good casting cranks?

[Rod Caster]

I like the Xraps and lipless Live Targets when casting for pike/walleye/bass because I can get good distance/depth with them.The same reasons why spoons are effective and easy to use when covering water and casting far.

Lighter and awkwardly shaped cranks like the J-9's or reef runners don't really ofter good casting qualities.

 

I am wondering what you, the OFC members, prefer to use when casting crankbaits?? I'm ultimately looking for tackle shop ideas.

 

A "why" or "for xyz species" and size would also help

[Christopheraaron]

For bass I like the clack 'n cranks, they cast a good distance, doesn't grind against the bottom collecting weeds and most importantly CATCH FISH! The crankin raps are also really nice.

Edited June 29, 2012 by Christopher k

[northernpike56]

For bass I like the clack 'n cranks, they cast a good distance, doesn't grind against the bottom collecting weeds and most importantly CATCH FISH! The crankin raps are also really nice.

 

 

AGREED! I have 3 clackin cranks and clackin raps, they are expensive but work great

[OhioFisherman]

Casting distance was never a primary concern for me, fishing the water effectively seemed a lot more important. Lure type, running depth, action, and color seem more important to me.

 

Using a crankbait that runs 5 to 8 feet deep doesn`t make a lot of sense in 3 to 5 feet of water? Using a crankbait that requires a fast retrieve doesn`t make a lot of sense for neutral or sluggish fish? A slower retrieve will keep it in the strike zone longer? Sure sometimes you can get a reaction strike, but a little more time might also cause a fish to make a mistake?

 

I have cranks from 1/8th ounce to Muskie size, they all have their intended uses. Sometimes you can use them differently with success, but some are best suited for one purpose.

 

My favorite would be the old Storm wee steelie wart, it has bigger hooks, seems to draw strikes from a variety of species and can be fished fast, slow, or trolled. Bandit`s aren`t bad, but I feel the Storms have a better action and sound. Bomber and Cotton Cordell`s have worked, so have a lot of others.

[Toad Hunter]

Ohio_thank u,just saved me all the typing

[uglyfish]

U have to match the rod with the cranks u wanna throw, using a 7'6 or 7'11 med/hvy rod to throw small cranks won't work, u need to down size the rod to a 7' medium rod rated for those baits and u will get better cating distance from them.

 

I throw my medium and deep diving cranks on a 7'6" med/hvy shimano crucial with a chronarch E5 and 12lb flouro. No trouble with casting distance. When I throw smaller cranks or shallow divers, 7' medium on a chronarch E5 with 10lb flouro, or even sometimes braid depending on cover in the area. Distance isn't always as important as u think. Casting to the rite areas and working the bait to the proper depth, and making contact with cover and bottom at times is a far more important factor. Distance is important to me when I'm fishing deep diving cranks, and typically fishing them over large flats or or drop offs, reefs, rock piles. Where I can let the bait run a while and need time to get it to the rite depth

[Rod Caster]

Thanks for the answers so far guys, as you can probably tell, I'm a under-experienced when it comes to fishing crankbaits...learning as I go with your help!

[manitoubass2]

StrikeKing KVD 2.5's cast really well. I like the chrome and the chart/black patterns

 

I also prefer flat raps over xraps, but both are really good baits

 

oh gawd, there are tons of other good casting cranks!

 

If you really wanna sling em out there, 10lb PP is the line I'd choose

Edited June 30, 2012 by manitoubass2

[Rod Caster]

 

If you really wanna sling em out there, 10lb PP is the line I'd choose

 

 

that's what I'm using

 

Almost bought a 7" crucial for a great price.... turned out they were out of stock grrr... I may look into a longer rod for my casting needs. I'll be at the tackle shop today I've noted all the suggestions and I'll see what this shop has in stock.

[OhioFisherman]

You can cast cranks with a spinning rod, I usually only had one or two in the boat, the rest casting rods. I was fishing a two day tournament at a lake in New York, the day prior to the tournament I had fished with a guy I had never fished with before.

 

We were fishing about a 10 acre weed flat, the bite was slow and we were just trying to locate areas for priority for the tournament. I let him use one of my crankbaits and he lost a pig. The next day, day one of the tournament I did my usual rounds, flipping and pitching to shoreline structure, weeds, boat docks, nothing doing after a few hours.

 

I went back and more or less parked on the flat, I took the crank that I had let him use, snapped it onto an available rod ( a spinning rod ) and caught a keeper the first cast. Over the rest of that day and the next I caught like 13-14 bass off of that flat, only 10 would measure, which was fine because I also caught the big bass of the tournament.

 

Not the best combo for the area, a casting rod with heavier line than the 10# I had on the spinning rig might have been better, but I wasn`t changing, I seemed to have the retrieve speed, lure and action the fish were looking for dialed in with that combo. My partner never caught a fish, and I offered many times to let him use a copy of the same lure.

 

The trick seemed to be to tick the weeds, if you hung up rip it free. A baitfish darting from cover?

[bare foot wader]

10 or 15 lb PP is the way to go...a lot of guys preach mono for the stretch when fishing cranks but soon as I switched to braid I didn't look back, I'd take the sensitivity any day over mono...with technique specific blanks I don't think i'm losing any extra fish because of lack of stretch, i usually tie a leader with a 12 wrap improved albright, perfect crank setup for me

[Snidley]

I'm with Ohio Fisherman. I loved those Storm Steelie Warts They cast great and they draw strikes from Bass, Pike, Steelies and Walleye. They are from the "old" Storm moulds so they are excellent fishcatchers. I lost my last one 2 years ago. Still bummed about it.

[Leecher]

Chad

 

I'm old school and when it comes to cranks... my all time favorite / confidence one is a 3 1/2" Big O in white or chartreuse I use this every lake I target and catch bass, pike, walleye... you name it

 

Fish can't get enough of it and the rod I use is 6' 6" medium action fast tip with 10 mono

 

I truly recommend you give them a try... I know they work great up here on our local lakes

 

When there's a chop, cast it and retrieve as soon as it hits the water... when the lake is mirror like, cast it, wait for the ripples around it to dissipate and start your retrieve

 

My 2 cents

Jacques

[Dabluz]

For casting crank baits over 1/4 ounce, I only use baitcasters because when using a spinning outfit, the line gets tangled in the hooks about 30% to 50% of the time. When using a baitcaster, the lure rarely tumbles when travelling through the air like it does with a spinning rod. When the lure travels like an arrow, that also greatly increases casting distance.

 

Yes, I use different rods when casting different lure weights. For the very light lures (around 1/4 ounce), I use a pistol grip style baitcaster....a 6 foot Berkley Lighting rod. My baitcasters are loaded with braid in 18 to 35 lb test.

 

For lures under 1/4 ounce, I use a spinning outfit and 4 or 6 lb test clear mono.

 

I have no favourite crankbait, they all cast well. Here in my region of Quebec, the minnows are rather long and slim so my crankbaits are the same.....Husky Jerk, Smithwick Rogue, Cotton Cordell, Ripplin' Redfin, Canadian Wiggler, Rapala Shad Rap, Rapala X-Rap etc etc.

Edited July 1, 2012 by Dabluz

[davey buoy]

Chad

 

I'm old school and when it comes to cranks... my all time favorite / confidence one is a 3 1/2" Big O in white or chartreuse I use this every lake I target and catch bass, pike, walleye... you name it

 

Fish can't get enough of it and the rod I use is 6' 6" medium action fast tip with 10 mono

 

I truly recommend you give them a try... I know they work great up here on our local lakes

 

When there's a chop, cast it and retrieve as soon as it hits the water... when the lake is mirror like, cast it, wait for the ripples around it to dissipate and start your retrieve

 

My 2 cents

Jacques

 

Picked up a 3/8oz Big O smokin joe shad Friday.Casting with 30lb braid on a bait caster with great distance.Lots of fish,and the 3/8oz weight really helps with the distance.The rod 6' MH and a caenan reel.

Edited July 2, 2012 by davey buoy

[singingdog]

Casting distance can be crucial with smallies: they love to follow a bait for along time before hitting it. In open water, I prefer a spinning outfit (I have never had trouble casting cranks with a spinning outfit. I guess the cranks that I use can't tell what kind of reel they are attached to) for the extra distance. Nothing beats a lipless crank for distance, but the Spro Little Johns come close....and catch fish.

[Cosmos]

Hi Chad,

 

I really like to use Rapala Jointed Shad Rap JSR-5 or JSR-7. They are pretty small but you can cast them far away. Good for all species - pike, walleye, bass and even musky. Perch color is most productive for me.

[manitoubass2]

The Rapala clacking cranks cast real nice and rarely foul. Clackin minnows, Berkley Flicker Shads, X raps (shad and the topwaters as well), DT 4 through 10 (my personal favorites), crankin raps, Lindy River Rockers, Cotton Cordell Big O, Live target crawfish (lipless and billed), Lindy shadlings, Live Target perch and lipless or billed gizzard shad, Lucky Craft Fat smasher, Rick Clunn square billed cranks, Lucky Craft pointer minnows. I'm sure I'm leaving a few out, but these are cranks I use often that catch alot of fish and cast awesome.

 

Most won't foul very often even on a spinning outfit, unless your using the longer style minnow baits with a snap swivel, then they'll foul often. So, tie direct where you need to.

[Djeep]

I like new rapala cranks and the kvd 2.5 cranks. Both lures cast great and catch fish from bass pike and even muskie on lsc. Ive broken a couple hooks off the rapala cranks on big smallies though.

[Rich]

I crank exclusively with a spinning rod. A 7' medium action rod and 8lb mono if you can get away with it, will fire just about every bait you got as far as you wanna throw it. I like Spro cranks and Cordell Big O's.

[MCTFisher9120]

Also love to use crankbaits whenever possible. For line I use straight fluorocarbon. It is strong, abrasion resistant, handles nice and has enough stretch for the crankbait. I use 12lb as a overall size, I guess if I had a dedicated open water crankbait rod I would use 10lb and a soft rod Medium power with mod-fast action.

 

For everyday crankbait fishing i now like a stiffer rod with a soft tip. The main reason for this is because of the excessive weed growth, a little power in the rod is needed to "snap" the weeds off your lure.

 

For reels i like slow to slower retrieves 28" per crank or slower.

 

For crankbaits now there are literally everything you need with each brand you will come across. The Rapala DT crankbaits are nice and run true out of the box. Another good crankbait is the DT Fat crankbaits with the square bills and big balsa bodies by Rapala. Excalibur makes some fine crankbaits as well.

 

Hands down favorite crankbait are the Griffins and Z Crank X lures by Megabass. Pay the extra and use a handful of cranks all year. They produce fish, and have exceptional actions. I have two or three I'll be swapping hooks on all year if all goes well

 

There really is no one lure, for starters look at the Rapala DT 4,6 and the small size Clackin Crank.

Edited July 2, 2012 by MikeTheBassFisher

[Rod Caster]

wow. Great replies.

 

 

I was casting some cranks to smallies yesterday and definitly noticed a lack of backbone in my 6'6" spinning rod. Lost a lot of fish due to a soft hookset...even though I was pulling at a 9 or 10 on the hookset meter using 10lbs PP.

 

I've been seriously looking for a ML 7" spinning outfit (crucial or st-croix or fenwick) but I think I may go for a MH instead and use it as my crankbait, weed ripping rod. It seems that its not so much the cranks themselves that are tough to cast a good distance, but it's because my rod isn't well matched for the job.

 

Those clacking cranks seem to get unanimous approval! Will be the next one in my box.

 

 

Still, I find a grub and jig unstoppable for just about any brand of fish:thumbsup_anim:

[Leecher]

....I was casting some cranks to smallies yesterday and definitly noticed a lack of backbone in my 6'6" spinning rod. Lost a lot of fish due to a soft hookset...even though I was pulling at a 9 or 10 on the hookset meter using 10lbs PP.....

 

Chad, you got to keep the hooks sharp with light tackle to get better landing results

[Rod Caster]

Chad, you got to keep the hooks sharp with light tackle to get better landing results

 

 

ya, good point. I have a battery powered sharpener...maybe I should use it more than once every two years haha

[manitoubass2]

good point TJ.

 

I replace my hooks with those mustad KVD Ultragrip treble hooks, and it sounds rediculous but they really increase the hook ups. Half the time I barely need a good hook set. You do need pliers more often though.

 

My son does fine casting cranks on a 5'6" medium heavy spinning outfit, and he doesn't have much issues with hook ups either. I use a 6'6" or a 6'8" med/heavy rod, it what feels most comfortable to me.

 

So, If you feel you need a longer rod, go for it if it makes you more confident you'll get good hook ups, but it's not like it's necessary.

Edited July 2, 2012 by manitoubass2