Stringjam

Since there are so many favorite cranks depending on situations, I'll make a small (believe me....this IS small) list. Super shallow: Lucky Craft Flat CB SR Smith Hutley Hong Rong Shallow: H&T Balsa HT2 Lucky Craft BDS and RC Sisson Slim Willie D-Bait WEC Z-Flat Medium: Storm Wiggle Wart Lucky Craft US Shad / Rapala Shad Rap Ever Green Combat Flat Sisson Diving Slim Willie Megabass Deep-X 100 Poe's RC3 Medium-Deep: Megabass Deep-X 200 Poe's 300 Storm 1/2 oz. Lightnin Shad Yo-Zuri Deep 3D Crank Deep: Poe's Competition Cedars 4400 Jackall Muscle Deep 15+ Imakatsu IK-400 Bandit 400 Catching Concepts DC2 Super Deep: Poe's Competition Cedars 4500LR Lipless: Spro Aruku Shad Cordell Super Spot Air Viper Risebacker Sound-Less Mamiya-OP Hunting Vib Jr.

Unfortunately not......and I feel like a complete dummy for selling my WEC Wobblers now!! Ah well.....I still have my Z-Flats!!! .....pretty much like a flat-sided Wobbler. The only bad thing about WEC is that I've gotten several baits with crooked bills from them (strange for a bait this expensive!). Most of them are straight - - and they rock!

The only place I've ever found them is straight from Worden's website......oh, and about a dozen or so from ebay for about 99 cents each - sometimes it's good when certain lures don't have any reputation.

Darn it, Avid - - you're going to drive prices up!! Lightnin' Shads suck horribly!!! Nobody bid on them....you'll regret it!!! Actually, I've quietly been using them for the past couple of years - - and yes, they work quite well. I caught my biggest largemouth all summer on one..... The bait you're holding is the one I have the most experience with. Has a very natural swimming action - fairly tight - dives into the low teens easily. I used to have the 1 oz, 20'+ diver.....but that thing is just a monster - they're pretty rare and fetch a good price on ebay (like $20+ for some colors). One tip - - the stock hooks are pretty big and heavy - the bait livens up considerably if you switch to a smaller, lighter wire hook (the back hook making the most notable difference).

Both of these were straight out of the package......overall, I was really impressed with the P-20 (I sold them for some reason.....lapse of judgment....I'll probably buy some more....). The action is completely unique compared to any other 20' diver I've used....a very quick, but hard kicking wiggle (nervous, if you will). They perform extremely well in heavy cover (these are also some of the most buoyant 20' divers I've used). The only thing I didn't like so much was that they were somewhat difficult to cast long distances - especially in any wind.....probably has something to do with that airplane wing coming out of the front. My #1 spot still belongs to the Competition Cedars 4500LR for a true 20' bait.......I can cast it incredibly far (one reason I like cedar) and gets down with seemingly half the strain of most other cranks in this category. It seems odd to me that this bait was designed by Tom Seward (who designed the Hot Lips Express.....which cranks like an anchor). He killed it with this design, though! Most importantly - I've caught a lot of fish on it. The only downside is that it is a very slow riser.....still very good around deep cover, but takes a LOT of patience! They're epoxy coated.....but they still get the typical Poe's "crackle finish" pretty quickly... (upper 2 cranks) I know what you're saying about some of the QC on Lee's baits. Lee does, however, have a few designs that really stand out to me.....the diving and shallow Slim Willie's for one. He obviously knows how to design a killer bait - but sometimes the mass produced result of his design leaves a little to be desired. The stuff you make looks so killer...especially the flatsided deep diver you posted a few months back. I've been putting off the order, but I'm definitely going to get around to trying your stuff......so many cranks out there - so little time! BTW......have you ever tried a Lohr's LL20? I just picked one of these up a while back.....the action reminds me a lot of a Tapp. I think this is the first flatsided crank I've used that actually approaches 20'. I've yet to find anybody else that has actually used them.

I have a lot of cranks with both cb and pc lips - - I don't think it makes any negligible difference. The biggest cb lips I've ever seen were on my Lee Sisson P-20's. I personally didn't like it too much because the cb lip made it look like a monster coming through the water instead of a shad (cb isn't clear ya know). Maybe the fish don't care.......they have a really neat action!

Like Raul said - the Shad Rap is COMPLETELY different than the DT's....their actions are quite different. It is one of the all-time great finesse cranks, and one I doubt will ever be discontinued. The only thing I've used that similarly cops that vibe is the Lucky Craft US Shad 65.....but I digress... Smoo, Raul? I haven't seen one of those in years!

I haven't tried the MR............so many cranks - so little time!!

I must add (although not common - yet very effective) that the right "Traps" can be fished as slowly as any soft plastic. They can be dropped down steep banks or crawled across the bottom much like a jig. People do this a lot with blade baits (Silver Buddy, etc..) but rarely do it with lipless cranks. I've done very well in both the late winter / early spring and late fall with the technique. A lipless that stands up on it's nose is obviously best.....like a Spro Aruku Shad. A Cordell Spot stays up pretty well, too......and is simply the best lipless crank for the price that can be had.

I usually like to use them when they're some chop on the water.....they work great in the wind.

RC 1.5 and 2.5's are killer. This just happens to be my favorite color........

Looks like Imakatsu IK-50's.....I like them, too. Not quite as much as RC 1.5's, but I dig them.......I haven't used them as much so I may change my mind some day... My O.S.P. Blitz Max should be arriving this week.......I really like the standard Blitz, so I'm expecting this one to be a winner, too. BTW......I got my Rapala DT Fats at BPS (at the store).

I put one through the paces last weekend.......perfect conditions for testing out a square-billed crank (fish were buried in cover). I had to bust straight trough the middle of the bushes to get bit - - the Rapala worked great and I ended up with a very nice limit on a tough day. I personally think it's pretty ugly....but the fish dug it, so that's good enough for me. My favorite crank for this kind of thing is still the Lucky Craft RC 2.5, though - - alternating back and forth between the two I still like the more natural action and appearance of the LC - - but the Rapala is, IMO, a very good crank!

Hey.....mine didn't come with a Marilyn pic! >

Deep crankbaiting......it requires skilled use of electronics, boat positioning, long distance casting, and bait awareness and "feel" (especially in heavy cover). I'm merely speaking from my own experience at learning various techniques - what took me the longest to get good at......I had a MUCH easier time learning to use a jig than I did getting good at cranks.

Just did some research and called my uncle. I'll pay you $6 plus shipping for 10 or so Bo-jacks...that's 100% profit for you! The bo-jack hasn't been made in years. You must have an old school non-supercenter walmart that has some REALLY old stock. I'm all over it...shoot me a PM. I'm excited...this is great! I have a few I bought from Wal-Mart awhile back......they are not Balsa, but plastic with an inserted lip. Although I haven't spent a lot of time fishing them, they do have a pretty cool action and I think they'll be pretty effective. I'm pretty sure they are reissues of some sort - I'm not sure how these differ from the original Bo-Jack that was produced in the 70's........you should check eBay if you want some of the really old ones.

It is a good idea to always keep some Devcon II handy.....with a little practice you can coat any fragile lure you have with it, and touch up wooden cranks that have finish cracks (or whatever). BTW...you can get it at Wal-Mart.

Most productive would have to be a 1/4 oz. single willow spinnerbait, and a homemade 5/16 oz. Eakin's-style jig (covering the broadest range of conditions). My favorite bait to fish, however, would have to be a buzzbait. My overall favorite baits to fish are crankbaits, though. They also tend to catch very good quality fish - - and I just dig fishing them whenever possible. But if somebody told me I would win (x) prize if I could catch a bass in the next 5 minutes......hands down, no doubt I would tie on a Norman's Crappie Crankbait as fast as I could. It catches Spots, LM, and SM equally well and ALWAYS gets bites (you might be surprised at the quality of the bites, too....)

D-Baits Jackall (some models) H&T Balsa BeeZee Zoom WEC (I've gotten some crooked lips from them, but some models are killin!) There's many, many more (Brian's Bees, BlackJack, On-The-Line, WooDream (haven't used...still trying to track one down somewhere), Carolina Chips, Catching Concepts, etc.etc.etc.) I've actually been trying to get away from Balsa and wooden baits in general just because of the fragility. You always have to keep Balsa sealed or they will absorb water. I personally think the most underutilized crankbait material is FOAM - - and I'm pretty sure the only reason more people don't use it is because it doesn't have the marketing mojo of "Balsa."

That was my experience with them.....compared to a Spot, they aren't lively at all, and require a lot of speed to get any movement.

I like the Original Floaters.....none of the others I care for very much. Out of about 25 different lipless cranks I've had experience fishing with, Rapala's version is about my LEAST favorite. YMMV as usual.

Needemp brought up some good points. Hook size has a BIG impact on how a crank acts.....so keep an open mind about it. There are some baits I intentionally change the hooks on before I even hit the water with them......one is the Storm Lightning Shad. The hooks that come on it are a detriment to the action, and the bait is far more lively if you'll drop a size and use a good light, fine wire treble. I have some lipless baits that I take the trebles off of and put a single on the back......I can get them to act almost like a jerkbait because of the hook change. I normally don't ever go bigger than what comes on the lure, unless they're just inordinately small......going bigger almost always deadens the action of the crank somewhat.

I've never been able to fish Rapala Shad Raps in cover.....I don't know if it's the way they deflect or what, but I just don't get along with them around that stuff.

I assume you mean shallow cover.......in that case: Lucky Craft RC series, and in dirty water, the BDS series.....my first choices....my Bagleys are collecting dust thanks to these cranks. The Bandit suggestions are also good, but they only make little cranks.....the 100 seems to be a real fish catcher......on that note, however....if you're fishing some nasty cover around the 10' range, the 400 series Bandit is an excellent choice. It is basically a plastic Bagley DB3.....slightly shorter tail and a few differences, but the action is extremely similar.....and I actually believe I prefer the Bandit much of the time. Flatsided cranks require a little more finesse around brush, but they can kill at times......especially in clear water. On the higher end of the scale, the Lucky Craft Flat CB SR (1' diver) and the O.S.P. HPF (~3') work fantastic......and for much less dough, you can pick up a Bomber Flat A, and they will just about hang with the best of them. Also the Lee Sisson Shallow Slim Willie......the widest kicking shallow flatside I've ever used.

I agree on the Wobblers......it was a very different action than I was expecting. Somewhat like the RC's, but maybe a little tighter and "quicker."