Fish the Mitt Posted March 5, 2017 Share Posted March 5, 2017 Hello all! I hope you all enjoyed your winters. I know this is my first trip back to BR since fall and I'm itching to get fishin! With that said, I am in the market for a dedicated crankbait rod. I run mostly squarebills but will on occassion run something 15ft. Never below that due to the water I fish. My hangup is determining if graphite, composite/blend, or glass is the best choice. I have been looking at the following blanks: MHX-CCB865 MHX-CB843 Or perhaps I can just stick to a cheaper Veritas 2.0 Winch for the purposes I'm looking for? I don't know. So many choices and I'm not sure where to look to narrow down my choices. Any info is welcomed!!! Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
papajoe222 Posted March 5, 2017 Share Posted March 5, 2017 I built a rod with the CB843 blank and to me, it lacks the sensitivity I like for cranking deeper than 12ft. I fish a lot of cover with cranks and I like to know when my line is being drawn over a limb, or when my crank just starts ticking the tops of a weed bed. With shallower cranks I don't concern myself with the latter because I know exactly how deep those baits run. What are you using now? Are you satisfied with the sensitivity and if so, what is the material the blank is comprised of? Does that same company offer a 'cranking stick'? Some guys swear by glass, some composite and some graphite. Knowing what you prefer will make your decision a lot easier and your ultimate choice a lot more enjoyable to fish with. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rangerjockey Posted March 5, 2017 Share Posted March 5, 2017 I have a Kissel Krafts built on the MHX CB843 blend. Wendy at KK tells me it originally belonged to Matt Arey when he was sponsored by them. In any case, its a great 1.5 and wiggle wart rod. I also throw deep little N's on it as well. It casts a 3/8 oz. bait great. I own a bunch of crank sticks and I like it as well as any. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User roadwarrior Posted March 5, 2017 Super User Share Posted March 5, 2017 https://www.bassresource.com/fishing_lures/perfecta-lte.html 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User Fishes in trees Posted March 5, 2017 Super User Share Posted March 5, 2017 Years ago I bought a 7'4" BPS Extreme "Woo Davis Special" casting rod, after seeing him at a seminar in Springfield. He was promoting it as his pitching rod. BPS rated it as Med/Hvy. Didn't work for me - too "tippy" - back bone in the rod seemed off, didn't really like the handle (and at the time I thought I could reason myself into liking the handle, an early split grip model". Rod set on the bench for a couple of years. Then I thought "what the hell" and tried it for reaction baits. Not a good spinner bait rod, but it worked GREAT for square bills and med. divers, like wiggle warts. The tippy rod would throw a half ounce Timber Tiger DC8 where ever and as far as I wanted on 17 lb mono. Swap out reels to 10 lb mono and I could throw a wiggle wart or something similar far enough. I resolved the handle issue with 2 rolls of tennis racquet tape and made the handle fit my hand. The point of this story is that since BPS is closing out the Extreme series, you might be able to find one cheap. I know 6 years ago I was in BPS and they were marked down to $70 and I bought 3 more of them. A buddy of mine who is just as into gear as I am currently uses a 6'6" Lightning Rod Shock that he got on close out at Walmart as his primary wiggle wart rod. Point is that you don't have to spend a lot of money for a decent square bill/med diver rod. Not a big fan of the graphite/glass composites. I have a older Diawa crank stick that has set on the bench for a while - a buddy of mine kinda wants it because it matches several of his other rods (the old Diawa deer foot handle). Every time we get close to an agreement he waffles. I want his bac rac even up in a trade - maybe this year if I get him drunk enough. . . . 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish the Mitt Posted March 5, 2017 Author Share Posted March 5, 2017 15 hours ago, papajoe222 said: I built a rod with the CB843 blank and to me, it lacks the sensitivity I like for cranking deeper than 12ft. I fish a lot of cover with cranks and I like to know when my line is being drawn over a limb, or when my crank just starts ticking the tops of a weed bed. With shallower cranks I don't concern myself with the latter because I know exactly how deep those baits run. What are you using now? Are you satisfied with the sensitivity and if so, what is the material the blank is comprised of? Does that same company offer a 'cranking stick'? Some guys swear by glass, some composite and some graphite. Knowing what you prefer will make your decision a lot easier and your ultimate choice a lot more enjoyable to fish with. I do not have a dedicated rod for cranking. I kind of throw my cranks on whatever is near me (within reason [ie: my MH-XF is not going to be used for crankbaits]). I usually throw them on my GX2 662-M spinning outfit. GX2's are a composite blank and I actually like the sensitivty of it when throwing crankbaits. However, it is a spinning rod and the action is a tad stiff. Perhaps I should just get a GX2 casting rod with a softer tip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User iceintheveins Posted March 6, 2017 Super User Share Posted March 6, 2017 A 7' M BPS Crankin Stick, 7' M Veritas Winch, or if you want a pure glass rod and are willing to spend a bit extra, the Mojo Glass from St. Croix or Phenix Blue or Red Cranking series are great. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustinJ Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 I use a Fenwick hmg medium moderate fast 7'2" for all of my shallow cranking needs. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silas Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 I feel the Dobyns Champion 704CB GLASS is beyond compare as a dedicated cranking rod. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsh32 Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 On 3/5/2017 at 8:27 PM, iceintheveins said: A 7' M BPS Crankin Stick, 7' M Veritas Winch, or if you want a pure glass rod and are willing to spend a bit extra, the Mojo Glass from St. Croix or Phenix Blue or Red Cranking series are great. I have the Phenix blue cranking rod and I can throw 1.5s as far as ill ever want to and the sensitivity of that rod is outstanding, love the look of it, but the one thing I don't like about it is the weight. While Im using the rod I don't notice how heavy it is but the second I put it down and pick up a different rod, it feels like Im holding 7 foot feather. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User fishnkamp Posted March 7, 2017 Super User Share Posted March 7, 2017 The Dobyns is very nice. My other suggestion is to go look at Irod Genesis II 703CC, it is called the Gabe's Rip Rap Special. It is a graphite glass composite and it is really nice for traps, square bills and small to mid sized cranks. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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