# Are crankbaits overrated?



## Gotem

I know crankbaits catch bass and I've done it many times, but the treble hooks always seem to foul up with vegetation. I also see on tv everyone grinding them on the bottom, but unless I'm fishing deeper than 15 feet, there is usually submerged vegetation on the bottom of virtually most lakes near me (except Lake Ontario itself). I personally find the spinnerbaits more effective because they can usually go through the vegetation better.

Any thoughts?


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## earl60446

Most of my lure money is spent on crankbaits, I believe in them. I'm not saying other lures don't work.
Yep, they get snagged a lot and I lose one probably every other time I go out but I got about 5 plano boxes full of them. I got to get one of them snag dehookers or whatever they are called.
Tim


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## Brian B.

Crankbaits are what I tie on when I take non-fisherman- heck yes, there are all that and a bag of BBQ Chips, I love them.

I fish vegitation too, just don't burn it down into the veg, know the tower height of the veg, jerk jerk.. Pause/float.. And repeat.

Almost no better lure most of the time.


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## New River Rat

Smallmouths in rivers, this time of year, are crushing crankbaits. NO, they are not over rated!


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## Loggerhead Mike

Love crankbaits, we don't have much vegitation in our lakes though


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## muskiemike12

Crankbaits are my goto search lure! Find them with a crank and clean them off a spot with a jig or worm.


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## fish devil

[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=317145#p317145 said:


> muskiemike12 » Today, 10:40[/url]"]Crankbaits are my goto search lure! Find them with a crank and clean them off a spot with a jig or worm.



:twisted: Right on!!!! 


I use cranks that swim under 1foot (Manns1-), all the way to 20ft(DT-20). Its a very productive lure that is an awesome search bait.


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## 200racing

i think so on the lakes around here you will starve if you have to live off your crankbait catch.

best evidence i can give is how poorly kvd does in b.a.s.s. events held around here.


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## dman24

I've never had much luck with crankbaits, but that is probably from a lack of using them. I have mostly fished farm ponds that are less than 10 feet deep. Worms or spinnerbaits have always worked for me. I have started using the rebel crickhopper for bream and crappie and the one that looks like a crawdad has worked decent.


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## New River Rat

I have had good success over the years catching smallies on cranks. Unfortunately, my favorite has been out of production a long time. I can, however, barter and trade or buy some at reasonable prices. These things have a conductibility now that is unreal. People actually buy them and don't fish with them. Sacrilege!!!

I used to flat line troll on Philpott Lake with these things (Rapala Fat Raps) and if I lost one, no biggie. They were only about 5 bucks a pop then. I ought to get me some scuba gear and go see how many I can retrieve....


Left column:
Shallow FR-07 SFC
Shallow FR-05 SFC
Deep FR-05 SFC

Right column:
Deep FR-07 G
Deep FR-07 G
Deep FR-07 SFC


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## Captain Ahab

I am not a huge crank bait fan for LMB - I am a huge purchaser and have a few (hundred) 


Yes, they work - but for me I like the low and slow approach - soft plastics fit me best


That being said - a well fished crank will make them bass attack!


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## BDS05

Can't go wrong with a box full of crank baits.


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## MiPikeGuy

I've got more crankbaits than I know what to do with. Half, 3/4 of them have probably never hit the water though lol. They make up 90 % of my tackle. I use cranks probably 60% of the time or more slightly less as waters warm and lakes get choked with weedgrowth. You're going to lose some, that's part of fishing. For the guys complaining about vegetation, slow down and when you feel contact with weeds, rip it free and a lot of times that will entice a strike. We've caught some of our biggest fish right as the lure snapped free from a snag. 

I have a few soft plastics/jigs/worm hooks, a handful of spinnerbaits, and at least 50+spoons (at least they're usually cheap). 

I catch everything from pike, walleye, small/largemouth, even bull bluegills/crappies on my Rapalas, I love them and you couldn't pay me enough to ditch them. I'm usually fishing a spoon or crank. I have utmost confidence in any Rapala, even the ones I haven't used, and that plays a big part of it. When weedgrowth is bad though I love a spoon with a single worm hook and a soft plastic trailer rigged texposed!


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## joed2323

I have caught alot of fish on crankbaits, i think most of us here can agree. Definitely not overrated


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## Downtown

Crank baits are all I use on the susquahanna.
Small mouth and walleye love them.
I found the sexy shad works best for me and they have to be the deep divers. I want them bouncing and grinding along the bottom.


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## hawghunters

I see crankbaits as a tool. As was previously stated, find them with crank come through with jig or worm. But I do find instances where cranks can not be beaten. They cover middle of the water column much better. I think it has a lot to do with the lakes you fish and the time of year.


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## fish devil

:twisted: Deflecting crankbaits off wood and other submerged objects can get you strikes from bass. I can't tell you how many times this worked for me.


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## nick4203

im not to sure if they are or not but i have had no luck with them over the last 4 years i try them quite often but for some reason never have any luck just got my first top water fish this year on a popper but was not able to replicate that again lol

i like fishing JIGS!!!! and also soft plastics


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## redbug

[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=320567#p320567 said:


> Captain Ahab » Sat Jun 29, 2013 7:08 am[/url]"]I am not a huge crank bait fan for LMB - I am a huge purchaser and have a few (hundred)


THATS IT???? I have a few crankbaits myself these are just a few of the extras I have they are in no way over rated they have a place in every tackle box


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## Country Dave

_I like crankbaits I don’t think they are at all overtraded,

I prefer top water poppers and frogs. We only have Largemouth’s in South Florida and they love crashing top water, they love the frogs. The closest thing we have to smallmouth’s are Shoal Bass, Suwannee Bass and Choctaw Bass. You have to go all the way up in the panhandle to find them. 
I fish cranks baits from time to time but more as search tool. I’ve had some good luck ripping crankbaits by suspended bass when nothing else seems to work. 
_


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## Country Dave

_You, all check this out._

https://youtu.be/HDIGyozPnKI


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## RiverBottomOutdoors

I don't think there's a fish that a crank won't catch.


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## nick4203

whens the best time of the year to throw crank baits?

and any other tips you guys could think of?

i have been fishing for the past 4 or 5 years and have yet to catch a fish with a crank bait


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## Country Dave

[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=337098#p337098 said:


> nick4203 » Today, 13:25[/url]"]whens the best time of the year to throw crank baits?
> 
> and any other tips you guys could think of?
> 
> i have been fishing for the past 4 or 5 years and have yet to catch a fish with a crank bait



_Have you caught fish in the same area after switching out to something else? When you locate the fish try changing the speed of your retrieve, sometimes they like it fast and sometimes they like a slow retrieve. Change it up. If you're on fish I cant imagine you never getting a strike on a crankbait. _


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## MiPikeGuy

[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=336799#p336799 said:


> fish devil » 18 Dec 2013, 20:31[/url]"]:twisted: Deflecting crankbaits off wood and other submerged objects can get you strikes from bass. I can't tell you how many times this worked for me.



Yup, same goes for Walleye, and we've gotten some big Pike after ripping free of vegetation.


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## MiPikeGuy

[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=337115#p337115 said:


> Country Dave » 24 Dec 2013, 19:40[/url]"]
> 
> 
> [url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=337098#p337098 said:
> 
> 
> 
> nick4203 » Today, 13:25[/url]"]whens the best time of the year to throw crank baits?
> 
> and any other tips you guys could think of?
> 
> i have been fishing for the past 4 or 5 years and have yet to catch a fish with a crank bait
> 
> 
> 
> 
> _Have you caught fish in the same area after switching out to something else? When you locate the fish try changing the speed of your retrieve, sometimes they like it fast and sometimes they like a slow retrieve. Change it up. If you're on fish I cant imagine you never getting a strike on a crankbait. _
Click to expand...


Agreed.

I catch fish all spring/summer/fall on various styles of Rapala cranks.

Varying retrieve is a great start, same with bouncing off structure. We've had days where smallies would hit right after a twitch or two using a Rapala X-rap. Other days we'd have to twitch it hard 2-3x and wait 8-9 seconds, then when we'd go to twitch again the fish would be there or hit it right as it started to move. I like throwing an x-rap around trees and bouncing it off the limbs, pulls lunkers out like no other. 

Also, are you "matching the hatch"? so to speak. Using colors of natural forage in the area at the right times of year? I catch the majority of my fish on more natural patterns, with Clown/Firetiger/Hot Tiger being the most radical fish-catching colors for me.


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## RStewart

I don't think they are overrated. I don't fish them much cause I prefer finesse fishing. With that being said, in our last tourney in October, we found bass schooling up & feeding on huge schools of shad. We threw cranks for 2 days & caught over 100 bass in those 2 days. I've never experienced anything like it. Finesse baits wouldn't have caught very many of these fish.


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## fish devil

[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=337279#p337279 said:


> RStewart » Today, 11:27[/url]"]I don't think they are overrated. I don't fish them much cause I prefer finesse fishing. With that being said, in our last tourney in October, we found bass schooling up & feeding on huge schools of shad. We threw cranks for 2 days & caught over 100 bass in those 2 days. I've never experienced anything like it. Finesse baits wouldn't have caught very many of these fish.



Bingo!!!! I had the same thing happen at a small pond. Largemouth bass were schooling up baitfish. I caught 45 bass in about 2 1/2 hours. Just about every cast with a crankbait(3-5' diving) caught fish. Probably moved about 30 yards the whole time. 15 of those fish were 4lbs or more. Best day ever. I put down the rod after number 45!!!! :lol:


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## RStewart

[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=337322#p337322 said:


> fish devil » Sat Dec 28, 2013 10:02 pm[/url]"]
> 
> 
> [url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=337279#p337279 said:
> 
> 
> 
> RStewart » Today, 11:27[/url]"]I don't think they are overrated. I don't fish them much cause I prefer finesse fishing. With that being said, in our last tourney in October, we found bass schooling up & feeding on huge schools of shad. We threw cranks for 2 days & caught over 100 bass in those 2 days. I've never experienced anything like it. Finesse baits wouldn't have caught very many of these fish.
Click to expand...


Bingo!!!! I had the same thing happen at a small pond. Largemouth bass were schooling up baitfish. I caught 45 bass in about 2 1/2 hours. Just about every cast with a crankbait(3-5' diving) caught fish. Probably moved about 30 yards the whole time. 15 of those fish were 4lbs or more. Best day ever. I put down the rod after number 45!!!! :lol:

I hear ya. After a 2 day tournament of throwing nothing but a crankbait, my arms were sore. LOL. It was a blast & something every fisherman should get to experience.


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## nrgeek

Crankbaits over Rated ?? RFLOL ..my answer is no .. I catch 70% of my fish on crankbaits, 25% spinnerbaits, the rest come on jigs and plastics.. and when you make your own as I do .. and you win money fishing tournaments over and over with them .. no I would say they are not over rated


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