Right now I’m using a Tatula 7’ Medium Regular. It was designed for shallow cranking but I have thrown up to DT12s without much trouble.

At what point do I need to consider a longer rod to facilitate keeping deeper diving Crankbaits in the strike zone? How long should it be?

Looking to get 15ft and deeper.

I use a 7'3". You might go 7'6" if you fish from a boat.

7 minutes ago, DogBone_384 said:

I use a 7'3". You might go 7'6" if you fish from a boat.

I use 7'6" from shore. Obviously I stay away from trees and high weeds. 😁

OP, I see the Tatula Elite Glass Crankbait rod comes in an 8' MHR. Should get decent distance with that. 😜

EDIT: OP, I have that rod and the 7' MLR and 7'2" MHR in the OG Tatula series. Excellent rods. Especially considering I paid less than $100 for mine.

I use a 7'3" Jacob Wheeler (the old version) in a M/H. It's extremely parabolic which, it turns out, is not only helpful in keeping a fish pinned with trebles, but it's also spectacular for rolling deep cranks on the bottom. I found that I can bounce cranks in deep water at a MUCH slower pace (when I want to) because the rod is such an "absorber". I actually have a heavy version that I've used for my largest deep cranks (and huge spinner baits).

The longer the better. 7’-6” to 8’. A 1-3 oz swim bait rod works really well if you already have one in either moderate fast or moderate action. One rod serves a duel purpose.

I use a Daiwa Rebellion (7', Heavy/Moderate) and an iROD Kaimana Coastal (7'6", Heavy/Moderate) for deep cranking (both are spinning rods - I know that goes against the grain -- most people use bait casters for deep cranking, but it works for me)

Much of it has to do with the weight of the bait. A DT12 isn’t that heavy. My deep cranking rods are both 7-6 with a Dobyns Champion 764CB for baits up to 3/4 ounce. I tried the 805CB and the 7-6 Alpha Anglers Mag Rebound, a glass rod and settled on the Mag Rebound. My heaviest bait is 1-1/4 ounces. You can find several rods of similar lengths, powers and actions out there.

7'11 MH rod, Daiwa Catalina reel with 4.9 gear ratio, 12# Tatsu fluorocarbon.

When it comes to getting cranks down deep, I don't really think of rod length as one of the factors, unless it effects casting distance but the cranking rods I use are all less than 7'4" and they can sling a bait a long way. The longest casting crankbait rod I have is the St. Croix Legend Glass 7'2" Med Mod.

For me, depending on the depth where the bait is landing, I want a crankbait with a fast diving startup but it also needs to be somewhat of a high float, like the Megabass Deep Six, OSP EX DR or the Strike King 6 XD.

Next, and probably the most important, is line. I use 10lb or 12lb Fluorocarbon. It gets the bait down deep where I want it and it doesn't tend to get beat up as much especially banging around the bottom.

I use a 7'6"longer the better. Longer the cast the deeper it will go. Lighter line also. I typically use 12. Some of my deep cranking I can push 20ft deep.

Swimbait rod all day! Big long handle for leverage. It’s perfect

I use a 7'5". I think the 7'4" to 7"6" range is great for this technique.

I use a 7-10 MH moderate fast bps black technique specific deep cranking rod

.its awesome. Casts far and keeps fish pinned well.

I think the single greatest thing you could do is utilize crankbaits with a weight system within them that increases casting distance. Something the DT series does not utilize, but say an Evergreen CR series crankbait would have...

Increasing the length of your rod, while it may have other advantages like increased line control and more cushion to keep the trebles pinned, etc... won't really have an impact on the overall diving depth like increasing your casting distance would do...

I fish a 7'5" Javelin, by MegaBass, but at the end of the day, I can't cast any further with that rod than I can a 7' rod, not enough to make a significant difference in diving depth and length of time bait is in the strike zone anyway...

This is assuming that both rods, regardless of length are similar types of tapers...

On 1/19/2026 at 10:50 AM, jitterbug127 said:

Swimbait rod all day! Big long handle for leverage. It’s perfect

I have never truly understood the whole extra long rear handles on swimbait rods or Muskie rods...

If you need all that handle to cast a lure that weighs several ounces at extreme distances, there is something wrong with the user and in the end, all that handle does is get in the way of a lot of things...

I use an IMX Pro Blue 7’heavy and it covers nearly all cranking requirements. Nearly. For my 1 1/2 ounce baits I’m using an Evergreen Super Combat Stick. It’s rated to 2 ounces and is a bomb caster when loaded up, but it’s also excellent at 1/2 ounces. 7’3” and it’s all I need on pretty much any TVA lake. Word of warning, the Carbon handle is slick and I’m searching for a solution to that but at this time I have none.

I don't crank much but my "crank rod" is a Champion 764 (so Medium power 7'6). I tend to like longer rods anyways but that's what I use for things under an ounce. If I was going to make a true deep cranking setup for that 12-25 foot class of baits that get over an ounce I might even consider something like the iRod cranking rods they make in that 7'9-7'11 range. Something you can absolutely bomb baits with. The closest thing I currently do is fish crankdown swimbaits in that 2oz range with a 7'9" Dobyns Fury. It' a bit too heavy for a true crank rod but that thing can still LAUNCH a bait a good 70 yards if it's aerodynamic enough.

Just one more "food for thought" type of input...

I don't fish any crankbaits that dive deeper than 15' anymore despite having messed around with them a fair bit, for that, I prefer to use a wobblehead rig with a soft plastic crayfish or the like, you can fish depths to 20'+ easily with a 3/8 ounce wobble head, worm hook and soft plastic craw... To me it's a more pleasant and effective manner to fish the depths than the ultra deep diving crankbaits. You can let the bait sink to the bottom on a slack line and then about 95% of the distance of your cast, the bait is in the strike zone on the retrieve, where as best case scenario with a deep diving crankbait in deep water, the bait is in the strike zone, maybe 75% of the retrieve, if you are lucky. I fish them the same way I do a crankbait, just a slow retrieve, ticking bottom, much faster presentation than say dragging a football jig... Most of my fisheries are Goby or Crayfish type fisheries, not suspended Shad so this seems to be a more logical approach for my waters. If I am fishing suspended bait, I use jerkbaits, spinnerbaits or keitechs. Where as many guys may opt to drop-shot, etc... to cover the deep stuff I really just don't enjoy fishing vertically and I enjoy using baitcasters more than spinning gear for everything but jerkbaits, smaller Keitechs and topwater poppers. If the wobblehead is too fast, fish a football jig, tube or whatnot...

I fish and love rock crawlers, DT12, the Evergreen CR 13, etc... but anything deeper, I have largely ceased from using crankbaits...

YMMV

5 hours ago, Peninsular said:

I have never truly understood the whole extra long rear handles on swimbait rods or Muskie rods...

If you need all that handle to cast a lure that weighs several ounces at extreme distances, there is something wrong with the user and in the end, all that handle does is get in the way of a lot of things...

Have you ever cast a 4+ oz lure on a swimbait rod? How about a 12+ oz lure? The answer is pretty self explanatory once you do it. It would absolutely suck casting baits this big without a nice long handle.

Just now, Rockhopper said:

Have you ever casted a 4+ oz lure on a swimbait rod? The answer is pretty self explanatory once you do it. It would absolutely suck casting baits this big without a nice long handle.

Yeah, many times, the handles are completely unnecessary.

I feel the same way about baits two and three times that weight one would throw for Muskies. Not saying I would want them as short as say a sub 7' jerkbait rod, but most of the handles on those swimbait and Muskie rods are ridiculous, they stick many many inches out the backside of your armpit while fishing, vastly reduce your ability to effectively work the bait, etc...

It's a 4 ounce bait, you can lightly sidearm them "basically an underhanded sidearm lob with both hands" a mile and in not hucking them overhead with a hard pull on the bottom hand as those long handles are designed for, you use a lot less energy and are much more accurate, less likely to get fatigued too.

I have an 8 footer for deep cranks. Doybns Champion.

The farther you can cast the deeper they go.

4 hours ago, Peninsular said:

Yeah, many times, the handles are completely unnecessary.

I feel the same way about baits two and three times that weight one would throw for Muskies. Not saying I would want them as short as say a sub 7' jerkbait rod, but most of the handles on those swimbait and Muskie rods are ridiculous, they stick many many inches out the backside of your armpit while fishing, vastly reduce your ability to effectively work the bait, etc...

It's a 4 ounce bait, you can lightly sidearm them "basically an underhanded sidearm lob with both hands" a mile and in not hucking them overhead with a hard pull on the bottom hand as those long handles are designed for, you use a lot less energy and are much more accurate, less likely to get fatigued too.

I couldn't disagree more. And many swimbait anglers and rod manufacturers as well as the rods are obviously designed that way for a reason. Lob casting is one casting technique, yes. Probably the least used casting technique for swimbait anglers. Long handled SB rods are purpose built and designed for long open water casting. Short handled SB rods (yes they exist) are purpose built for close quarter casting techniques. Always choose the right tool for the job. Can you do it with another tool? Absolutely. Is it easier with a purpose built tool? 100%.

You are basically saying the entire swimbait industry is wrong in how purpose built swimbait rods are made. If the "handles are completely unnecessary" they wouldn't be built that way to begin with.

I don't deep crank much any more. When I do, I tend to use a mh/f 7'-0" rod. I think the longer, heavier rod helps with the resistance while bringing in the bait.

51 minutes ago, Rockhopper said:

I couldn't disagree more. And many swimbait anglers and rod manufacturers as well as the rods are obviously designed that way for a reason. Lob casting is one casting technique, yes. Probably the least used casting technique for swimbait anglers. Long handled SB rods are purpose built and designed for long open water casting. Short handled SB rods (yes they exist) are purpose built for close quarter casting techniques. Always choose the right tool for the job. Can you do it with another tool? Absolutely. Is it easier with a purpose built tool? 100%.

You are basically saying the entire swimbait industry is wrong in how purpose built swimbait rods are made. If the "handles are completely unnecessary" they wouldn't be built that way to begin with.

I am saying that I disagree with the manner in which many of these types of rods are made, yes. Some of them are 18" or longer in the rear grip, it's excessive, even if you are bombing overhead long distance. It's even worse when it's designed to be stuffed under your arm as described, but they have a split grip so the bare blank section digs into your rib cage...

If you are happy, I am happy, just my experiences, prefer the rear grip on the short end of the swimbait or muskie rod spectrum...

My deep cranking rod is 7'3" MH/MF paired with a Daiwa Fuego with 5.9:1 gears. I added a110mm handle and although I don't do much deep cranking anymore, I use it for 6-8in. paddle tail swimbaits.

Unless you plan on doing a lot of summertime deep cranking, you can stick with baits like a DD22 and a good cranking stick will suffice.

I cranked last year on the Dobyns xp746cb and kd735cb. This year for the bigger/deeper stuff I picked up an xp 805cb and 806cb. I’d like to get better with the 8 and 10xd for that 17-23’ range