The whole hunting action of a crank bait is nothing more than a term KVD used and people now use it in the same way.....believe it or not but square bills have been around a lot longer than KVD has been hawking the SK square bills.

 

 

You and I tend to agree very often but this one I am not in agreement. A crankbait that hunts kicks out at random and its that kick that makes or breaks it. Not all cranks kick out and return.

Do the the KVD squarebils even hunt?  I've a had a few and none of them wold hunt.  I assumed it was KVD marketing hype like invisible fluorocarbon.

 

Hunting action has been put up on this sky high pedestal.  I just made a waddle bat out of a beat up on Bagleys Balsa B.  Hopefully I'll have something that has that classic hunting action.         

KVD uses the term as do other pros.  I believe Rick Clunn started using the term first.  Most of your balsa or cedar bait have a better chance at "hunting"  Plastic ones do "hunt" they are harder to come by.

 

We do our hardest to get our cranks to bang off of cover or structure for that reaction bite.  A "hunting" crank to me is one that is running true and then kicks left or right for no reason.  Almost like it hit an invisible stump or rock.  I have purchased 2 or 3 of the same crank when they are on sale.  There have been times only one of them will catch fish no matter when I tie it on.  The other 2 haul water and have never caught anything.  

7 years later and I have to say I really like that the CRR-5 . I only have two so the hunt is on for a couple more . 

My favorite is the old Bagley Balsa B 2.  I have a few left, but don't fish them much at my local lake because there are to many abandoned gill nets to snag.  With the right touch, a balsa square bill can be worked through unbelievably thick cover, but are no match for a ball of gill net hung in underwater tree branches.

     For economic reasons I use a lot of Academy sports H20 squarebills.  I prefer them over many brands of crankbaits regardless of cost.  My problem with Academy is they don't ship to CA.  Most of my gear is brought down by a friend that lives in CA and has another home here in PV.  My only chance to get Academy baits is when I go to the states myself.  I even had a large order sent all the way to a friends house in Alaska, and I picked them up there, and brought them down to PV in my luggage.  Sounds expensive, but the shipping was free, and I had to go to Alaska for work anyway.  

    This year I got hooked on 6th. Sense square bills  I love the hooks, and the mini mag size has caught me two over 10, and dozens over 6 pounds.  I have also landed many fish on all of their other sizes.  It does hurt the pocket book, when I loose one but I never think about the cost when I'm on the water.