hey everyone I am looking to buy some crankbaits to fish with this winter so what are some good brands and colors that are not too awfully expensive thanks

Personally I like Strike King and Storm baits. They are not expensive, and catch lots of fish. Stock hooks are decent on some, terrible on others, but they are cheap enough that even with swapping out the hooks with better stuff they are not going to break the bank. If I had to make up a "starter" or "bare essentials" cranking kit it would look like this:

 

Shallow: Strike King KVD squarebills

 

Lipless: Strike King Red Eye Shad

 

Mid depth: Storm Wiggle Warts

 

Deep: Strike King 5xd

 

I keep color selection simple. Crawfish, bluegill, perch, and Shad colors.

Strike King KVD squarebill 1.5 are my favorite shallow diving crank bait. Also Livingston makes some good ones too (they make my two favorite patterns)

KVD's.  Tons of colors and sizes and styles.

 

If you want to spend a little more money, then bombers.

Bill Norman makes some quality baits. Shallow to deep runners, even suspending models, all at very reasonable prices and they come with decent hooks too.

KVDs, Bandits, H2Os, Peanuts, Fat free shads, all cheap and catch fish.

Bill Norman makes some quality baits. Shallow to deep runners, even suspending models, all at very reasonable prices and they come with decent hooks too.

Yelp

Shallow- river2sea biggie

Deep-Norman dd22

Since most of these crankbaits are floaters you can adjust your reel speed to control

What depth they run at. You can use them topwater with a snappy twitch.

 

The bombers are still affordable. I try to keep my prices on cranks around $5 + or -.

 

1. Bomber model A.  I use the 4' depth,  6' depth. Slow reel or twitch it.

These can be found a brannans bass shop, Texas.online.

 

A.  Redapplecraw 

B.  Baby bass orange bottom

C.  Dark Brown craw

D.  Silver shad

E.   Firetiger

F.   Dark Greencraw

G.  Fire craw

H. Citrus

I.  Baby bass orange bottom, no lateral line more green

 

2. Bomber shallow A squarebill slow reel.

 

What colors you can find.

 

3. Bomber FAT A slow reel, 1,2,3 pause n twitch

 

What colors you can find there discontinued but still a hot crank.

 

4. Rapala orginal floating minnow slow reel it, or add a rip n pause or twitch it.

 

A. Blue 07

B. Black 07

 

5. Mann's baby 1 minus slow reel it.

 

A. Brown Crawdad

 

6. Norman thin "N"  cast it out, let it float n twitch it. Or slow reel it. Use the chartreuse killer at dusk.

 

A. Chartreuse Killer

B. Redear

C. Bluegill

D. Violet

E. White

 

7. Norman FAT BOY

 

A.  Same colors as above. If you search the net one place has these on sale/ clearance with the thin n. But some colors maybe limited.

 

Don't forget the yum shad and crawfish scent.

So far all have been excellent responses. Just to add, the Rapala DT series of cranks have served me very well. The Academy Sports in my area have most marked down to less than 3 bucks a piece.

Strike King, Bandit, and H20 cranks make up almost all my cheaper cranks. I have a lot of LC squarebills also but obviously don't qualify as a "cheap" bait, at least not in the sense that most people define it. 

Shallow: kvd squarebills. Lipless: cotton cordell super spot(make sure you change the hooks). Medium: strike king series 5, bomber deep square lip( the smaller one), deep: strike king 6xd.

I like and use Norman, Xcalibur, Spro, Lucky Craft, Duo, and a few Rapala.

If you are looking to stay around $6.00 or less, Strike King especially KVD line, Norman, Bandit all make good cranks.

BPS and Academy have some good baits as well. Alot of times you can get some of the more expensive baits on E-Bay for bargain pricing. usually have to be in the right place at the right time. Xcaliburs are a tad more but a good bargain IMO.

 It is hard to beat a kvd rattleless squarebill. I use the 1.5s and the 2.5s. If you are looking for bigger fish then use the 2.5. I also am a big fan of the live target crankbaits. They are more expensive but they are worth every penny. I have caught a bunch of 7 plus pounders on them as well as smallies up to 4 lbs.

Rapala:  Shad Rap, Shallow Shad Rap, Flat Rap, DT Series, Rattlin Rap, Husky Jerks

Rebel:  Pop-R, Craws, Frogs, Hoppers

Strike King:  1.5s, 2.5s

Bill Lewis: Rat-l-trap

Berkley: Flickr Shad

River 2 Sea:  Anything they make

Smithwick:  Rattling Rogue/Suspending/floating

Bomber, Xcalibur, Bandit. Rapala are my favorites. Won't break the bank and most, especially the xcaliburs run great out of the box with some good hooks too.