Stringjam

looks good... don't want to fall for looks good again though. (just kidding). I should try it. Looks don't impress me, either......they have to know how to dance to stay in my box.

Well I certainly feel like a dork now.....I sold 4 of them together for $30. Oh well.....I needed some quick cash - - and I still have a couple of the magical ones.

Try a Team Daiwa Dartist. I allow them to sit in the same box as my Pointers. That's saying a lot.

They have consistently caught bigger fish for me over the years than the SuperFluke / Bass Assassin types. Tho I noticed Zoom now has an upsized version of the Fluke. I must try.

A chrome Norman Deep Tiny N

I prefer double-tail grubs. I fish a lot of rock walls and sharp banks with these, which = lots of dropping. The grub swims as the bait falls as opposed to a chunk or craw. Works for me.

I throw all of them in undivided 3700's with great abandon - - then I spend 10 minutes digging around trying to find the one I want - - followed by 10 more minutes untangling the trebles. Works for me.

Just starting out with jig fishing - - here's what I would do: Get a pack of plain brown Eakins Jigs (BPS sells them...they're made by Jewel). Put a small plastic craw or double tail grub on it..... Crawl or hop it along the bottom. The combination will work for any species of bass in nearly any condition you can find.....you'll get bit and gain confidence quickly.

The only problem with the Triple Grips is bending. They are very weak. However, they do hold fish extremely well. Dare I say, better than most trebles I've used (including Owner STR, VMC, Gama, Katsuage, etc.etc.). I HATE throwing these things around cover, though - because the second they touch anything and get a enough of a bite, they lock into it. You'll pull your hair out if you fish cranks around a lot of sticky brush.

Other hooks lay awake in bed at night - crying - wishing they were Owners.

I'm curious about the DT-20......looking forward to your review. Hopefully it will be as righteous as the DT-16

40!?! Just MO.....I would buy one of each of the models and get to know them before dropping that much cash on them - - that way you can make sure they do what you want and are effective on your waters. I would rather have 5 cranks that I KNOW work than a tackle box full of ones I don't.

+1 on both counts. Since you mentioned trolling - - I personally would go for a crank with a fairly tight action....they can be worked faster than wide action cranks. The Poe's 4500 LR has a tight, rolling action and can be fished very quickly for a big deep crank. I can cast and retrieve it 20', so depth will certainly not be a problem trolling. They have several variations on the craw theme...... Another note......I've never tried the DT-16 on a troll, but it is a FANTASTIC deep crank for burning (I know I keep bringing up speed.....but it is very important - sometimes a burn is the best way to trigger smallies on a crank). It's a breeze to get it to 16', so I wouldn't think 20' would be difficult trolling. BTW......I use 20 lb. braided line for all my cranking needs (with a short mono leader to absorb rock abrasion). Braid will get you MAXIMUM depth.

I use a jig wherever there is water and bass.

Yes indeed. IMO, one of the finest crankbait designs in life.....especially when it comes to rocky banks and craw patterns.

Poe's made a flat-sided diver called the Elite 900's. I have several and some are pretty decent. However - the cranks the OP put up are most certainly NOT made by Poe's. I'm relatively sure they aren't Stanford Cedars, either.....judging from the body style, paint, and eye placement. Eye placement and style are a big giveaway when trying to identify the maker. I'm pretty positive the upper baits are Tennessee Killers.....but there are a lot of smaller crank makers from those areas that copped that design and they could be made by any of those hobbyists (or as basshammer noted - - Norman made a short run of the Tenn Killer's design). Look at the eye design and placement on the pic of the Tenn Killr I posted - and look at the original poster's baits....very similar.

The top two look a lot like Tennessee Killers. I've got a couple, but the body on yours looks a bit different. I understand that Tnn Killers changed a bit over the years so that may account for it.

There's truth in some of your statements Paul, but crankbaits and jerkbaits are a very different world than jigs. I'm as cheap as I can be - - believe it or not. I pour my own jigs, spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, etc....for way less than you can buy them at a store. Saves me a ton of money because I go through jigs like candy with all the craggy rock around here. Cranks and jerkbaits are a different story, though.....there really is a big difference between the performance of ok cranks and the performance of cranks that really put fish in the boat. It isn't always characterized by price, but in the case of several categories of design, the expensive bait is completely worth it (to me). It isn't about price, it's about getting a crank that does what you want it to. Some are cheap - - some are not.

FWIW......90% of the lures I'm spending coin on are made here in in the U.S. by individuals or very small makers. I believe Chris is talking about high-end Japanese companies - and mostly injection-molded plastic lures. I definitely have some keepers in my box from this category, but it's not really what defines "high end" to me. Most of what I own and consider truly "high-end" is made by companies/guys like Flat-Shad, JawJacker, Brian's Bees, Big M, Richard Manley, Kelly Lures, Zoom WEC, Nomad (BlackJack), etc.... Don't be fooled into thinking that all "high-end" Asian plastic baits are great performers simply because of the aesthetic. I have a very expensive EverGreen FSR that is one of the biggest disappointments in my flatsided box. Not even in the same league as a Flat-Shad Sonny B, and a high-end Asian balsa plug made by Arcadia Reef that is the most worthless crank I own. Some of the best baits being made in Japan are by companies like T.H., Woodream, Flutter, Nakamura, FD Custom, and Kaihatsu....the problem is distribution...they're low volume and sell only in Japan. I'm only concerned with what works.....not what looks great or has enough hype surrounding it. I'll pay for performance....whether it's $4 for a Wiggle Wart, $15 for a Flat-Shad, or $20+ for a Kelly custom.

My least favorite vibe......you slow it down and the action dies, same reason I don't like XCaliburs for anything but a burn.

I know some fishermen who roll their eyes at my expensive crankbaits - and then they spend over $100 a month on beer. I just like to spend my money on stuff that works, and the cheapest flatsided crankbaits that are worth a darn start at $15. I have plenty of cheap gems in my boxes, too. Wiggle Warts and Cordell Spots come to mind. More often than not on this board, I've noticed it's the guys who despise high-end lures that do all the bashing of guys who do. "Reverse snobbery" if you will. IMO, if you don't have real-life experience using the lures you're bashing, your opinion really doesn't hold much weight. Years ago when Pointers first started shipping over here, I was a Rogue user. I remember scoffing, myself.....laughing at the lunacy of a $15 jerkbait and the (in my inexperienced mind) gullibility of the fishermen buying them. Of course, that all changed when I got some ACTUAL EXPERIENCE USING THE BAITS, and now my Rogues are collecting dust.

Sounds like what you really want is the DD14 . . . the body is nearly the same size as the DD22, but it is a MUCH shallower diver. I rarely try to get them over 10'. As cheap as Normans are, I think it would be worth it to pick up a few and see if it will save you the time and effort of modifying the 22's.

The Wobbler has a very different action than the typical fat crank. It has a very quick, tight roll and it's extremely lively.......nothing at all like a Bagley Balsa B or LC BDS. $25 is not bad at all for a bait that you should be able to use you're whole life and pass down to your kid.

What crankbait are you using? I use lead wrap sometimes around the front hook of some of my more buoyant cranks when I want to hit max depth (to the point of slow rise). If you're using a really buoyant deep diver, you could throw a whole pack of suspendots on there and it probably wouldn't be enough weight to do much. It isn't really going to help you get much deeper, it just keeps the lure from popping up if you want to pause or reel very slowly. If maximum depth is your goal, the line dia. is going to be a big factor......I use 20 lb. braid - - it gets my baits deeper than 10 lb. test mono, without the loss of strength.

I've been using a couple of these for quite a while (2 years?). Very good cranks in the vein of the Little Petey design. Tight, natural action and profile. I've done well with them.