Crankbait Rods

[PowerBass]

My current rod I am using now is a bit to stiff for cranks IMO, and will fatigue me quicker than all hell. So I am looking at a new Cranking stick and reel.
Zook, don't Hate me for saying this, but I think i am going with the St.Croix Avid Cranking Stick 7ft MH, and a Quanutm Accurist AC500 CX in Left Hand Gold Color. Only reason for St.Croix, i have heard tons of great reviews on this particular stick for medium to deep cranks. I picked the Quantum reel for the hell of it, always wanted one LOL.

[PowerBass]

Originally Posted by PowerBass

My current rod I am using now is a bit to stiff for cranks IMO, and will fatigue me quicker than all hell. So I am looking at a new Cranking stick and reel.
Zook, don't Hate me for saying this, but I think i am going with the St.Croix Avid Cranking Stick 7ft MH, and a Quanutm Accurist AC500 CX in Left Hand Gold Color. Only reason for St.Croix, i have heard tons of great reviews on this particular stick for medium to deep cranks. I picked the Quantum reel for the hell of it, always wanted one LOL.

Rod should be around 170 or so, reel around 80

[lizardsrule]

Are you getting a moderate action tip? That's a very good choice IMO for a cranking stick for deep divers. I would prefer a Medium with Moderate action for shallow to mid range though. I also prefer a 6'6" in this application, because I pitch them a lot, and the shorter rod seems to give me more control. But for deeper cranks the 7' would be my choice. By the way, if I were you I would give Carolina Chip a call or email about those cranks you are looking at. If you want quality, and unbelievable painting you just can't go wrong. I truly believe them to be superior to any of the Lucky Crafts I have purchased.


Lizards

[PowerBass]

Originally Posted by lizardsrule

Are you getting a moderate action tip? That's a very good choice IMO for a cranking stick for deep divers. I would prefer a Medium with Moderate action for shallow to mid range though. I also prefer a 6'6" in this application, because I pitch them a lot, and the shorter rod seems to give me more control. But for deeper cranks the 7' would be my choice. By the way, if I were you I would give Carolina Chip a call or email about those cranks you are looking at. If you want quality, and unbelievable painting you just can't go wrong. I truly believe them to be superior to any of the Lucky Crafts I have purchased.


Lizards

I am looking at Chips Lures as well as Zilla's, but I need to build up a basic assortment before I buy Custom. Reason for my buying this #2- I planon fishing tournaments, and if i cant crankbait comfortably or have the equipment to do it, I am sunk.

[zooker]

power has a good point here. a decent rod is criticul in cranking. the thing you should ask your self is this: what baits will i be using the most? and how deep will i be fishing them??

i use 3 differant rods and reel set ups to do most of my cranking. a 7' medium lews speed stick a quatum energy pt 6.3 reel packing 12 pound ande mono. this rod bows a great deal up to mid lenth i like this set up for lipless and shallow -under 5 foot divers- because of the forgiving rod i have yet to lose a fish on it..a 7' medium fenwick gt with an ambassador torno the t3006hsi reel loaded with 8 pound ande. which is a 6.3 reel but has a 25" per turn take up.. hands down the easiest to control your speed with. i like this for medium divers up to 10 feet.. my 3rd rod is a 7'6'' american rodsmith fritts rod in mh it has a 5.1 quatum mag gear on it loaded with 8 pound ande mono. this rod it a good deal heavier than either of the other two rods. but it is as limber as a wet noddle it takes ALOT of getting used to when switching from this rod to others i use..i use the deep diving cranks on this rod it loves the dt or poes cranks..

power
find the crank company's you like and stick with them.. in nj natural colors would work the best. ya really need only about 4-5 differant colors. but differant baits for differant depths and or differant conditions.

zooker

[JB]

I use 3 rods for cranking, a short medium 5-6 bionic blade, a medium all star 6-6, and another bionic bladeMH6-6..
I can't see a rod wearing you out as opposed to throwing the outfit to hard and trying to get to much distance...get closer with your boat and alternate some side arm along with a overhead to give your arms a break..
I prefer sidearm casting on most of mine, but it never wears me out.

[PowerBass]

Zook,

Most likely Bandit or Poe's. Bandit's seem real nice. I am gonna crank 4 to 20 ft.

"can't see a rod wearing you out as opposed to throwing the outfit to hard and trying to get to much distance...get closer with your boat and alternate some side arm along with a overhead to give your arms a break.."

No Jb, You will get fatigued if using the wrong type of rod for the depth you crank. I have had sore wrists from throwing a Baby N all day, on my current rod.

[JB]

trying throwing a DD22 at age 52 , hell* everything hurts rofl

[skeeter944]

i use a 6' medium action rhino combo for my crankin'. it has alot of tip and is good for fishing from the banks,as i do,when a short backcast is needed. just get the best quality rod and reel you can afford and that you like, cause your the one thats gonna be fishing with it,so get what YOU want.

[Rebbasser]

I use three as well. 2-Allstar GT2 for lipless and shallow baits-6-6 M action-and a Falcon Low Rider Big Cranker-7' M-for, what else , big crankbaits. Use a BPS Extreme reel for the lipless and deep baits and a Team Daiwa Advantage 153HST for the shallow cranker-all spooled with 12 lb green Trilene XL. Had the shallow rod spooled with 10 lb but broke off 3 cranks in a row so went back to 12.

[PowerBass]

Zook and other Rapala Lure user,
What depths do they make DT series for, DT6,DT10,DT16? anythign deeper as well?

[zooker]

dt4,6,7,10,14,16 trust me power a dt 16 is as deep as you want to go with these baits. like poes 200,300,400. the 400 is a beast to throw all day.

90% of my cranking is in 4-10 feet of water.. the key to cranking is struture patterns. be it points, rocks,docks, trees, creek legdes,stumps.. you MUST contact this struture to get them to bite.

if they are holding shallow a badit 100,norman baby lil n,#5 shad rap are all good at shallow water-under 4 feet- fishing. during colder temps norman deep lil n,dt6-10,#5 jointed shad rap,a speed trap,norman fat boy.. all have there place.. i litaly have hundreds of cranks but only 20 or so produce consitantly. remember i fish highrock lake this lake is made ideal for cranking..

during the heat of summer any deep cranking i do is very limited as the c-rig or jig will be thrown..



zooker

[lizardsrule]

Don't forget some Mann's -1's and I really like Bomber B's, and Normans Lil N. I don't need to crank too deep here rotfl.

Lizards

[PowerBass]

Originally Posted by lizardsrule

Don't forget some Mann's -1's and I really like Bomber B's, and Normans Lil N. I don't need to crank too deep here rotfl.

Lizards

I have alot of the Minus 1 from my pond hopping days. But now, since I fish most of the reservoirs, all deep, mostly clear but 1. I need to go deep.

Also gotta learn how to use the dang sleeper rig. Zook any tips?

[zooker]

in rock egg sinkers in weeds two 1/4 oz bullet sinkers one up the line a bead one down the line -narrow end toward the swivel-know as the yin yang set up. go very slowly 12-18" sweeps. at least 10 cast to the same general area. lizard or 8" ribbon tailed worm. early in the year 18" leader later on 36" leader.. when the water heats up a trick worm or a french fry after 10 am..

creek channels, points,humps.. if ya get a brim like wack chunk a pnj in there the bass will wack it like this very lightly..

zooker

[Hawgin']

Originally Posted by PowerBass

#2- I planon fishing tournaments, and if i cant crankbait comfortably or have the equipment to do it, I am sunk.

I fished several tournaments this year, and my partner and I didn't throw more than a combined 50 casts with a crankbait all year. We had some fairly good success in tourny's this year. Maybe the area you are fishing requires you to fish a lot of cranks, and good for you if you develop confidence in them, but don't do something your not comfortable with because you think you have to so you can win tourny's.

[zooker]

hawgin
it is all in what is working. up till recently spinner baits were not prodoucing very well. now the blade is starting to work

zooker

[pig n jig]

Power, I suggest you keep the Curado for crankbaits.Imo the crankbait reel line retreive should be 19"-21" line retreive per turn of the handle.The Curado is 21". Either Zooker is using really thin line ,took the companies word on their product, or his vision was blurred when testing his line retreive.I have 3 Torno reels and they pull 21 - 23". The 23" was with braid spooled up.

The Rapala flat DT 7 should be everyones tackle box. P N J

[bassguy2004]

Originally Posted by JB

trying throwing a DD22 at age 52 , hell* everything hurts rofl

I hear ya JB.

Powerbass, I think you made a good choice on the rod. I would have picked a medium action rod and probably a 5:2:1 reel or less. I use nothing but Quantums and the Accurist 500cx is a 6:2:1 which is really not the reel for deep divers such as a Norman DD22. This is just my opinion.

[bassnman30]

American Rods Smith in 7', a BPS crankin rod 7' a "Star" series graphite with a light action tip 7'.
The 7' rods provide more distance. Make sure that you mantain the feel with you crank. Sometimes when it stops running correctly, a fish just hit it. This is especially true with a deeper diving bait.
I'll stick with a DT 16, and/or a Zoom Z-4. The DT -16 dives at a much steeper angle than other deep baits.
L/C makes a 20 footer.
A 6:1 reel "seems" to real the bait too fast. I guess you can slow your retrieve down. I like 5:1's and 4:1's but thats "my" choice.

[PowerBass]

Originally Posted by bassguy2004

I hear ya JB.

Powerbass, I think you made a good choice on the rod. I would have picked a medium action rod and probably a 5:2:1 reel or less. I use nothing but Quantums and the Accurist 500cx is a 6:2:1 which is really not the reel for deep divers such as a Norman DD22. This is just my opinion.

Any Quantums wiht that speed?

[zooker]

quatum mag gears 5.1

zooker

[PowerBass]

Originally Posted by zooker

quatum mag gears 5.1

zooker

got a link to see the reel?

[bassguy2004]

Here is a picture of the reel in question.

[Rodman_Rob]

Originally Posted by lizardsrule

I don't need to crank too deep here rotfl.
Lizards

I ain't saying nothing about nothing