Why do crankbait rods have to be different from standard rods??

[The Rooster]

As I understand it, and I could be wrong, a medium power crankbait rod is different from a medium power graphite rod in that it will flex well into the mid section under a load, even lower on the shaft as well but the medium graphite rod doesn't.  What would be the difference in something like that compared to just a regular medium light rod that does that as well??  What am I not comprehending on that??  Seems that the amount of flex is all that makes it any different.

[Jake.]

Crankbait rods have slower actions than your average rod. They tpically have a moderate or moderate-fast action while your average rod has a fast or extra-fast action.

[The Rooster]

Couldn't I just get a medium or medium light rod with a medium fast tip though?? I'm sure Shimano or somebody makes something like that. Or does a crankbait rod have an even slower action than that??

It's not about money or anything else, I just want to learn is all.

EDIT--I just went to Shimano's website and checked out their Compre cranking rod.  It says it's power is medium with a medium fast tip.  They also make just a regular graphite rod with those same specs, at least on paper.  What's the difference between them other than the material they would be made of??  I just don't understand is all.  

[njbasser]

Crankbait rods usually have a softer tip so the bass cant throw the lure as easy as with a normal rod. IMO a softer tip is more important than the slower action.

[kikstand454]

u can just get a good medium action fiberglass rod instead of  a graphite rod and itll do great with your cranks.

thats what alot of pros do............

and me too! ;D

[FordNFishinLover]

The difference....

Often Crankbait rods are composed of a mixture of graphite and fiberglass. Using the fiberglass helps give the bend throughout the rod you need for cranks.

Thats what the difference is between a medium crankbait and a medium regular graphite rod. If needed a M graphite rod with a slower action would also work nicely for cranks.

[The Rooster]

Currently I fish a medium graphite rod for cranks.  It's probably got a fast tip, but it's like so many rods on the market today, they rated it as medium "action" when what that really should mean is POWER.  They didn't say anything about tip action but it's probably fast.  

Anyway, it was affordable and I use it for cranking Bandit 200's and 100's and at first I was missing a lot of fish.  I'd feel them strike, sometimes even see it, and when I'd swing I'd pull the bait right out of their mouths.  Now I've learned to back off just a bit and seemingly I've solved the problem.  I have caught quite a few on cranks this summer using that rod.  

So I guess I don't really have to have a crank rod, but I just wondered if I might see any difference if I did.  I'm always looking for more information to help me fish better.

[roadwarrior]

A soft tip helps prevent the treble hooks from being pulled out.

Maybe this will help:

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1196114229

8-)

[Muddy]

I tried the glass thing and was very satisfied with the Browning Silaflex. I have since hurt my sholder and elbow, hoping the winter brings enough healing that surgery will not be needed

The glass rods are way heavier and I have learned to be a little easier with my hookset and I use a 6'6" Cabelas Fish Eagle II Med/Fast and I now have the same hook ups as with the glass rods with a lot less weight to deal with. Rod weight was not an issue but the older I get and the more I fish it has become a major factor in rod choice.

[21farms]

the slower and softer tip of a crankbait rod doesn't transmit the strike to your hand as fast as graphite, allowing more time for the fish to fully inhale the crankbait before you set the hook. when i used to fish cranks with a graphite rod, i can't tell you how many times i got bit short on cranks. and then, the ones i did hook, i'd sometimes lose when the fish went airborne to  shake those small trebles out of his mouth. since switching to a fiberglass crankin' rod (lamiglas XC705R), when i feel 'em bite, they're comin' into the boat 99% of the time...i kid you not, it has made a huge difference to my fishing. in fact, so much so that i recently picked up another crankin' rod, a powell 703CB glass max.

[flechero]

Maybe I can confuse this a little more for you.

The truth is that cranking rods are a slower taper (called action) not a lesser power. A typical "moderate" action (cranking rod) will bend into the middle of the rod at a point that it's "loaded."

Loaded is defined as the amount of pressure or weight required to deflect a blank to 1/3 it's length in inches. ie: a 6' rod requires 24" of deflection to be fully loaded.

It takes the same amount of pressure to deflect a fast taper rod to the same degree, in that power. The difference will be that the faster taper will bend more in the tip and a slower taper will bend more towards the center- still deflecting the same distance with the same pressure.

Picture lifting a weight with the two rods, both would lift the weight, exactly to the point of being loaded but one would bend (more) in the tip and the other (more) towards the middle... same power different action (and feel). The slower taper feels softer, it is not weaker. When overloaded, the faster action rods feel heavier in power (stronger) since you have increased leverage.

The common misconception is that a cranking rods have a soft tip- the real case is that the tip is more firm which causes the rod to flex deeper into the taper. This is why a cranking rod feels softer and won't pull hooks out as bad. It's a difference in "backbone" not in the tip. If you fought a fish or worked a deep crankbait with the tip only, we wouldn't need slower tapered rods. If you don't believe me hang a weight of the tips of 2 equal power rods of different taper. The faster rod has the softer tip which bends more under the same pressure.

Lastly, the rod's material (glass or graphite) has no bearing on the ratings. Glass and graphite fish differently but you are talking mostly about the subtleties of extra weight and a slower rebound, not a difference in action or power.

[roadwarrior]

I'll have to think about that...Maybe tonight I'll test this on a couple of rods. I think I understand what you are saying, but I'm having touble visualizing these differences.

Perhaps explaining a specific example would help:

I have a St. Croix Avid AC66MF which I have said has a "soft tip".

The rod loads as you have described, but very quickly. The same

MF rating on my ES70MF has what I would describe as a very firm

tip. What makes them different or how do you describe that

difference?

Thanks for the insight, it's very intriguing to me!

8-)

[Raul]

For the better part of my life I 've fished cranks with a Med Fast graphite rod, then last year I purchased my very first bait specific rod, a Kistler Mag TS crankbait series ( glass/graphite composite ), the difference in casting and behavior of the blank during the fight is completely different than that of the rods I normally use for crankbaiting RW.

You know that I 'm not fond to trying other brands, yes the rod had ergonomical issues ( I HATE humpgrips ! ) plus the reel seat issues ( which are now corrected in the newer models ), however I have to say that I really liked how the blank behaved in that rod, another world RW, when you cast with the crankbait rod the blank feels as a spring as it releases the load begining at the mid section and ending up at the tip pretty much like a whip, the crank goes flying into the air like a bat out of hell, I felt a more lively action from the bait as I retrieved and worked it and when a fish gets the bait and begins the fight the rod responds like a shock absorber bending all the way down to the middle section.

Well, I ain 't gonna purchase another Kistler after selling that one, but there are other brands which are more ergonomically fit for me ( with straight handles ), after trying that one now I know why crankbait rods are for crankbaits, gotta get me at least one.

[flechero]

Kent,

Let me look tonight and see if I have a pair of blanks (one mod / on fast) and snap a pic with a same weight to show this visually.  Worst case I'll try to get one of a 7'H X-fast vs. a 7' H fast... same idea just further up the blank.

[J Francho]

I use a medium power graphite rod for cranks, but its the action that is different, due to a moderate taper blank.  It has a slower bend.  Avid AC70MM.  Eventually, I'll add a medium heavy crank rod to the mix, probably an Avid AC70MHM.  I find the slower rod helps absorb the initial shock of the reaction strike, and also helps me keep constant pressure on the fish to keep it from throwing the hooks.

[The Rooster]

OK, after Flechero's explanation I think I get more about it now.  I understood what he was saying and could even visualize it in my head.  So now I guess all I have to do is decide if that difference is enough for me to want to get one.  I've learned to fish the cranks I mostly use with the medium powered graphite rod I have here now and it's working for me after a bit of trial and error earlier this year on it.  Thanks for clearing up for me how they work though, it was enlightening.  

[.ghoti.]

Hey flechero, nice job explaining this for all of us. I now know why my experiment with a particular rod for cranking failed. I got a 6'8"  medium, extra-fast Avid last year, and thought, that with it's soft tip, it would make a good crankbait rod. So much for thoughtin'. I lost over half the fish I hooked on it. It was good for casting. Not so good for fighting the fish.

I've been using other graphite rods for cranks for years. I just didn't like the weight of glass after graphite hit the market.

I now have a crankbait specific graphite rod, and as Raul said, it makes a big difference. My crank rod is a 7'6" Setyr, medium power, moderate taper. All graphite, and very light in weight. It will bend under load a long way down the blank. I haven't had it long enough to say that it improved my catch ratio, but I haven't lost a fish yet that got hooked on it.

I have had it long enough to say that my casting distance is better. The further a rod bends (loads) on the backcast, the more energy is stored in the rod to be released on the forward stroke. I don't have a similar glass rod for comparison, but I'd guess that the graphite rod releases that stored energy faster than a comparable glass rod.

Thanks Rooster for bringing this up. It got an excellent reply from flechero. You may take a look at Setyr's line of crankbait rods.

http://www.setyrrods.com

[The Rooster]

Thank you for the link.  But actually today I narrowed down my choice of casting rods I'm gonna purchase to just the Shimano Compre and they make a cranking rod in that one so I'll probably get one of those if I get a crank rod.  I also read on here somewhere that a crank rod makes a decent rod for buzzbaits too.  I think Bantam1, the Shimano guy, said he uses one.  

[lubina]

I also read on here somewhere that a crank rod makes a decent rod for buzzbaits too. I think Bantam1, the Shimano guy, said he uses one.

I prefer, and by far a cranking rod, for me Loomis CBR 845, for big spinnerbaits and all my buzzbaits.

[flechero]

RW,

This isn't the best example but it's the best I could do w/o driving to boat storage to get an X-fast rod and a true moderate rod to show how much more dramatic the difference really is.

Very quick and dirty set up. 2 rods, a 7' hvy, fast and a 7' hvy, mod-fast. Same jig, same weight.

The first is a mod-fast notice how the rod tends to not bend at the tip? This is because the design of the taper has a stouter tip so it forces the rod to bend nearer the center. When loaded the backbone is giving slightly which makes the rod feel softer, even though the power is about the same.

The second is a fast, notice how the rod beds more towards the tip? This is due to the tip being (softer) weaker, by comparison. When fully loaded, you feel the backbone more pronounced because most of the movement is in the tip of the rod. By comparison, this is the softer tip.