What's The Best River Crank?

[Mitch f]

I've always been partial to the Wiggle Wart and the Bandit 200 series, But I need your opinions on your favorite crank bait. I've been looking for a deep diving crank that has the action of a shallow diver ( I know, it's a challenge). My opinion is that many of these river fish get used to a crank running about 8 ft max and if you were able to add a couple of feet of depth, you could catch more fish in the deeper holes. I've been known to "kneel and reel" sticking the rod down in the water and crank to get a couple of feet more depth. Some of the lower sections of rivers have 15ft holes that I would like to be able to get down and bang off the rocks on the bottom. Any suggestions? I'm looking not only for a specific brand but possibly a tuning technique for and old reliable crank bait. Thanks in advance!

[gotmuddy]

I almost never fish rivers that are deeper than 8ft, but a RC 2.5 gets down pretty good. I have become somewhat of a brand whore lately with lucky craft stuff.

[joeD]

I don't use crankbaits much, maybe 10 % of the time, and none of them go deeper than 8 feet. My go to crankbait is a Mann's Baby Minus-1. If I want to go deeper, then I throw a Wiggle Wart. It's as good as anything out there, and a proven fish catcher. If I want to go even deeper with a hard body bait (which is very rare), then I'll switch to a jerkbait. As a side note, ALL of my biggest smallies have come in water 4 foot or less. The same holds true, even more so, with largies on the river. I know it's not what your looking for, just my 2 cents. I don't have a jet boat, so I switch to trout after November. I think that's what you're getting at, fall and winter fishing on the Meramec or Gasconade, in the deep holes where they winter. If you're insistent on tinkering with baits, then I don't think it matters what brand you use, since you're changing the nature and intended use of said bait, and you don't how they'll act in the water after your adjustments. Trial and error. Good luck.

[eric1978]

I almost never fish rivers that are deeper than 8ft, but a RC 2.5 gets down pretty good. I have become somewhat of a brand whore lately with lucky craft stuff.

I can't believe I find nothing to quarrel with in a gotmuddy post. I usually just throw Warts, though. I see no real need to go any deeper on our streams, but I'm no winter smallmouth fisherman by any means.

[Al Agnew]

Yeah, that 7-8 ft. depth is about as deep as I've been able to get with any kind of the usual smallmouth sized crankbaits. I sometimes doctor mine a bit by adding a few strands of silicone to the belly hook, or a feathered treble on the rear, but doing that probably decreases the diving depth a bit. I've become pretty partial to the Norman Middle N recently...I've been using it more than the Wiggle Wart. I've also experimented with suspending deep divers, and used weighted Wiggle Warts last fall with marginal success...they catch fish, but you lose them because they don't float up when you give them slack line when they get hung.

I've experimented for years trying to design a deep diver which has the same wide wobbling action with dressing on the belly hook as my homemade shallow running crank, but the closest I've come to it, which looks fairly good in the water, has not produced any good fish so far, so maybe I am wasting time trying.

[stlfisher]

I have heard of guys carolina rigging floating crankbaits/and jerkbaits to get them just off the bottom. Just a thought that might be worth experimenting with.

[Mitch f]

I'm always trying to get an extra foot or 2 in depth for my jerkbaits, this goes for my cranks too. That's the reason for the post. I too have added suspend dots on my wiggle warts but ended up getting hung up more like Al said. I've also filed down the bills to make them sharper which adds a little depth. But I just haven't found a deep diving crank that has the same action as the shallow/med action ones. I believe that an extra 2 feet will give you a decided advantage because most river fish haven't seen a crank go down that deep. Also, if you are able to "tick" a deeper rock this gives you the extra edge as well.

[flytyer57]

Ever try using an inline keel weight like the Great Lakes Salmon fishermen do? It's a lead weight on a bead chain you put in the line between the rod and lure. Will get you down a few feet more. They come in several sizes and weights. Shouldn't alter the action of the lure either.

At 15' deep, I would just get out a jig and plastic grub and vertically jig over them. Don't think the boat will spook them at that depth.

[Mitch f]

Ever try using an inline keel weight like the Great Lakes Salmon fishermen do? It's a lead weight on a bead chain you put in the line between the rod and lure. Will get you down a few feet more. They come in several sizes and weights. Shouldn't alter the action of the lure either.

At 15' deep, I would just get out a jig and plastic grub and vertically jig over them. Don't think the boat will spook them at that depth.

That's a great idea, I'll have to experiment with that!

[flytyer57]

That's a great idea, I'll have to experiment with that!

Bass Pro Shops sells those keel weights.