I'm somewhat new to bass fishing. I've fished my whole life and collecting lures has been an obsession for a while now but I never really payed attention to the details of my crank baits. Basically I'm just wondering if there is a way for me to tell the intended depth on my crank baits without looking at the box? How do I know if they are deep diving? Shallow? Etc..

Bigger bill generally the deeper diver... I reccomend that every time you open a new crank you get a sharpee and write the depth range on the bottom of the crank.

If you know what they are you can generally look up the information on how deep they're supposed to dive online as well. 

I label my boxes. 4 to 6,6 to 10,10 to 16 and so on.

There really is no way to tell just by looking and even if you keep them in their original box, the running depth is dependent on a number of variables.  A general rule is the longer or wider the lip, the deeper it will run, but the angle of the lip and the placement of the line tie also factor in.

You can do a search here for ways to find out the exact running depth of a crank, but I don't believe that's what you're trying to find out.

Crankbait depth really isn't an exact science.  Try to remember how deep you got bait X last time and under what circumstances ( rod & reel, line test, etc.)  Over time you will build up a body of knowledge about how deep you can get each crank.

 

I don't know about other brands, but the depth listed on all the different species of Timber Tigers are based on 10 lb mono.  A phone call to the different bait builders might help as to finding out how them calculate their depth numbers.  Many bait builders recognize that the TRUTH is a precious commodity and they don't waste it, especially where reporting an accurate running depth of their lures is concerned.

 

Basically, you fish cranks enough and over time you will figure out roughly how deep you can get any crank in any given situation.  good luck