I'm putting together my "Swiss army knife" bag - a little bit of everything I might need for any situation. I don't get a lot of opportunities to fish these days, so I gotta' be prepared to go wherever, whenever.

 

That being said, I'm keeping it fairly minimal since I will be bank fishing 99% of the time. Sometimes river, sometimes small pond, but always from the bank.

 

My question is this - are mod-depth cranks really necessary for bank fishing? I have several in the box right now, but I'm wondering if their slots would be better used for more squarebills or bladed jigs. My concern is I don't have a lot of open water where I'll be able to get a crank down to 10ft or so without getting hung up constantly.

 

Thoughts? Thanks.

Lipless cranks are the only thing I carry when bank fishing. Were always fishing up hill, swim jigs, spinnerbaits are better options for me.

What is "mod-depth"?

 

Mid-Depth? Moderate depth?  How deep is the water you're fishing?  What's the structure like?

I consider "mod" (or "mid") depth cranks to be in the 8-12' range. As for depth and structure, that can vary. This bag is built for versatility.

Okay, that explains it better.  My general rule is no one "8-12'" diver does it all.  I like to have a few bait styles that overlap in both depth, and behavior.  This would include baits that might a bit overrated for depth, but good diggers for kicking up a commotion. A DT-16 comes to mind.  Others might be better at deflecting off rocky bottom.  Coffin bills were made for this, as well as wood.  For dealing with cover, you want a bait that backs out well.  Lucky Craft has a myriad of possibilities, and any of the their floating cranks back up and rise on the pause.  I don't like to get into brands too much, but those are some examples I use and know.  Often, NONE of these characteristics that we as fisherman care about are part of the marketing information, so you generally have to check them out on the water, and decide what baits work the way you want them to.

I appreciate to feedback, but I guess I was more concerned with whether or not mods are necessary at all when fishing from the bank. For instance, say I'm fishing a riverbank with lots of snags and heavy current. Would a crank even be the best choice, or would a jig be a better option? Or a small pond - am I really going to be able to take advantage of that diving depth from the bank anyway?

I find I normally don't target fish deeper than 6 feet with a crankbait from shore. Besides a square bill and lipless, I usually have a bandit 200 and a smallish fat free shad. I fish them on 40 braid and a 15 lb BG leader cause I don't leave lures behind. Unless the body gets wedged hard under a rock or big wood, I'm getting it back, and after bending back the hook I'm back to fishing. I keep a 3600 box and a couple of plastic bags for each of the places I hit regularly, and a "never fished there before" selection consisting of a few more things. 

The only 2 cranks I throw from shore are lipless and square bills.  Anything else is just asking to snag.  Just my opinion

If you don't feed the lake gods, you'll never get bit!

27 minutes ago, J Francho said:

If you don't feed the lake gods, you'll never get bit!

 

 

Agreed but you don't have to give them a banquet!

 

 

7 hours ago, Jaderose said:

 

 

Agreed but you don't have to give them a banquet!

 

 

Hahaha

That range is a deep diver around here, but I fish those baits from the bank. A bait grinding into the rocks is a great way to get a reaction strike. You just have to pay attention to what you bait is doing to work it through snags before they happen. I keep it cheap with baits like Bomber's and Bandits so if I lose one it doesn't hurt so bad.