The Falcon is 7'3" and the other two are 7'.  All three rods are medium heavy - moderate.

I already have a Falcon Cara 6'10" worm rod which I really like, although I am being open minded toward other rod choices for this crankbait rod.

Thinking about putting a Revo STX on it.  Thought about the new Revo Wench, but I think the STX may be the better choice as I will probably be throwing lipless cranks over grass more often than big lipped cranks over open water.   I noticed Tim Horton was using a 6.3 to 1 Pflueger for his big cranks on Kentucky Lake - so hopefully the STX (with that same gear ratio) should work fine throwing big cranks as well.

Am I on a sound track on all this?

[mike bat]

not sure about the falcon ?? but i will tell you the other 2 rods you have listed are 2 totaly different sticks ... the avid is graphite where the skeet reese is a glass rod .... i dont wanna open the whole graphite is better than glass or vice versa can of worms here  :-?... its a matter of what you feel better fishing ...  

[roadwarrior]

I am convinced that for cranking you can't beat a 7 ft. M St. Croix Premiere Cranking rod teamed up with a Shimano Curado D with 5:1 gear ratio. A 6.3:1 will wera you out quick.

I'm not sure about pulling a DD14 or DD22 with a Medium power rod.

I agree! My AC70MM is for shallow cranks, for heavy lures and deep divers, Lamiglas SR705R.

8-)