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When and how much deep cranking do you do for Bass?


adam lancia

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I have somehow accumulated a bunch of deeper running crankbaits over the winter and I'm at a cross-roads with what to do with them. I have never used these types of lures, mostly because I haven't ever, nor do I yet, own a boat. It's not gonna happen anytime soon but I have a couple of friends with boats, one of them being up near French River. I didn't pay retail for a single one of these lures and 75% of them were used when I purchased them. Would I be foolish for off loading them? I kind of think I have enough on my plate with learning drop shot, jerkbaits and swim jigs this year and feel like I'd be further complicating my fishing. That being said, would it be equally foolish to off load these lures considering I didn't pay anywhere near what it would cost to replace them with new ones should I decide to do some deep cranking in the future...?

 

I'm open to suggestions here folks, thanks in advance!

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I would keep them myself, I use deep runners for many species and if they were cheap why not. I don't get rid of a whole lot of stuff though, unless it's completely redundant due to new gear etc. I don't fish bass a lot, but when I do, cranks are my absolute favourite way to catch them.

Edited by porkpie
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The thing that has me debating is that they're not a coherent set of deep crankbaits, they're a hodgepodge of extra lures that came with other lots of lures that I have purchased since the weather started it's downward spiral last Fall. Maybe I'll take a few pictures of everything tomorrow so you can see what I have on hand. It's not a ton of stuff, I just dislike having things sitting around not being used. And I don't have the extra storage space to hang on to them until I might use them.

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Don't think of deeper running cranks as only a deep-water tool. Fishing a 15' crank in 7-8 FOW can be deadly. It will bang across the bottom, dredging up sediment and triggering some awesome strikes. If you shore fish where there is rip-rap, or rocky banks, it can be a great presentation.

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Deep cranking works well for me just after the spawn when the big females head out deep to sulk and rest, this seems to be a good time to throw the 12-22ft diving stuff. Once August hit's you can have lot's of solid 2 1/2lb-4lb largies down in that 16-22FOW range...Some days when it's at it's hottest and I've had enough frogging or flipping I'll head out deep, usually just outside of pad beds 50-200 yards depending on the spot and I slow roll them....Make contact with the deep weed and rip them free.

 

Drop shot is good when you have a percise target like a sand flat or gravel bed whatever it is. Deep cranks are like a swim jig or spinnerbait, they prowl the deep and get fish plain and simple. You need a reel with good gearing as they tend to pull hard. There is nothing better than throwing a big 3/4-1oz crank bait out deep, feeling the bait move your rod tip and then the rod loads up, great fun and something I continue to learn more and more about every summer.

 

Everybody throws baits up shallow it's the smarter half that gets largies out deep weather it be cranks, casting big 3/4-1oz jigs drop shot, etc...

 

Keep the baits, you don't need to many colours, I stick to shad patterns and chartreuse/black...that colour comes to life on rainy days/overcast conditions for me..when the sun is out I use translucent baits or something with glitter/shine, seems to get the fish on it down deep. I've had more than half the bass hit the bait before engulfing it...this is what I found when switching to straight fluorocarbon, 2x more fish and I also had less follows to the boat and more hookups...You can feel fine with 10lb or 12lb fluorocarbon, the slight stretch lets the bass engulf the crank bait. Almost every fish slaps at the bait, I'll say "watch dad get ready he's behind it....seconds later fish on :) "

 

Hope this helps buddy!

 

MTBF

Edited by MikeTheBassFisher
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I hadn't thought of the advantages of running it into the the bottom to trigger bites from shore. I fish from shore most of the time so that might be something to keep in my back pocket. Maybe I'll keep a few to do just that. Here's a picture of what I have accumulated, any opinions on what I should hold on to? They're all either new or lightly used, worst case a few might need new hooks.

Crankbaits.jpg

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agree with porkpie, that's not very many so keep 'em. For worst and giggles, throw them when you're tired of the same old same old and need to mix things up. never know when a different pattern will make things fun. fwiw, I like cranks for everything, esp when I burn them across the top near the end of a retrieve. Got some very memorable pike hits that way.

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I hadn't thought of the advantages of running it into the the bottom to trigger bites from shore. I fish from shore most of the time so that might be something to keep in my back pocket. Maybe I'll keep a few to do just that. Here's a picture of what I have accumulated, any opinions on what I should hold on to? They're all either new or lightly used, worst case a few might need new hooks.

Keep the 2 Rapala's on the far right and the deeper Strike King bait. If you walleye fish keep the others if not sell them all just keep those 3.

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