Crankinstein

Believe AJ already said the same thing but I don't have any secret baits just secret spots. I've got a secret cove or two on every lake around me. My go to baits are all really common, the only one that really flies under the radar is the Rick Clunn Freak Jr. which is a really awesome little crank.

KVDs and RCs have always been good to me. The bass in my lake have moved super shallow in only 2ft in one cove so I've really been hitting them hard this week with shallow square bills. I'm testing the Sebile Bull crank tomorrow on them and I've also ordered a few spro baby fat johns which aren't technically full blown square bills but they do have a very similar functionality.

I fished my shallow cranks all of last year with braid/no leader and didn't have any problems. As mentioned above having the drag set and a softer rod go along way in helping to keep those fish buttoned up. Lighter hook sets and always having sharp trebles helps as well. One thing I liked about braid was that it seemed a lot easier to get a bait un-snagged with. The zero stretch usually allowed me to rip the bait free and quality hooks remained sharp and straight. Bouncing a shallow crank off cover is essential and the braid gave me the confidence to throw my bait right up in the rough stuff.

Those are some great looking reels man!! Those anodized parts look awesome, I love that calfish custom td ito.

call me crazy but I actually like a little wear on my cork handles, gives em that nice broken in look and feel.

I got one over the winter and I'm really looking forward to fishing it.

I live 15 min from Greensboro and I agree the weather has been insane. It gets warm during the week and I say to myself looks like I'll be fishing this weekend then it drops 30 degrees and snows on friday. To the original post I'd say there is no direct cure for the bait monkey but getting out and fishing helps and I'd say selling some old gear helps as well. You'll always buy more than you sell but at least you can justify some of those purchases as replacing some of your old stuff.

I picked up a buff last summer after my face got fried pretty bad, best investment I've made in a while. I strongly recommend it

I spent a lot of time fishing cranks from the shore and it can be very effective. When the bass are in shallow an effective retrieve can be casting parallel to shore if your spot permits and let that bait make a lot of contact with any structure that's on the bottom. If you think the fish are further out in deeper water I'd say use a longer rod to add a little more range on your cast. As with any technique you'll want to pay close attention to what colors and lure styles the bass in your home lake prefer. The bass in my home lake love fire tiger.

2013 tracker pro175txw

I really liked the thug and that post about fish just trying to kill it is dead on, every fish I've caught with it completely smacked it. I need to add a few more to my crankbait box, I lost my last one and haven't gotten around to replacing my supply yet.

wow man that green hawgtech looks awesome on that curado I!!

I was afraid of that. Unfortunately I don't have any experience with that one

Na man its supposed to be like that, haven't you heard of that new Japanese technique of sidebaiting?

I use very few technique specific rods, in fact its just one cranking rod and one flipping rod and the rest are all M or MH rods between 6'6" and 7'. I like having a rod that can do a lot of different things because I change my techniques with the conditions a lot and I'd much rather have 6 rods than 60. As the times go on I may add one two more specific rods, I'm in the market for another cranking one right now just because that's a technique I use almost year round in my lakes. Theres something to be said for simplicity though and we as fisherman must constantly be reminded that its the man not the equipment that ultimately puts fish in the boat. We should be focusing on the fish and not whether or not we tied our lure onto the wrong pole or not. And as far as Rick Clunn goes I'm a huge fan and I strongly urge any crankbait fisherman to try his Luck E Strike "freak jr" crankbait, its an awesome lure. I sound like a broken record in these forums because I mention that lure any time someone even hints at a crankbait related topic but I promise its worth it.

its an awesome reel, I own two of the spinning models. Its the only reel in its price range with magnesium construction and its an absolute featherweight. My favorite feature is the bail though, it has a really smooth action and just a nice overall feel. I prefer it over the Shimano style light wire bails. I think they make it in the best sizes as well, I often find myself wanting a reel bigger than the smallest size but not as big as the second smallest and Pflueger's 2nd smallest size is a nice intermediate size compared to what most other companies offer. I've had mine for 3 years and they've held up great.

That's one of the rods at the top of my want list right now and the 6"10" is the perfect length. Let me know how you like it

I'm going to be doing the review on approx. 10 crankbaits and I'm going to be using three different rod/reel combos (2 mid range price, 1 high end). The crankbaits are going to mostly be high end because I feel like most people here are already familiar with/already have used SK, Rapala, etc. I'm hoping to eliminate some of that estimating we have to do about a baits value when we spend $10-20 on a single lure and also try out some small high end brands that most people may not be familiar with. The list I'm working with so far is.. Duo Realis M65 Megabass MRX cyclone and Griffon Savage gear bone crank Jackall Bling 55 and D Cherry Lucky Craft mini MR

I actually use a MH/fast as well and I haven't had any issues with trebles tearing out. I'm in a similar debate though because I'm starting to throw a few more medium divers and would like to have just a little softer tip so I'm shopping around looking for the perfect rod. I don't really care for the rods that are just like a noodle. I'm going to make a post here in a month or two about my crankin set up and I have about 10 crankbaits I'm going to test out and review and hopefully that will be ready as well.

That's an awesome Curado I!! I actually have a spare 90mm carbon handle from hedgehog that I ended up not using but unfortunately I have no new reel to put it on right now. I would consider the idea of getting one of those new *** concepts reels but they don't have any lefties yet.

so much crankbait info in this thread! I love it, thanks again for bringing it out of the archives.

I generally try to match the shad size which can vary depending on time of year and what lake your on.

That's awesome! That little KVD 1.0 is quite the lure, It has a special place in my tackle box. I really like the chrome sexy shad color.

I def agree with the KVDs and DT6s for standard cranking. To the post above me I also caught my personal best on a KVD but it was a 1.0 and strangely enough it was also an 8.5er, Theres a pic of it in my gallery. I've also used that cranky M and I think its a solid lure as well. I would also recommend the Luck E Strike Rick Clunn series cranks, they are awesome. The RC freak jr has the most amazing action I've ever seen from a crank bait, it has a "deep diving square bill" and is an absolute fish catching machine(I had two 30+ fish days using just that lure). I just placed an order for some Duo Realis M65s which I've heard are supposed to be pretty good, I will let you guys know how they are after I fish them later this month.

Great looking reels!