Must have crankbaits

[bigfruits]

Hello,

Last year I left a tackle bag unattended at a boat launch for about 30 mins and someone took it. I had 2 3600 boxes with cranks and luckily one was left at home. I was never big into crankbaits but would like to throw more this year.

I still have the following cranks, I bought the KVDs recently:
Rat-L-Trap/Aruku Shad
Rapala Deep Runner 8
Bomber 2A Model A
Bomber Fat Free Fingerling
Bill Dance Excalibur Fat Free Fry
Storm Wiggle Wart
Rebel Excalibur Suspending Shad R
KVD Squarebill 1.0 & 1.5

I'd like to restock this winter and would like to know what your favorite crankbaits are. If you only had 2 or 3 deep divers, what would you have?

Thanks,
-Z

[smalljaw]

I think you are missing a lot as you are kind of putting them all together and it makes it a little tough. I'll give you a list of what to look for, but your baits are pedestrian for this site, most guys here like using high end Japanese baits like Megabass, Evergreen, Deps and so on. I see nothing wrong with the baits you are using and I too use the same baits but here is how you need to look and buy cranks.

1. Square bills
2. shallow cranks - 0' - 5'
3. Medium divers - 6' to 10'
4. Semi-Deep divers - 12' - 16'
5. Deep divers - 16'+
6. Lipless

Look at cranks like that and assemble boxes based on diving depth and it will make things easier when using and buying. After a seaon I can look at my boxes and see the holes of what needs to be replaced, and it also makes it easier on what is new coming out that I want to try. For example if I notice I'm running low on shallow cranks in the 2' zone and a new one comes out, I may buy a couple to try and replace what I needed, so instead of having 6 baits of a certain brand and color I'm down to 4, well instead of getting 2 more I'll try 2 of something new, it is how I expand my arsenal. The Rapala Deep Runner 8 you have is probably a Shad Rap #8 as that is what they write under the Shad Rap part on the package and what is on the diving bill. The reason I'm saying all of this is that you have no organization and it is easy to see that you need cranks in. So think about which category of baits you use the most and go from there, you say you don't throw them much so I'd assume that when you do you use either a lipless or shallow diver, maybe even a medium but not much else. So focus on what you throw the most and by keeping them separated into categories it makes it easier to know what to get.

[goblue]

Sucks to hear about the theft... I've been there and its just infuriating!
I'm no crankbait expert, but the mid- deep divers I primarily fish-

Strike King 6XD
Strike King 5XD
DD22
Rapala DT16
Lucky Craft D20

[bigfruits]

Thanks for the replies.

Smalljaw - I am not against JDM or enthusiast lures, I actually like them quite a bit. My nicer lures were in the stolen tacklebox. I have never owned a Semi or Deep lure.

Im prob going to get 1 or 2 Megabass squarebills and a couple of MB jerkbaits. A Duo Realis spybait would be nice to try.
I already have some LC jerkbaits and MB pop-x/pop max.

I think what I need help with are Med, Semi and Deep lures. Your favorites in those 3 categories would be helpful.

[Teal101]

Strike King
KVD 1.5
3xd
5xd
6xd

Spro
Little John
Little John MD
Rockcrawler
Aruku Shad

Rapala
DT-4
DT-6
DT-10

Lucky Craft
LC 1.5
LV100
LV500

Megabass
Griffon MR-X
SM-X Spriggan
S-Crank

Those are my staples. Colors are all over. Chart/Black back is a must. I like the bass color in the Rapala lineup. Lipless is gold/black, ghost minnow, red/craw, and silver/blue back. Spro has some sweet craw colors.

[smalljaw]

There are two days left on the TW sale, they have the Yo-Zuri 3DB cranks on sale , I spent over $110 on those alone. They are $8.99 at TW but are going for $4.99 and trust me, these catch fish. Just click on 3DB crankbaits and they have the medium diver which runs 6'-8' and the deep which runs 12'-15', the new baits for me to try this year will be the flat crank and the wake bait but I have used the square bills, medium and deep divers and at full price they are a great buy. I also like balsa baits, Bagley and Rapala, the DT-6 is probably the best shallow/mid depth crank around, something with that action but the Bagley diving Kill'r B is a close second but it dives like 6.5' to 7'. The Yo-zuri baits being on sale will get you fish catching cranks and at the current price you can get a few extra, probably fill a box as you can get 2 for the price of one.

[zodiak311]

Rapala Crankin' Rap

[goblue]

Without knowing exactly what constitutes mid/semi/deep cranks, I'll give it a shot.
So just to preface, I'm in Southern California fishing primarily in gin clear waters,
and basically never fish cranks with rattles, so my selections may not directly apply to
your fishing conditions.

For deep divers (roughly 15-20 feet?)- the Silent Strike King 6XD is my first choice. Its cheap,
got some great colors, and when tuned properly, has a great action to it. However, you will
need to tune each lure pretty carefully to get to the noted depths. the silent DD22 gets down
to about 16-17 feet for me and is just a classic. It pulls harder than the 6XD, and I generally fish
it more postspawn and summer months. Lucky craft D20s are some pretty slick deep divers, awesome
colors, but pretty pricey. They run true with a nice tight wobble. Great for pressured fish. Just
a side note, deep divers are so much easier when paired with a suitable rod. I fish a dobyns 805cb
but thats just me.

semi Divers (12-15)- again, Strike King's silent 5XD is just an awesome all around bait. The price is amazing
for such a fish catcher, and I probably fish this crank more than any other. Rapala's dt16 is a close second
with a really tight wobble, and I throw it when conditions just suck.

Mid divers (8-12)- at the shallower end, shad raps are just awesome down to 7-8 feet. Probably my #1 numbers
crank of all time. Size 7 is a staple for me... really a security blanket type of lure. Norman's Deep Little N is a
good cheap alternative but not as subtle as the shad rap. Any of the rapala's DT series in the relevant depths can
fit here too.

I keep it pretty simple. I do lose quite a bit because I crank rocks ALOT so that does factor into my choices at times.
But I can vouch for the effectiveness of all the cranks noted above. Sorry. This got long. hope it helps.

[Bassmar]

My go to cranks are:

Strike King:

Series 3
3XD
5XD
6XD
Above in both rattle and silent

Rapala

DT6
DT10
DT14
DT20

If the above don't work then I start experimenting with Spro's, Lucky Craft's and Norman's.

[MTBF]

I toned everything down 3 or 4 years ago had a huge mix of hardbaits. Sold everything as I loved the quality of Megabass poppers and jerk baits. Learned the line and have has 0 issues ever since.

For shallow water: (ZCrank-X or Griffon 6cc)
For shallow water/cover: (S-Crank 1.5/2.0)
8-14' DeepX-150
14-17' DeepX-300
17+ Deep-Six.

The "tear drop" shape stays the same with all of these crank baits. Seems to catch fish up here in Ontario. ZCrank-X is a nice bait too has that same shape. Smallies/Largies on sand flats or very open water (small forage) the Griffon 6cc and 6cc DD are small but mighty lures. If you want to chuck something against docks, logs, weedline's try the new S-Crank. I only bought up the 2.0's nice size and profile. If your shy to throw bigger baits the 1.5's will do.

Took hundreds of baits and colours down to 2 Plano Waterproof 3700 boxes. Pick 2-4 colours and your depth ranges and start shopping. Every lure will work, I'm confident when fishing Megabass so it's all I use when it comes to hardbaits. Megabass Sexy Shad is nice on sunny days the glitter will change colour and look wicked. I love throwing Chart/Black on darker days or low-light conditions.

MTBF

[hookset on 3]

Mid- Depth Favorites:

1) Spro Russ lane Fat Papa 55

2) Rapala DT-10 or DT Flat 7

3) Lucky Craft Flat CB Deep Runner

[BuckNaStY]

Hello,

Last year I left a tackle bag unattended at a boat launch for about 30 mins and someone took it. I had 2 3600 boxes with cranks and luckily one was left at home. I was never big into crankbaits but would like to throw more this year.

I still have the following cranks, I bought the KVDs recently:
Rat-L-Trap/Aruku Shad
Rapala Deep Runner 8
Bomber 2A Model A
Bomber Fat Free Fingerling
Bill Dance Excalibur Fat Free Fry
Storm Wiggle Wart
Rebel Excalibur Suspending Shad R
KVD Squarebill 1.0 & 1.5

I'd like to restock this winter and would like to know what your favorite crankbaits are. If you only had 2 or 3 deep divers, what would you have?

Thanks,
-Z

Well. I've always loved fishing crankbaits because you can cover a lot of water with them. But, what type of waters are you fishing in?? River, lakes?? How deep do you usually fish? Deep, shallow, In between??

[Finesse68]

Rapala DT16
Norman DD22
Manns e-z 30+
Hate to hear that about your gear, my friends would always laugh because I always locked my car up but you never know. Anyway, here's my short list of deep divers, not much of a deep cranker. Just started giving it a go, going to keep trying till the spring.

[fisherrw]

i always have a spro little john dd and a strike king 5xd and 6xd in my box

[cure-hb]

Megabass
Griffon MR-X
Z-Crank
S-Crank