Line Preference for crankin

[polarsusd81]

What kind of line do you guys prefer for crankin for bass? I have not been real successful in any of my previous attempts to fish bass deep with cranks and would really like to try that hard this year. I have a rod and reel combo that I am looking to respool, and I am curious as to line preference. Do you use a superline for low stretch and thinner diameter? Do you use Flouro for low visibility? Do you use mono to have a bit of stretch. The rod is a 7' M moderate tip glass rod, and I am thinking most of the use for it will be cranks in the 8-15 foot range, possibly deeper. I would think that with a glass rod, the superline would be good for sensitivity and low stretch, but then I question the abrasion resistance.

Thanks for your tips.

[RK]

Hiya -

I freaking love deep cranks. From mid-July on through the end of September, it's probably my favorite way to fish largemouths on a lot of lakes I fish in the Northern half of the state. Learn to work a crank along a deep weedline and you can really clean house sometimes...

I use 10# or 12# Fluoro (I use Triple Fish, but others are good too. Lots of guys seem to like Gamma) most of the season. I like how Fluoro handles in terms of stretch (slightly less than mono) and abrasion resistance, and it sinks, so I suppose I get a little more depth on a long cast. (My rod for big cranks is 7'11", and with a BB-19 full of 10# fluoro, a Poes 400 or DT-16 flies a *long* ways...)

Later in the season though, usually around the end of August, I will often switch to braid when I'm cranking deep weed edges. When the coontail starts to die off, it gets soft, and it can be hard to get enough snap with mono or fluoro to clear weeds off a bait in the middle of a cast. No stretch braid make that a lot easier, so you don't waste a cast every time you pile into a clump of dead coontail. (Plus you get a lot of fish to hit right after you snap weeds off... Snap the weeds off, take half a crank, and *whack* - Man I love it...) I use #20 Cortland Master Braid, which is really thin, so I probably get some extra depth there too, although that's rarely a concern. One thing with braid though is that you do need the right rod for it. Small crankbait hooks and no stretch line can mean a lot of lost fish just from pulling the hooks out unless you have a fairly slow taper rod to soak up some of the shock. The other caution with braid, especially if you use it because you're snapping off weeds like I do, is that it's murder on clutch dogs and pinion gears on your reels...

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

[Wayne Ek]

I limit myself to just two cranking sticks. Most of the time I use a 7.6 medium (glass rod) and mono. I use this alot with shallow cranks and will use it down to about 14 feet. After that it's hard to get any greater depth with mono. Then the second stick is a 7 foot Quantum PT med-heavy. I have 6/14 braid on this one. Mainly it get's used to rip rattle baits. But if I need to crank deeper ( which is a heck of alot of work) I will use this with a Norman DD or Rapala DT. Just remember, as RK mentioned, deep cranking is hard on your wrist and forearms. And it is really hard on a reel. This is absolutely the time to be useing a top of the line reel, it will save you money in the long run.

[polarsusd81]

The reel is a Shimano Curado, so I don't think that will be a problem. I can't wait to get out and practice this stuff. I have a lot of cranks, not nearly as many as some guys here, but there are some deep ones I don't use much because I just don't have the confidence built up yet. That will change this year. Also thanks RK for the time frame recomendation for throwing deep cranks. I love ripping husky [PoorWordUsage] (guess I didn't know we were going to start censoring rapala lure names now ) in the spring and early summer, and have been pretty successful at that, just wanting to expand my arsenal.

[TurnUpTheFishing]

I too have grown to love deep cranking and find myself doing it more and more each year. Ive used trilene sensation, Pline floroclear, gamma copoly and floro. Ive come to settle on the Gamma copolymer in 10 lb test. Its tuff, I caught lots of pike that swallowed the bait and never got bit off, there isnt much memory plus its not terribly expensive since I switch line out three or four times a year. Im not a fan of superlines for cranking other than when you need to rip baits through weeds. Personally if I only had one setup I wouldnt spool it with a braid.

Curados are nice reels and it should work but if you really like cranking consider a slow ration of 5:1 or less deep cranking can be hard on reel gears and your arm a slower ration will help you deal with these issues.

[Fluker]

Glad you brought this question up.

First off, one thing that I can add is how happy I've become with a 5 to 1 reel. My thought was always "I can slow a high speed reel down to however slow I want to reel". What I've learned is that those low gears REALLY help during a day when you're deep cranking the entire time. Man is that a plus!

So in the last year I've heard so many guys (KVD, etc) talk about throwing FC on Crankbaits. I'm still failing to "get it". Most of those same guys, and many other really push for moderate action rods when cranking. One of the biggest reasons is better hook up percentage. I went to glass rods and hated them because they were heavy. Then to a Seeker BS706 and it woudl hook the fish good, but was too sissy to rip out of weeds. Loomis and St Croix have then come out with there composite rods/blanks, and I'm throwing a CB847 and 7' MHM. I've been extremely happy with them. But now the same guys who push moderate action rods say to fish a line with less stretch? Wait a minute? Isn't that the wrong direction?

I do see one benefit of FC in that it might help you get the bait deeper because it's absorption of water and sink rate. But most of the time I can get my bait as deep as I need with Mono. And it that is the main reason, why not just use a small diameter braid like some of the guys mentioned?

Sensitivy? Do we really need more sensitivy with Crankbaits? Ok, maybe you could argue the fact it helps determine bottom content, but detecting a fish?

I got a load of FC on clearance when our Gander moved, so I do plan on cranking with it and testing out myself, but really curious on other opinions on this.

And sorry, once again to answer the original question, you've seen the rods I throw and the reel. I use 10 / 12 lb mono myself.

[Central Bassman]

There is a lot of good information in the post above. Good Job Guys and Thanks!!!!

10 to 12 pound 100% Berkley FC, I have nothing but good things to say about this line. I like to use more FC then mono

[cjac]

Remember the days when the options were simply Stren or Trilene monofilament???

You guys are amazing in what you know and share, I primarily use line and hooks for muskies that you could darn near use to crank your boat onto the trailer with......

I started using 12 lb Gamma flouro last year, so far so good. Not much to say yet, but I used it for fall walleyes on cranks and liked it a lot.

Chris

[Deitz Dittrich]

I have 4 rods that I use for crankbaiting.. 2 of them are the exact same... one has 10 lb floro, the other has 10 lb mono/copoly... The other has braid(20 lb) but only is used in the fall.. and the other is a very similar combo to tthe first 2 but is spooled with 14 lb mono...

the floro rod will dive the deepest on long casts... but then again, so will the braid.. but I loose more fish on that rod/'line combo..

[RK]

 Originally Posted By: Fluker

So in the last year I've heard so many guys (KVD, etc) talk about throwing FC on Crankbaits. I'm still failing to "get it". Most of those same guys, and many other really push for moderate action rods when cranking. One of the biggest reasons is better hook up percentage. I went to glass rods and hated them because they were heavy. Then to a Seeker BS706 and it woudl hook the fish good, but was too sissy to rip out of weeds. Loomis and St Croix have then come out with there composite rods/blanks, and I'm throwing a CB847 and 7' MHM. I've been extremely happy with them. But now the same guys who push moderate action rods say to fish a line with less stretch? Wait a minute? Isn't that the wrong direction?

I don't think there's as much contradiction there as there might seem. You're talking about stretch in the line (which you can feel with some mono even when you're just cranking in a big bait like a DT-16 or DD22) that can reduce sensitivity vs. the way a rod under load behaves. With a higher power fast action rod, you reach the load point of the rod fairly quickly. At that point, the pressure on a hooked fish goes right to the fish itself, and the hooks can pull out. With a more moderate action, the blank speed is slower and the rod load can absorb more of the shock of head shakes or jumps. There's a wider load range in the blank so you don't have to totally load the blank to keep pressure on a fish. I'll agree with you completely to one extent though - the rod/line combination can really change the equation. Low stretch line on a slower rod can accomplish about the same effect as a higher stretch line on a faster rod. The rod I use when I crank with braid late in the year is a great rod for no-stretch lines, but it stinks with mono. The action's too slow and you can't get enough pressure on fish to overcome the blank speed and the stretch in mono to get hooks or keep fish from burrowing into the coontail. Perfect example of a rod that's great with one type of line, and useless with another.

 Originally Posted By: Fluker

Sensitivy? Do we really need more sensitivy with Crankbaits? Ok, maybe you could argue the fact it helps determine bottom content, but detecting a fish?

Boy, I really have to disagree here. Sensitivity's a huge factor for me with cranks, especially deep cranks that I tend to fish slowly a lot of the time. Being able to walk a deep diving crank through coontail or cabbage requires a lot of sensitivity to be able to back off as soon as you make contact with cover. You can even tell what you're fishing through. Coontail feels different than cabbage or junk weeds. When you fish cranks slow, especially in cold water, feeling hits isn't always easy either. Sometimes they just swim up and close their mouth on it - all you feel is a mushy feeling. Takes being able to feel it well to tell the difference between a fish and a strand of bladderwort - although setting the hook usually answers the question one way or another too

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

[Central Bassman]

So far i havent found one copoly that i like for cranking that might just be me. RK great points bud!!!

[Saint Paul Dan]

I noticed a couple of people mentioned using braid, but not until late in the season. What is the reason for this? is it for getting deep diving cranks as deep as possible?

Dan

[Deitz Dittrich]

When fishing cranks in the fall, I am targeting green weeds.. and I intensionally get the lure hung up in the weeds and then rip it out. The ripping from the weeds is a lot more difficult with mono lines. I cant speak for others, but this is why I do it.