Throwin Crankbaits

[TBone66]

Ok, so i have some lighter shallower diving crankbaits that i like to throw but i wanna be a able to throw them with my bait caster. The problem is is that i can't seem to cast without backlash or it just doesn't cast very far. Does anyone have any tips on throwing lighter cranks on a baitcaster? What would be an ideal rod/reel combo that doesn't cost a whole lot? Please help.

[Kevin]

Hi TBone... I'm in the same dilemma as you are with some of my favorite crankbaits... most notably, the Rapala Shad Rap. I buy Shad Raps in two sizes. One size is somewhat manageable on the right baitcasting gear, the smaller size isn't. For me, there is a certain weight crankbait that I just can't throw with a baitcaster without the overruns you speak of.

The best rod/reel combo I've found for these light crankbaits is the Daiwa Crazy Cranker 4.9 paired with an AiRRUS Copperhead Cranking Stix, which is 7' Medium I believe. You may actually fare better with another brand reel for these super light crankbaits, simply to have the centrifugal braking system, which I've found is far superior for such applications because you get more control with setting the brakes, rather than magnets. I just use the Crazy Cranker because of the 4.9 gear ratio (I can fish these small baits slow) and I don't have any other low gear reels like that with centrifugal braking.

But honestly, any decent reel will work. The rod is long enough to give you distance on the cast and flimsy enough to give you some momentum to wing the bait out a ways. Stay away from MH or stiffer rods.

Your line choice will affect your casting distance as well. I would keep it at 10 lb test or lower. I go down to 8 lb test in cooler waters when fishing Shad Raps. I get extra distance on my cast and give the bait better action. Casting 6lb test on baitcasting gear with light lures is tough, so I'd stick with 8 lb. For me, fluorocarbon always gets the ticket.

Bottom line... I'm in the same boat as you TBone. It's tough for anyone to throw those light baits on casting gear. Hope this helps!

[Bassassinator]

Yeha, I am a Newb to the baitcaster scene, but I would say fool around with your adjustments. it may sound like goin back to basics, but it helps me everytime I have an issue throwing a different bait to readjust my tension on the spool and the Brakes. Like I said, i am new to my baitcaster, all of three days in now, and i apologize for not being able to help more, although i will keep an eye on the thread since it would be good to know later on for me

[BigBassin144]

Tbone, unfortunately, casting lighter baits is accomplished the best on more expensive reels. While some may say this is a "gear trap", I say it's the truth. I've fished a shad rap on the Revo Winch and didn't have any problems (although it was only for about 15-20 minutes. But a 7' or longer M power, Moderate action rod will help a great deal.

Also, make sure all the settings on your reel are set to their ideal settings when fishing with light baits to maxinmize distance and minimize backlashes. I've posted a link to a small article I wrote on adjusting a baitcaster, but I think I'm gonna take the time to transfer it to this site so I don't have to keep posting the link.

BB

[cassidyta]

The only thing that I can suggest is to make a longer lead from the tip of your rod to your bait. More or less the fly rod technique. The biggest key for me is to not try an throw it to the other side of the lake. I go with the nice easy cast. Since this keeps over runs to a minimum, I actually cast the laighter bait furhter this way.
I agree that the better reels will throw it slightly better, but I think a steady cast is the key.

[Bender]

I agree cass, but I use a Medium Light BPS Crankin Stick and it seems to do O.K. with a Shimano Calcutta reel. The rod seems to load up better and make a smoother whipping motion, not a fast flick. Still it is not ideal and I have some issue with very light baits. Some things I just use a spinning reel for, like very light poppers. Just works better.

[BassMoJo]

I throw the shad raps on my Johnny Morris elite or Revo SX. I personally believe it has less to do with the reel. Although I mean obviously if you have a $20 piece from wally world its a little different.

In my eyes its all on your release point and thumb control

[DJ_Callahan_27]

I have thrown 1/8 oz spinners and small cranks with my Quantum Energy PT on a 6'6" MH PT rod that I've had for a couple years now with no problems. The thing that you have two remember is to back the spool tension off alittle more than normal and use your thumb to control it's speed, and like Cassidyta said don't try to throw it across the lake. Less is more, the harder that you try to throw it the more you have to use your thumb to control and slow the spool. Try using more of a side arm cast to closer target to get use to light baits. After a few short cast to get a feel for it start strechting it up alittle by casting alittle further and further. before you know it you will be throwing that 1/8 oz bait as far as you are that 3/8's or whatever. Give that a try and see what happens. Good luck, and good fishing.
DJ

[nofearengineer]

I think this is just a symptom of the last few years where graphite development has enabled the manufacturers to produce an ever stiffer, yet still durable rod blank. So everyone has to have one, because they're newer, better!!!! I'm just as guilty, probably more so than most haha. But truth be told, while stiff rods are on the whole, more sensitive, they really do hurt casting distance on those lighter lures. They just don't load up like one of the old "limp noodle" rods we used to use.

For really light cranks, and no expense, I would use the "flyrod technique" others have mentioned. Personally, I would try a lighter power spinning combo.

[Bubba_Bruiser]

I throw light cranks and 1/16-1/8 oz t-rigs with a 6'6 "Med Casting" Castaway Rod and a Curado with 10lb mono. I don't think I could get the distance and accuracy out of floro, for myself. I reckon I just haven't found the right kind. I have all the weights set out on the centrifugal piece. I can't remember the name of it. And like DJ said, I have got the reel super loose, and a lot of thumb and listening to the line come in to play to avoid a nasty overcast AKA backlash. And I don't even try it in the wind with the worm, but I will with the crank.

[dodgeguy]

get a pfluger patriarch.

[islandbass]

Better reels help somewhat and the aerodynamics of the lure in question also come into play even if you have a decent reel that can cast light weight lures, an ideal rod, and a thinnest diameter line you can get away with.

Let's face it. Shad raps just don't have the aerodynamic qualities that a DT of the same weight does. A 3/16 oz spoon will cast better than a 3/16 oz spinnerbait.

There is another solution. Carolina rig your crankbait. With a long enough leader but not too long, you can cast the distance you desire. Just one last thing to note... Depending on how you cast, the potential of bird's nesting increases the sloppier you cast. They shall be separated, those who know how to properly load a rod on the cast and those that do not and the former shall be rewarded.

[AUFred]

I recently purchased a pair of BPS finesse series baitcast reels and put them on light action rods. They work well for fishing light baits, less than 1/4 oz. I use one for fishing 4" lizards w/ 1/8 or lighter leadheads that is on one of their finesse series rods (It has enough backbone to worm fish with it) Otherwise go with a quality spinning reel combo.

[DaveW731]

Although I CAN effectively throw a 1/8 oz bait on my ML baitcast outfit, I have discovered no reel advantage () vs. a spinning outfit, unless it is in heavy cover. Typically, 1/4 is my cutoff between baitcast and spinning.
When I do use the baitcaster for 3/16 or 1/8 oz, I also have found that a gentler motion tends to work better. To compensate, I will sometimes extend my arm to create a longer motion in an effort to still load the rod tip as much as possible.

[Willvdh1]

Funny reading this post. I was at the store looking at differnt rods for this very reason. It was hard for me to find a good 7 foot rod and wasn't really stiff. For me, I like a 7 foot rod for distance with a thick strong base and then near the end something that is fast and very flexible... Anyway I took it out tonight and It makes a HUGE difference, so definetly rod choice will be the biggest variable, I suggest a 7 foot rod that beds alot especially at the end. Great thread guys.

[AUFred]

I mentioned using Bass Pro Shops Finesse baitcaster on a light action rod with some backbone. Not trying to pimp my own thread but the second bass was caught on a 1/4 oz crankbait with 6# test on the outfit I described.
http://www.bassfishin.com/bassfishin...ad.php?t=21545

[basstech]

Hope this helps, I think the rod is more important than the real when it comes to throwing tiny cranks. I think any decent reel will feed line and get decent spool rotation enough to throw them. I've been using older shimano citica's and curado's as well as the newer 2008 model citica's and have had no problems but this is something I started doing 12 years ago or so with honey b's, killer b's, normans crappie cranks, and a couple of other tiny cranks, and found the rod does make all the difference. St. croix makes a nice med. power moderate action rod and I can throw most of those a good 60 to 90 feet, depending on the wind of course. Hope this helps a little, just keep in mind the bait has to be able to load the rod properly in order to cast it, too heavy or stiff a rod just won't load with those tiny cranks.

[zooker]

*LOUDLY CLEARS THROAT* he who throws more cranks than most all of you.demands the floor..

I tend to to agree with some of you..

Some of you I wonder if you have ever REALLY thrown a crankbait EVER..

Let me explain.. crankbaits come in two basic styles wood and injection molding-plastic..all wood baits regardless of who makes them have a weight in the belly hook area.wooden shad raps #5 weighs 1/5 of and oz. the lead weight IS poured in to a hole drilled in the belly the hook eye is placed in the hot lead, then filled, painted, exc.. Since the weight is not in the center or tail of the bait the shad rap literally flies like a badly thrown foot ball AT BEST.. the dt6 is without a doubt the best throwing wood bait on the market..

Yep I agree light line if your throwing anything heavier then 12 pound test your giving up distance. Remove all thoughts of using braid on a crankbait.

If your throwing a light bait such as a shad rap on a regular bases. I would good with a 7 foot medium rod. A long medium rod loads better when using light cranks..this adds casting distance. The proper reel set up is VERY important. Adjust the tension a bit on the medium side loosen the brakes-yeah that's right get the brakes off the "10"-really your thumb is yor best friend here.. brakes cost you distance, yep it is a fine line between distance and backlash-every reel is different.

I find reels with a high line capacity and slow gears to work the best.. from the Fritt's reel to my infamous collection of old quantum mag gears..

Come on mo-par mad man.. are your serious?? a 6.4 or 7.1 geared reel?? for cranks??...

zooker

[dodgeguy]

Yup, I use a 6.4 president and braid on a soft graphite rod. You just reel slow. Have no problem cranking deep divers all day. David dudly uses a flipping stick for deep cranks and I think he had flouro on it. He was on ultimate match fishing doing it with a 6.4 to 1.says he gets a better hookset with the flipping stick and loses less bass. Different strokes for different folks.

[nofearengineer]

I don't have any problems with power when using my 7.1:1 stx. The biggest problem is remembering to reel slower, so the action doesn't get all screwy.

[islandbass]

Zook,

Thank you for the excellent post. I have "experimented" with a Curado 201DHSV which we know has a 7.x:1 ratio just for kicks, with the expectation that it would not feel too good cranking even medium diving cranking baits.

I must say that my findings were similar to nofear's. I was quite surprised at how well the DHSV handled the medium divers. It "ate" them up and effortlessly to boot on the retrieve. There was no struggle or fatigue on the retreive.

I did not have any deep divers to test but I am inclined to initially guess that the DHSV might have some challenge with them.

Just wanted to share that with you. This ease in the cranking, might very well be a attributed to Shimano's HE (High Efficiency) Gearing.

With that said, I do prefer a reel with a lower IPT for cranking. I have a round reel abu and a cardiff to assist with my crank bait fishing. It's just that the high gear ratioed curado surprised me.

[keithdog]

Hey Tbone, I just purchased an outfit this week specifically for small to midsized crankbaits and I ended up with a real nice setup and it was very reasonablly priced. The reel is a BPS David Frittz baitcaster in a 4.7:1 ratio and I matched it with a Shimano Convergence 7 ft medium power with a medium fast action. The reel cost me $69.99 on sale and the rod was $59.00 normal price at Gander Mountain. I tried it out this morning and it will sling those smaller cranks like no ones business. I've got 12 pound mono spooled on the reel. I am completely happy over this outfit.

I might also add this tidbit. I did try this same reel on another rod I used to use for crankbaits. It was a BPS Extreme rod 6 1/2ft med power fast action and I did not get anywhere near the distance in my casts as with my new rod. I also had lots of backlash issues trying to get the distance from the old rod. The main difference is the new rod being 7 foot with a softer action allows the rod to loadup more and do the casting for you if you will. I am going to guess your rod may have too fast an action to allow for proper casting of smaller cranks.

[BeaverIslander]

Line conditioner will help in casting light baits by lessening the line drag thru the guides. I use Ardent Line Butter but have heard good things about the KVD brand stuff. I'll try that next.

[coolbreeze]

Most discussion has centered around rods reels and lines. Backlashes ? Trust you are using proper casting technique by turning rod sideways so reel handle faces up when you cast.