shallow crankbait gear

[MSPbass]

If I'm fishing crankbaits primarily in shallow, and sometimes medium, water, do you guys still recommend a softer rod, like the whippy fiberglass rod like the Fenwick Crankshaft? Or would an all around Medium graphite rod work better? I'm wondering about using a "crankbait rod" around weeds.

[roadwarrior]

I think a soft tip is best for fishing all treble hook lures. My "all-around"

rod for these lures is a St. Croix Avid AC66MF with a soft tip. This particular

rig is especially effective working jerkbaits and topwater. As a dedicated

light and shallow crankbait rod, I fish an Avid AC70MM.

8-)

[Muddy]

I use a 6'6" Med/Fast Cabelas Fish Eagle II with a Pflueger Trion 5.3:1

Crank Reel. The fibergalss thing did not do much for me, actually I wasn't having trouble before i swicthed 4 fraking times. Sometimes there is a bit of hype mixed in with reality

[WIII-60]

I have three setups for crankbait fishing:

Revo sx on a 6'6" M/F cranking stick for shallow cranks.

Revo sx on a 7' MH/F cranking stick for lipless cranks and anything from about 6-10 feet

Revo winch on a shimano crucial 7'11" M crankbait rod for the deep stuff.

The cranking sticks are composite fiberglass and graphite and a pretty good for the money. They don't transmit much when you get way down deep though.

[njbasser]

As a dedicated

light and shallow crankbait rod, I fish an Avid AC70MM.

Me too

I wonder whose advice I took ;D   Great rod BTW.

[Bassyak]

I use a Shimano Curado 100DSV on a G Loomis CBR781C for all my shallow crankin' and I throw around and in all kinds of vegetation.  The rod is a ML Mod Fast and it still drags those cranks through there fine.  A nice fish on will sure put a bow in the rod, but the Mod Fast action keeps them hooked up too.

[MSPbass]

Good info. Thanks

[Pantera61]

What kind of shallow environment?  Open areas, such as weedlines and riprap or timber?  In the open, you may get away with fiberglass but in heavy timber and near emergent vegetation, a MH with a fast tip might be better.  It will help you take control of the fish.

In my experience, when fish are hitting aggressively, graphite or glass are fine.  When fish are biting light, I want the advantage of graphite's sensitivity.

[MSPbass]

I'm in MN. where its all natural lakes. There is a lot of emergent vegitation, but plenty of weedlines too.

[Pantera61]

I'm in MN. where its all natural lakes. There is a lot of emergent vegitation, but plenty of weedlines too.

I draw a distinction between the two based upon the toughness of the root system and thickness of the stem such as lilypads, reeds, cattails, etc.

You get hung up in those and a softer action rod may lead to lost fish.

[The_Natural]

I throw a lot of larger wobblers; B2's, BDS 2's, RC 2.5's, Mann's C4's, Bomber B's, etc.  For those 1/2-3/4oz shallow cover crashers I prefer a heavier action rod.  I've used a cbr845 in the past, and have recently purchased Skeet's Lamiglas 705r (I call it the Yellow Zonker).  Hook up some 12-15lb CXX and you are golden.  For smaller shallow baits, I use my Lamiglas medium power XMG 50, which is about as powerful as an 842 Loomis.  

[Jacob0434]

I'm still pretty new to bass fishing, but I use a 7'11" M Rogue Crankbait rod for shallow stuff and a cheap Cabela's E-Glass MH Casting Rod for deep diving crankbaits. The rogue rod will throw cranks very very far and the cabelas rod is surprisingly sensitive.