With the extended drought and low water down here, the water in a lot of the lakes and rivers I fish have dirty water. Not muddy, just dirty. 1-1.5’ visibility dirty.

And the bass have moved out to deeper water as there isn’t a lot of water along the banks anymore.

Looking for brands and colors of crank baits that’ll run 5-8’ deep. I’m guessing having some type of rattles will help.

What sort of structure are you fishing on the bottom

1.5 feet of clarity is a lot more than you’d think. I’d just stick to natural colors. Probably something similar to what they eat.

I’d worry less about a bunch of different brands or types of crankbaits and pick one you like and get a bunch of different sizes and diving depths and if the brand allows for it - some silent and some noisy variations.

An excellent line of crankbaits that gets bit and features silent and clicking variations and lots of sizes is the Berkeley Frittside line. They work great. Similar price point and perks - the Rapala DT line is awesome.

For less money the Bandit 100/200/300 stuff is awesome and Bomber also makes some really good crankbaits for not much money. Can’t go wrong with Cordell Big O variations for 4-6 foot and they have lots of sizes.

For me - in general - crankbaits are more about how active the fish are. Unless I'm burning squarebills through wood and then you can do that anytime - that’s just a reaction bite and anything will work.

It’s awesome when the bluegill are spawning and you can just burn something over their beds and get smoked! Crankbaits are awesome when the bass are active around those areas.

SK 4.0 and 8.0 works well in dingy water and wood cover.

I use my trusty DeepWee R's , Bomber Model A's and Norman Deep Little N's.

55 minutes ago, Jerkbait22 said:

What sort of structure are you fishing on the bottom

Wood and some shell bars.

The dt-6 is Florida staple for that depth range, it's got a subtle rattle. Although in the conditions you describe I'd probably go straight to a trap.

Walleye cranks are always bright. I'm a big fan of wonder bread.

3 hours ago, Bass Rutten said:

The dt-6 is Florida staple for that depth range, it's got a subtle rattle. Although in the conditions you describe I'd probably go straight to a trap.

Traps won’t work in wood, only on the shell beds.

Try gold or copper willow spinnerbaits. Half ounce, hit the wood.

In those conditions I like a plain old Strike King #4 or Bandit 300.

I would try a Deps evoke 3.0. Gets about 6-7 feet on a long cast. They come through wood great. Probably a lot of other options you can throw for the shell beds.

I pretty much use natural colors, regardless of water clarity. I generally only use chartreuse or similar colors in clear water, but on super bright days. Doesn’t necessarily mean I’m right, that’s what I do though.

Bandits and Rebel Deep Wee-R are my go to cranks for that range. Colors I stick with a few stable ones. Crayfish, shad, chartreuse, and pearl white are what I use.

Allen

Yo Zuri 3DB is a fantastic bait. They run

5-8 depending on line diameter. TW has them on sale right now at 25 percent off.

This color is effective.