A Guide 2 Cranking

[thastickybandit]

Over the last couple of years I have been throwing crank downs a lot. Branching away from traditional methods cranking has become my go to. I have enough confidence in cranking that I feel confident enough that what I've learned will be helpful to others.  In this post I will cover Recon, Retrieval, Gear, Terminal, and Mods. Majority of the crankdowns that I have used during this period are... Wade Hoggs, K9, Tiny Klash, Whipper Snapper, and G2 Shellcracker. To those that are weary of throwing their baits into areas where you can get hung or potentially lose a bait, this method probably isn't for you. If anyone else can touch on the subject please do so!

 

Recon:

Being able to identify what your are throwing into is always a good thing. Lots of stuff out there to get a game plan formulated of what is what and where that what is. Usually locating these objects is easiest from a boat. With mapping and GPS built in most graphs these days you can pretty much pinpoint your targets. For those who don't have that you can always get a GPS app on your phone or make the good ole mental note of locations. The other plus side of being able to fish out of a boat is having your chances increased of getting a hung bait free.(Invest in a lure retriever! .44 Mag or telescoping pole)

If your body of water has ever been drained or levels dropped you may be able to go on google maps or bing and look back on satellite view of the lake. From there you can get an idea of where some cover and structure is. 

Fishing from the shore and not much mapping available on that body of water? Maybe you are looking at an area of water that looks fishy but you're not wanting to chance it by losing a bait. No problem. Next time you're there bring yourself a trolling weight or some type of heavy sinker. I use a 2 oz weight. I then cast the weight in the directions I would cast my bait. Let it make contact with bottom and start bringing that weight back. Stay in contact with the bottom and make note of what you feel. The next time you go out you'll have a much better of what you're targeting and get yourself into. 

 

Retrieval:

You've probably heard the saying "fish it like a square bill" To me that means casting, crashing, and deflecting. 

Casting is pretty self explanatory to me. Cast your bait at/past the target. Get the right angle to bring the bait back etc...

Crashing sounds just like it sounds. Crashing your bait into objects. Run that bait into the rip rap, rock piles, dock/bridge pilings, brush, and timber.

Deflecting to me is the bounce/recovery off the crash. Bouncing that bill off all the above, ticking the tip of grass. ( I don't have any info on fishing tules) When you're deflecting you want to reel to you feel resistance. You should be able to crawl that bait over whatever object you are on. If you feel resistance to the point where you feel hung up, ease up and gave the bait a second to rise then continue on with your retrieve.

 

Retrieval is one of those things that vary to me. Sometimes just a steady retrieve works for me and get me bit. But I have found when that bite isn't to be had I slow it down to a crawl. Other time you have to factor the twitches and pauses. I like to incorporate my twitches after the bait has deflected or crawled over something. I will admit that for whatever reason I lose most of my fish this way. Seems they come unbuttoned right at the shore. Why? I don't know I wish I had an answer. 

Sometimes you get second chance. I don't think I have ever got  a fish that has bit once to bite again. I have been able to get a follower to commit at a second go. I have 2 methods for this. If I'm fishing from shore and have one rod with me I go to where I walk to where I had just casted and cast back to where I walked over from. (Working Class Zero has a video on this with more info) If you're in a boat the same idea applies.

Method 2 having another rod ready to go with a soft bait. Paddle tail or Hudd tail  but work with whatever you got. This method is good if you can't reposition in the opposite direction. As soon as you get your crank down back cast/skip that bait in the same location you previously targeted.

Other retrievals exists out there. DRT seems to have a decent amount of material on this. Some methods require modding but it is nothing permanent just adding weight usally.

 

Gear:

What setup I use depends on if I'm on foot or boat. In previous post I have mentioned that I am a big fan of the Dobyns Champion 867. When I'm on foot its my go to. It may not be ideal if I have to downsize but it does get the job down. When I am on my boat I still throw just about all my crank downs on it. The exception being the TK and G2. Then I will use my Champion 795. I know there is quite the gap in between the 795 and 867. The reason I throw just about everything on 867 is I like that longer handle. It is what I feel most comfortable to me. 

For reels I use either a 200 size reel in a 6 or 5 gear ratio(High 4's for those that exist) for my bigger crank downs. The smaller baits I stick to a conventional size reel. Smaller to me is TKs and any other bait lighter. 

For line I use fluorocarbon. I know some old school guys like having mono. Tomato tomoto to me. It's all what your preferences is and what you're confident in. Regardless of what it is I treat my line with conditioner. I always treat freshly spooled line I will completely spray the spool and let it sit over night. Then other times I will periodically treat if I remember the day/night before a trip. Heavier baits I like to fish 20-25 lb and on lighter baits I use 15-17 lb. If you like lighter or heavier then use what suits you best.  

 

Terminal Tackle:

I like to remove all split rings from the nose of all my hard baits. I like to fish them with a snap and swivel instead. I like to use the decoy egg snap with a power swivel in the same lb range as the snap. Bigger snap for bigger baits smaller snaps for smaller baits. 

Most of the hand made baits come with good splits and hooks. So I really don't mess with the split rings too much unless I bend some open swapping out the hooks. Plenty of options out there for them though. Owner Hyper Wires, Owner Ultra Wires (double strength of the Hyper Wire), Spro Power Split, and Worth. I do tend to like Spro based on the fact they sell bulk packs.

For hooks I really like short shank trebles. I feel like when I use them I am less likely to get hung up. They don't get wrapped around the bill like some longer shank hooks. This allows the bill to do its job and deflecting off objects better. I believe most hook manufacturers make some sort of short shank treble. Personally I like the Mustad KVD 2X short shank hook for the fact it is available in bulk. 

If you don't want to buy in bulk and feel loyal to a certain brand or if you want to get more life out of your hook I recommend buying a diamond file. The diamond file is not bulky at all. It is something you can slip into your pocket and not even know you have. I find it more simple than swapping out hooks on the water. You'll realize that the points round out and dull from time. A few quick filing here and there and you're back to being sharp.

 

Mods:

I don't get to crazy in modding my baits. I don't like making permanent mods other than the wear and tear that comes from fishing the bait.  For adding weight sometimes it's simple as putting heavier hooks and splits on. I like to keep a few treble with wire wrapped around the shanks and held in place with shrink tube on hand. Another good alternative to this is lead tape. Lead tape is quicker but the issue I come across is it falling off from the hooks rubbing against it. I'm hoping other members on here have different methods they can give on this. 

I do also dress hooks. Does it get bit more... I do not know. Like the wire wrapped I keep a couple dressed hooks with me. If I'm not getting bit sometimes I'll swap out to them. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. I do like the fact the fact you can spray dressed hooks with scent. 

There are quite a few different options for tails out there. Illude, Toxic, DRT, Madness, ETC.... If it has a tail slot you can manipulate just about any of the listed to work. Especially if it has a pick holding it in place. Spike-It makes soft plastic dyes to accommodate just about any color you're looking to achieve. Sharpies work in some of them but do tend to bleed after being dyed with. I haven't done much cranking with rats. I'd like to know if certain tails make a difference in get the rat to fish deeper or make it more buoyant. I'm sure they're a few members that can chime in on that. 

 

I'm really hoping this post serves some of you well. Thanks for reading.

 

 

 

 

 

[chevro1et]

I've been getting into crankdown fishing since about mid-summer last year, and I really enjoy it, probably my favorite baits to fish these days. So far, my experience is limited to Toxics (Wade Hoggs / WnC / Micro Mink). I've had success on all three baits, no clear stand-out producer so far. I'm limited to bank fishing only, mostly a tidal river system, and occasionally a smaller inland river system that feeds into a reservoir. 

I fish them all on a LDC 7'9" H travel rod and a TranX 301A. It's a great combo that can sling 'em, full send on the Hoggs with no hesitation. I've been back and forth between 20lb Sunline Shooter / Sniper FC (JDM line that is the premium Sunline FC here in South Korea), 22lb / 25lb Sunline Defier Armilo copoly, and currently 20lb CXX. No braid, not interested in it at all. I actually like the FC the best so far, but the copoly is a necessity for me during topwater / night fishing season. I am seriously considering buying another reel so I can have one dedicated to each line type. 

My most productive retrieve has been the crank / pause for sure. Even in open water where I can't quite get the bait to contact the bottom, a moderate fast 5 cranks / 2-3 second pause has triggered bites. 

Great topic that I'm really interested in, looking forward to other members' expertise in crankdowns. 

[PKNNH]

Thanks for the write up! I'm not really confident in cranking down my baits but I'll definitely put into practice some of the word you said and see how I do.

[bigpoppabass]

Nice work. I am trying to commit more to cranking, because feeling the rod load up is awesome. I have a couple of tips and a nagging question.

1. Sounds simple but best way to unhook a snag is to reverse the direction where snag happened and then pull it out. Forget fancy guitar twangs etc. Need a boat tho.

2. Fiberglass is king in this area for rods. Weights have come down to wow this is fiberglass? - weight was once a drawback to using em. It is virtually impossible to lose a fish once road loads up. 

Q1. Been afraid to crank deep. Banging deep rock fields can produce big ones but ponds and lakes I fish  often have slimy weeds on em. Feels like a waste of time unless the rock is shallower and you can time the impact. Please help if you know better. 

[bassmaster1]

Great read thanks for the info. One question..is there a reason you use the swivel? Does it help the action or anything or just personal preference? Thanks!

[Jinxd12]

I have been cranking down my Tiny Klashes ALOT lately. (Lost one last night ) 

While cranking from the bank, make sure you are prepared to lose baits! Sh!t happens, I have been able to free them up in the small ponds I've been fishing by walking to the other side sometimes. DO NOT, try to yank in the direction you casted from! 

@bigpoppabass I crank down into slime, mud, etc tends to catch catfish! 

[chefchris]

for me cranking down swimbaits was a natural thing when I started, as I came from a conventional freshwater background throwing lots of squarebills/jerks/shallow to mid depth running baits. Same goes for my surfcasting for stripers a surface bait that you could crank below that white water was always $$$. my buddies first slammer fish was cranking it down while he was testing the bait to see what it could do and he sticks a high 4 as his first sb bass. 

Don't get me wrong I love a topwater hit, wake baits, punker baits etc, its awesome. but over the last 3-4 seasons cranking down baits along structure has been the go to. 

when im fishing in the crawdad i always like to position myself parallel to the shoreline when possible and set myself up to make casts to defined structure. we get a lot of reed growth here and running baits 2-3' down along those set ups is great. I also running it along the front of docks instead of the sides as I feel the fish are looking out hding in the shadows. 

If i'm fishing a wake/crank bait ill usually make one cast and wake it back, on the second cast ill crank it down sometimes the whole way back, but my most effective method has been waking it on the 1st cast, then on the 2nd cast wake it then crank it down along the structure points, let it rise up after the first piece of structure then wake it to the next section and repeat the crankdown past the structure. last year that method worked so well, one particular day we were fishing a rocky shoreline and almost every time it would get cranked down as it passed a bigger rock or swam thru a shadow point it would get smoked. 

fishing from the crawdad is great cause you can pitch that bait into some tight cover and if it gets hung up im not worried about being super shallow and scratching up the bottom of the boat. 

ill throw pretty much any bait into areas i know will hold fish, ive banged big $$ baits off metal docks, rocks, wood, etc, just part of the game, last season i was throwing a prototype/new released hard bait by Joe @ Real Prey and casted it out where it proceeded to hit a rock that was 2" under the surface, that bait shot maybe 10' into the air on impact, and this was my first day out with it and maybe 2 dozen casts into using the bait. not ideal, but you need to be able to put these baits where the fish hide and sufer the consequences sometimes to get that bite. 

i run all my set ups with 50lb braid and 20-30lb mono leaders, reel is calcutta 400B, i have an older 400 thats a touch slower, on an F5 MVT 867 or LDC Heavy rod, i fish all my baits on clips (if the bait comes with a split ring on the nose i remove it)

as far as baits I like and have experience using or baits my fishing buddy slays on: 

deep crank 9" 3 pc slammer, i had one that went 4-5' down and got chewed

go2 meany, that was custom built to wake and crankdown 2' (one of my top producing baits last season) 

regular 9" slammer 2pc, sometimes you get one that cranks down better than others

cl8 cranking baby possum, i feel like this is a most have, muskrat color, he makes a wake, or wake/crank or straight crankdown, I prefer the straight crankdown, cause you can crank it down and then just slow roll it back and it stays down, the hits are some of the most aggressive ive ever had. 

blackdog shellcracker (full size lipped wood version) the g2 plastic version works excellent too, had some memorable number days throwing that bait. 

large nez (again same as the cl8 as it just gets hit viciously) 

2 and 3 piece wnc crappie/gills i make took some nice fish last season. 

@Ceaserhas a 3 part video on the toxic page covering his approach/gear/baits/tactics etc, worth the watch for sure, and ill plug his "rat theory" video every chance I get, that video is epic 

great topic for discussion @thastickybandit

[azsouth]

13 hours ago, chefchris said:

not ideal, but you need to be able to put these baits where the fish hide and sufer the consequences sometimes to get that bite

AGREE 100%......I can’t tell you how many baits I have blown up!

[Mossypumpkin]

Killer topic and good read!

[Mikey99]

On 5/15/2020 at 10:20 PM, chefchris said:

for me cranking down swimbaits was a natural thing when I started, as I came from a conventional freshwater background throwing lots of squarebills/jerks/shallow to mid depth running baits. Same goes for my surfcasting for stripers a surface bait that you could crank below that white water was always $$$. my buddies first slammer fish was cranking it down while he was testing the bait to see what it could do and he sticks a high 4 as his first sb bass. 

Don't get me wrong I love a topwater hit, wake baits, punker baits etc, its awesome. but over the last 3-4 seasons cranking down baits along structure has been the go to. 

when im fishing in the crawdad i always like to position myself parallel to the shoreline when possible and set myself up to make casts to defined structure. we get a lot of reed growth here and running baits 2-3' down along those set ups is great. I also running it along the front of docks instead of the sides as I feel the fish are looking out hding in the shadows. 

If i'm fishing a wake/crank bait ill usually make one cast and wake it back, on the second cast ill crank it down sometimes the whole way back, but my most effective method has been waking it on the 1st cast, then on the 2nd cast wake it then crank it down along the structure points, let it rise up after the first piece of structure then wake it to the next section and repeat the crankdown past the structure. last year that method worked so well, one particular day we were fishing a rocky shoreline and almost every time it would get cranked down as it passed a bigger rock or swam thru a shadow point it would get smoked. 

fishing from the crawdad is great cause you can pitch that bait into some tight cover and if it gets hung up im not worried about being super shallow and scratching up the bottom of the boat. 

ill throw pretty much any bait into areas i know will hold fish, ive banged big $$ baits off metal docks, rocks, wood, etc, just part of the game, last season i was throwing a prototype/new released hard bait by Joe @ Real Prey and casted it out where it proceeded to hit a rock that was 2" under the surface, that bait shot maybe 10' into the air on impact, and this was my first day out with it and maybe 2 dozen casts into using the bait. not ideal, but you need to be able to put these baits where the fish hide and sufer the consequences sometimes to get that bite. 

i run all my set ups with 50lb braid and 20-30lb mono leaders, reel is calcutta 400B, i have an older 400 thats a touch slower, on an F5 MVT 867 or LDC Heavy rod, i fish all my baits on clips (if the bait comes with a split ring on the nose i remove it)

as far as baits I like and have experience using or baits my fishing buddy slays on: 

deep crank 9" 3 pc slammer, i had one that went 4-5' down and got chewed

go2 meany, that was custom built to wake and crankdown 2' (one of my top producing baits last season) 

regular 9" slammer 2pc, sometimes you get one that cranks down better than others

cl8 cranking baby possum, i feel like this is a most have, muskrat color, he makes a wake, or wake/crank or straight crankdown, I prefer the straight crankdown, cause you can crank it down and then just slow roll it back and it stays down, the hits are some of the most aggressive ive ever had. 

blackdog shellcracker (full size lipped wood version) the g2 plastic version works excellent too, had some memorable number days throwing that bait. 

large nez (again same as the cl8 as it just gets hit viciously) 

2 and 3 piece wnc crappie/gills i make took some nice fish last season. 

@Ceaserhas a 3 part video on the toxic page covering his approach/gear/baits/tactics etc, worth the watch for sure, and ill plug his "rat theory" video every chance I get, that video is epic 

great topic for discussion @thastickybandit

Good tips Chris, will definitely keep these in mind.  

[Jon P]

I run the St. Croix LGC88HM for a cranking rod. It's rated to about an ounce and a half but can throw two ounces perfectly and three ounces with a lob cast. I'd like to build two S-glass rods for the 2-4 oz. and 4-6 ounce range to accommodate my larger crank downs and wakes. My graphite rods can throw the larger baits, but you have to put a spool of mono on for the stretch. the fiberglass and braid or fluorocarbon combo is much more preferable to the graphite to mono. gotta have that stretch, but not too much. 

also, whoever is in charge of designing this forum needs to create a function for members to write entire articles. wordier and more picture heavy than a thread, but more permanent and well written. the RoughFish forum has a similar function and it works well. It's much more heavily filtered by the admins than the usual thread posts but the end product is better than than just a thread.

[ddow229]

I am so upset I just saw this post!

I fish cranks and lipless, both conventional and larger and will throw them into the land of stumps with reckless abandon. Most of the lakes I fish are reservoirs that have loads of trees, stumps and brush piles. If you don't throw into them, you just wind up fishing the channels which is boring. I fish out of a kayak 90% of the time so I don't worry too too much about not being able to get to a bait when it gets stuck. Of the three or four I lost this season, one was stuck on something too deep to retrieve. The rest were in trees or where casted off because someone doesn't tie knots well.

Great post!

[nikopap1]

@thastickybandit you are the man! Thanks for sharing the knowledge, it was a great read