Bomber Model A's are some of the least expensive baits . They are one of my favorites. The new Flat A's have a weight transfer system . I havent used one of those but the old ones are good.

@PhishLI Is the TW description accurate about 15 lb line and only running to 2'? I have a couple other squarebills that I fish like wakes over not quite topped out grass but they are a little bigger than I want. That bill lowen is the perfect size if I can keep it to 18" or so on some floaty mono.

I have a bunch of crank baits which ride around in the boat. When I decide to crank usually a Wart or Bandit 300 gets tied on. You can use any rod and reel combination that will cast your specific bait but some are definitely better than others. I have 4 double duty rods that I use for cranking, two of them are custom shaky 7.5’ rods and two are 7.5’ and 6’8” Ark rods. All are rated medium.

2 hours ago, casts_by_fly said:

@PhishLI Is the TW description accurate about 15 lb line and only running to 2'?

Yup.

If you haven't already, read the 'rare insight' thread pinned towards the top of this sub-forum.

42 minutes ago, Choporoz said:

If you haven't already, read the 'rare insight' thread pinned towards the top of this sub-forum.

I have not. I will give it a look

In general I like crankbaits that are 1/2oz or above as I tend to generally do better with them on casting setups, and if you are just getting into them I'd start with a 'standard' crankbait rod which will be good for throwing squarebills and medium divers. I throw squarebills from the bank a lot of the time and so I like ones that I can get a lot of casting distance with. You should also be able to throw the medium divers I'll mention on a standard crankbait rod. That said here are a few of the ones I currently like (and it's taken me a fair amount of effort to get down to this list):

Squarebills

Evergreen SH-3

Duo Realis M62 5A

6th Sense Crush 100x (this one looks like it might be discontinued but if you can find any it's a good one)

Medium Divers

6th Sense Cloud 9 C10

6th Sense Crush 250 MD

Evergreen CR 10

Duo Realis M65 11A

Some of these are JDM and so they are a bit expensive but I'd argue you get what you pay for and you can also find them on sale if you are patient.

When I got into serious bass fishing last year, I knew right away squarebills would be something I’d be interested in. I agree with @Swimbaitstud , keep it simple and confident.

I got a few KVD 1.0 and a handful of 1.5’s in mostly shad and craw patterns. A few rattle, most don’t. I’ve got a 7’ MM rod with 12lb flouro on a 6.2:1 reel and it feels right which is truly what matters for you in fishing. This is my second season and I’m itching to fish more ways this year and much earlier!

A few years ago I made a decision to learn hard baits. My plan was to fish only hard baits, no plastic, no Texas rigging, just hard bodied lures, for one whole season.

I picked out a rig from my hodgepodge collection of combos. Got on eBay, and Bass Pro, got me inexpensive lures, started my crank bait adventure..

Man did I have a lot of fishless days…. I mean my knuckles would be thumping the dock boards and my head hung low, when I got home.

Things were looking grim for me that season. Then, something clicked, and I started catching fish.

To be honest I just was trying to stay true to my commitment and make it through the season, and fish soft plastics again.

I think I was putting too much thought and effort into what I was fishing with,…. rod, reel, line, color, even type bait.

I switched to figuring out how to fish with what I had and not what I was fishing with. If that makes sense.

It was how I worked the rod, not what reel was on it.

Square bills snag way less than I thought they would, fish closer around cover.

Trying different retrieves, long sweeps, short, pause, fast, slow, even stopping and let it float to the surface worked too.

Sorry this is long, but seemed like a long season.

27 minutes ago, GRiver said:

A few years ago I made a decision to learn hard baits. My plan was to fish only hard baits, no plastic, no Texas rigging, just hard bodied lures, for one whole season.

I picked out a rig from my hodgepodge collection of combos. Got on eBay, and Bass Pro, got me inexpensive lures, started my crank bait adventure..

Man did I have a lot of fishless days…. I mean my knuckles would be thumping the dock boards and my head hung low, when I got home.

Things were looking grim for me that season. Then, something clicked, and I started catching fish.

To be honest I just was trying to stay true to my commitment and make it through the season, and fish soft plastics again.

I think I was putting too much thought and effort into what I was fishing with,…. rod, reel, line, color, even type bait.

I switched to figuring out how to fish with what I had and not what I was fishing with. If that makes sense.

It was how I worked the rod, not what reel was on it.

Square bills snag way less than I thought they would, fish closer around cover.

Trying different retrieves, long sweeps, short, pause, fast, slow, even stopping and let it float to the surface worked too.

Sorry this is long, but seemed like a long season.

Thanks so much! The detail was great and excellent points. Boosted my confidence for sure. That’s what I did with the jig last year.

You got all the good advice, the only thing I would add is, for cranking mid to deep a longer rod is really better. Longer casts = in the strike zone longer.

With that being said, if you want to crank to 10 feet, I like to use a crank that will hit 12-15 so I can quickly get it down to my depth and start hitting bottom.

If your looking for a small but castable crank that will dive to 8 foot the Dredger 8.5 fits the bill. The 10.5 will get you a couple of feet deeper. They might be discontinued. Check the Berkely site , they were on sale.

Just checked the Berkely site. All they have are some 8.5's for "get this" $3.30.

27 minutes ago, scaleface said:

If your looking for a small but castable crank that will dive to 8 foot the Dredger 8.5 fits the bill. The 10.5 will get you a couple of feet deeper. They might be discontinued. Check the Berkely site , they were on sale.

Just checked the Berkely site. All they have are some 8.5's for "get this" $3.30.

Another head scratcher. I know so many people who love this bait and consider it one of the best bang for the buck cranks.

16 minutes ago, johnnybassjr said:

Another head scratcher. I know so many people who love this bait and consider it one of the best bang for the buck cranks.

I have 27 of them.