Favorite Crankbait

So whats everybody's favorite crankbaits?

Mine is Bandit.

Probably Mann's. Norman runs a close 2nd for their DD22.

Never been a big crankin fan, but have caught more on a Rattletrap than any other.

Bomber 6A and Fat Free shads.

Rattletrap . yea they get slung alot but theres no other as universal for spots, largemouth, and smallies

What series do you use most often and in what colors?

10Gauge.....I use the 200 and 300 series the most. I only have a select few colors that I use for all crankbaits. Redcraw,Chartruse blue back, Chartruse splatterback, Tennessee Shad and White. I have narrowed it down to these colors for different water conditions and I will buy 5 or 6 of ea color for say the 300 and 200.

Norman N series for when the water is 60+ degrees.


Fat Free Shad when the water is below 60 degrees.

Fat Free Shad and fingerling are my go to baits ( cant tell you the color, haha), Norman Little N and Middle N ( Chart craw and red shad).
Strike King series 3,4s,4,5 depending on the water (sexy shad color). The sexy shad just came out and are hard to find but I have painted some gray back ones in the past just like it and they work just as well.

William, I have noticed just the opposite of what you posted for some reason. Normans are more subtle with less rattle and vibration, and it seem to work better for me on cold lipped fish.

Bill Norman deep diver.

I like the tight wiggle in cold water and a wide wobble in warm water.

Chartreuse Bomber

the lil money crankbait from walmart is a tremendous lil crankbait...other than that prolly all bomber crankbaits but also check out the lil money spinner bait..best spinner on the market

I never cared much about crankbait fishing until the last couple of years. I've enjoyed it lately and I've had pretty good luck on these:

Good Grief, they'll be on back order for two months now that the picture is out.

It is a good color though.

Bandit.

Pretty crazy at some of the old posts on here.... Wonder how these answers would be different today?

Hooooleeeee sheeeeet, what a thread resurrection.

Lot of folks on the original thread not around anymore.

My latest favorite is a small Lucky Craft wake bait, retrieved fast so it goes about 6-7 inches underwater.

So I guess I was stalking, but that's literally how I found this post.... clicked on a username, noticed a "friend" name that I didn't recognize--George C Tull?? (I knows there's a Vernon Tull on here) Anyway, clicked on George Tull, "show posts" and this was on there

I sorta kinda only use crankbaits in the Winter months (I seldom crank ledges in the hot Summer anymore), and I've grown really fond of 6th Sense crankbaits. Their "Curve 55" is fantastic (it's sorta a modern version of the Wiggle Wart), also really like their Crush 50X squarebills.

And I couldn't believe this whole thread and nobody said Shad Rap.

George C and Vernon are different folks.

I haven't used the 6th Sense but have heard positive things about them.

Darn sure hard to beat a Shad Rap but it's not as fancy-promoted as others. Definitely works, though.

I still have a passel of old Fat Free Shad cranks in different sizes. Workhorses.

Me and .308 (who commented on the original post 13 years ago LOL) both fish Wedowee a bunch.... that place is Winter crankbait central!! January, 45 degree water, and a Demon Shad Rap....hang on!

h20 bluegill or sexy shad

Rapala DT series

Holy thread resurrection. Some smart fellas back in ‘08 though…


Those ^^^^^ are 2 of my favorite crankbaits on Lake Martin. Specifically Tennessee Shad and Foxy Shad in 6A and Pearl White in the Fat Free Shad. The 6A is a spot killer and that Fat Free will catch everything that swims in the lake. Bomber factory hooks are terrible so they get swapped.

I bought a few of the new DT 8's last week.

Shad Rap is one of my favorites too but that light balsa has distance limitations on casting.

Ihad to quit fishing about the time of the original thread to work all the time and recently started back. Lot of different things now but the biggest shock was how much more lures and equipment cost.

I do love a lipless crankbait. First bait I remember using on my own was a Rat-L-Trap in Smokey Joe.

I have several of different brands, but the Rat-L-Trap seems to catch more fish. Dunno if it's being in the right place at the right time, the design of the lure and sound, or maybe sentimentality. Last couple of weeks in our neighborhood lakes I caught fish on the Trap, switched to a Strike King lipless just to see what was up, and didn't catch any. Switched back and caught fish.

Redfish will eat a Trap, too. Redfish eat almost anything, though. LOL

I’ve become a big fan of Rapala DT series lately .

If you haven't fish the Evergreen crankbaits take a look at them. I have become a bog fan of them.

Nothing beats a Hellbender, but it needs to be seasoned in a tacklebox for about 40 years, and the real trick is to make sure that at least 6 different rubber skirts have melted on it.

hot spot hammered chrome and a parrot Wee-R.

I've caught more big fish on a strike king 6xd than any other bait than maybe a swim jig. Frittside 5 is a hard one to beat. Strike king 3xd is everything a bomber 6a or bandit 300 is but better. The dt series rapalas are out of this world as far as balsa baits go for the money there aren't any better. My favorite are the Ed chamber zoom wec baits but I took them out of my box and put them back in the original package after he passed

Rat-L-Trap
Sexy shad KVD

Spro crank baits have taken over my cranking box. Little John, rock crawlers…..those rascals hunt! $3 was good money when this thread was started, now they are $10. A hound dog lure retriever is a must, I haven’t lost one in the 2 years since I bought it.

ishootatbux

Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 5,967
Anniston, AL
Me and .308 (who commented on the original post 13 years ago LOL) both fish Wedowee a bunch.... that place is Winter crankbait central!! January, 45 degree water, and a Demon Shad Rap....hang on!

Funny how time changes us! Cranks & jerkbaits are now my favorite way to catch bass. Seems like
every trip now I make the bass tell me they don’t want hard plastic before I pick up soft plastic. This along with jigs, chatter bait & the dreaded a rig keep my casting deck pretty full. My deer hunting to fishing ratio used to be about 50/50 but now is about 05/95.

Cream and Red Lazy Ike.

Old hellbender. Lazy Ike. Little George. Rattle trap. These are baits that my 6 year old son can throw a mile. It ain’t about catching anymore.

You just described the one in my tackle box

The good think about the melted rubber skirts on the old Hellbenders is all the rubber keeps them from falling apart.

Sorta like dirt on a truck. Wash it off and the truck has issues.

Holy Crap! A thread from 2008

On a side note, can't believe I've been posting here for 17 freaking years

Rapala DT series

I have about a dozen DT’s, all but 2 are red or demon. SK makes a chick magnet, caught a nice spot on it recently. It’s a flat side crank & runs around 4-6’ deep. I have a few shad raps mostly in red also. I wish I could get the casting distance out of a shad rap that I do some others.

It depends on there depth I am fishing. Shollow I like the KVD square bill, or a DT6. Mid depth I like the Norman Little N. Deep I like the bomber or norman deep divers.

Bandit

Love throwing a Bandit 100 & 200 on my float trips but never had a lot of luck on backwaters. Maybe I haven’t spent enough time on them.