Stringjam

1/2 oz. Cordell Spot......if I'm using it as a drop bait I'll take off the trebles and use a long-shank circle hook in the rear. You can fish it on the bottom and through some pretty gnarly stuff without getting hung up, and when you hook a fish, you DON'T lose them. Some other liplesses I like (and I have tried a BUNCH) Shimano Complex Undulator Jackall TN/70 Mamiya-OP Hunting Vib Jr. Air Viper Risebacker (Sound-Less) I think my least favorites are the Rattlin' Rapala and the XCaliburs.....both of which drop their action at slow speeds, and flop over on their sides when you drop them to the bottom. IMO the plain, old, cheap Cordell Super Spot is a superior design....they nose-stand pretty well and work at ANY speed from a crawl to a burn.

I've never had the problem much - but wouldn't a drop of super-glue on the gap solve the problem?

That's probably the cheapest handmade crank on the market.....if you consider that these cranks are assembled and painted by hand, he's probably making less than your average McDonald's employee selling them at that price.

The undercoating doesn't split, so I don't reseal them......it just appears to be the clearcoat and top layers of paint.

I have several of Herman's cranks - he does a very good job. The PC1 is a really good shallow cover crank, and if you're looking for a big profile, wide wobble flatsided bait, the FPC2 is great! I've had a couple of finish splitting problems, but nothing that effects the action of the baits.......it seems to be a common problem with cedar cranks.

Yeah - just tell that to the fish they're going to fool, Marty.

Big M Flatsided cranks

Cool lookin' baits!! Try some 20 lb. PowerPro Braid - it kills for deep cranking!

Big fan of the Slug-Go! Consistently catches me better quality fish than Super Flukes or Bass Assassin-type lures.

I use braid on everything - ESPECIALLY CRANKBAITS. Make a 100'+ cast with mono and crank down to the mid-teens and deeper and all you get is mush - I want to feel what that bait is doing, and all the more around deep cover. Plus, it has the strength to turn fish out of that stuff....8-10 lb. mono around a sunken cedar or hedge tree? No way. If you're having a problem with fish popping off - turn your drag down....that's what it's for. BTW.....I do use leaders - braid doesn't take abrasion from rocks and crank lips very well, so a short section of tough mono like CXX works great.

All outstanding!! I think the last two are my favorite. The last bait with the color fading from pearl / yellow / green to the dark back looks killer! The subtle gold in the one above it really looks great as well.

The pearl / green backed crank is very natural looking - great job on those. What's going on with the new body style (the shad)! Very interesting!

Marty is among the best crank builders out there - - and I have cranks from most of them. Plus, Marty is good people - you won't find a better person to do business with.

Wow, this guy sure knows his stuff......I've wasted so much money on balsa crankbaits - - only 30% of them actually run right. :

That sparkle-purple backed bait is killer, M!! Actually all of them are - - the pearl / green backed lure reminds me of the Japanese Ayu color. Fantastic finish work on all these!

That's some beautiful work, Marty - - those are killer!! I'm normally not a huge flake fan, but these look way more natural than most "flake" type finishes. Gorgeous!

Cordell Super Spot BPS Rattlin' Shad Jackall TN/70 Air Viper Risebacker (Sound-Less) Shimano Complex Undulator Mamiya-OP Hunting Vib Jr. Spro Aruku Shad Ever Green Buzzer Beater

Yes - pick up some of the models suggested above and get to know them.

My best heavy cover shallow crank last year was one of Marty Burns' (aka Big M) 1/2" stock flatsided cranks. A lot of people think of flatsided baits being for open water - - here's where I fished it....you have to stay on your toes a little more with flatsided cranks around cover, but at times it's really worth it. The aforementioned LC RC's are killer too.... As far as "Best"......there's so many killer cranks out there, I'm not sure I could ever label one as the "best." My favorite baits right now are coming from Big M, Jawjacker, Flatshad, D-Bait, Brian's (Little Bee), Richard Manley (RAM Baits), and Zoom WEC. There's others working their way up the list, but there's just so many cranks and so little time to get to know them all!

If you're talking crankbaits - either tie directly to a SPLIT RING or use a SNAP. As mentioned earlier.....tying directly to the line-tie will kill the action.

Rapala's are about the worst low-speed vibe you can buy. The best inexpensive vibe for my personal preferences is the Cordell Super Spot. You can elicit the action at nearly any speed from crawl to burn, and when you drop them to the bottom they tend to sit on their nose fairly well. Rapalas fall flat on their side, and if you try to fish them slow they just drop their action.....no big deal if you just crank em' in at a good clip - - but there's more ways of catching fish on these baits than just that. The BPS Rattlin' Shad is another good low-cost bait.

I'm not sure about the whole "pitching deep cranks" thing.....but there's several deep cranks that work well around cover. Marty Burns (aka Big M in the tacklemaking forum) makes some killer deep cranks - - just about any depth or style you want. The Poe's Competition Cedars line of cranks is also great - - I've had some typical Poe's finish splitting problems with them, but they are fish catching machines. Also - - just started using last year - the Jackall Muscle Deep 15+.....very good little deep crank, and excellent around cover.

That smaller B3 looks KILLER, Marty - - the fine silver iridescent scaling is a very nice touch!

Yes - looks very good! Red with some flash. 8-)

My dad had one of the BIG Plano boxes with about 4 rows on each side. Had LOTS of Hellbenders (which we never used). The usual Arbogast fare (Jits and Hula's) and plenty of spinner-jig combos. There was a few Bass-O-Reno's and Original Rapalas as well. This really brings back some memories....here's a pic of me and my father about 22 years ago or so.... Still my #1 fishing partner - - - we get together and hit the lake every time we can......I wouldn't trade it for anything - he's the finest man I've ever known.