CRANKBAIT DEPTH QUESTION ? HELP

[triwbass]

Ok over last few years ive became a crankbait fisherman first kinda guy where i fish they are most successful , so ive bought tons of them. My problem is i got three bins of them or more and well i can't remember how deep each runs and sure i know in general long bill deep short bill shallow ,,,is their a guide or measuring system yall use for this i mean somtimes 1-2 ft makes a huge difference and i cant remember if it runs 3-5 or 4-6 or just 4 ? thx for your help

[MALTESE FALCON]

Whenever I get any crankbaits, I write the diving depth on the bill with a red marker.

If you know who the maker is you can go to their website, and find out what the diving depth is for any particular bait.

Falcon

[J Francho]

To elaborate on manufacturers' claims, running depth is affected by line diameter and material as well.  

[TRYTOFISH]

I write on the bill, usually just the max depth. put an "s" for susspending. i also try to keep them somewhat organized in different boxes. i still get miffed every now and then, but it sure helps.

[OnthePotomac]

This may help. Lay out your cranks by bill length, short, medium and long. Then look at where the line tie eye is on the lipl If it near the lure, the crank will run deeper, if it is down on the lip it will run shallower. If the lip is real short and pointed down, it is a shallow runner, usually 1-3'. Your medium lips will usually run 5-8 feet. The long lips with the tie near the bait will usually run 10" +. The regular short lips will usually run 2-5'. Another way to do it is to go through the BPS and Cabela's catalogs and see if you can match the lures.  In the end, the depth is so affected by line size, type of line and cranking speed  that you will never get it precise anyway.

As suggested, in the future mark the weight and depth on the lure with a Sharpie when you take it out of the package. I prefer to mark mine on the bottom of the lure.

Hope this helps.

[kms399]

check out precision trolling. It has most crankbaits in it as well as their depth curve based on length of line out and diameter of line. you can get a pretty good idea based on that. it is geared toward trolling but you can get a real good idea of what is going on.