SPRO Corp.

Advanced Deep Cranking

By John Crews

We all want to win. How do you win? You fish baits that win tournaments. There is no better bait to win a summertime bass tournament on most impoundments than a deep diving crankbait. These large hard plastic baits with treble hooks use resistance against a large bill to dive to depths of 10 to over 20 feet. Look at the history of professional bass tournaments over the past 20 years. The fact is that they win a lot of tournaments.

Many professional bass anglers have made a career with a deep diving crankbait. David Fritts, Paul Elias, and Mark Davis have won endless tournaments including bass fishing’s biggest events with the “big plug.” They all know that catching bigger fish is the key to winning. They all also know that during the summer patterns, one lure does such a feat.

Deep diving crankbaits require a different mentality, different equipment, and a precise approach to angling. You can’t just tie one on your worm rod and throw it around. Almost every fish caught on these baits is not an accident. The angler must know the depth range they are fishing and how the structure they are fishing is laid out. If not, they get their lure hung up over and over without getting bit.

The reel is the first must is deep cranking. A baitcasting reel is required. The spool and function of that reel enables anglers to cast these large lures long distances and retain some accuracy. A 5:1 gear ratio in the reel is very nice but a 6:1 ratio can suffice. Some manufacturers are even making reels specifically designed for this technique. Whatever reel you choose, make sure it is lightly oiled and working properly. Throwing long distances and cranking with that resistance will wear out reels not is proper working order.

The rod is just as important. The rod must be at least 7’ long and some of the better ones are up to 7’11”! They also must have a parabolic action. That means the rod bends throughout the length of the rod, not just at the tip like worm rods. Fiberglass rods naturally do this but some graphite models are being designed to emulate this action. A rod with a longer handle is also a plus since it helps you heave the “big plug” a long distance. Like the reels, many rods specifically designed for deep cranking are available.

There is a big debate over which line to use when deep cranking. Without a doubt, fluorocarbon is the way to go. The early attempts at fluorocarbon line did not stretch enough and caused problems when casting such a heavy lure long distances. Vicious Fluorocarbon is what I use. More recent fluorocarbon lines such as Vicious don’t have this problem and give you MUCH better feel than mono. Mono is too soft and stretches too much for my liking. Fluorocarbon will give you better feel when your bait has all the resistance of the water from such long casts and deep depths.

Now that you have the right equipment, you need to know where you are throwing it. You will need to know where you are throwing it since you will fish it 10 to 20 feet deep and not throw it at visible cover. Reading the terrain is important. Reading your depth finder is important. Visualizing the bottom is important. Using marker buoys and reference points are important. Knowing what type of bottom composition you are hitting is important. As you can see, there are a lot of things to be conscious of when deep cranking.

All these variables need to be known so you can be efficient, put the lure in the strike zone, and catch those winning fish. Once you become proficient at this technique, everything will become second nature. It is best to begin deep cranking on a location that you are very familiar. You should know where the drop offs are and how the area is laid out. You want to begin cranking your lure on top of the location. You also always want to crank parallel to the break or drop off. Think about how your lure is hitting the cover. You want to have the bait “scratching” off the bottom or cover as much as possible. Paralleling the proper depth will achieve this goal.

The drop or break also is the location that most fish will be located. Bass love access to deep water. They also like to be near a location that is unique, close to a flat, and that has cover. A drop off is all of these. Ledges are just long drop offs. Deep crankbaits fished parallel to these drops, ledges, and breaks, are a fantastic way to cover a large amount of water. When you cover more water in the “right” places, you are likely to find a group of fish. Many anglers refer to them as schools. Finding a school of quality bass is how summer tournaments are often won on impoundments.

Locating these schools is difficult but worth every bit of effort once found. I use my maps and depth finder to locate drops. I cover water and search for the schools on those types of locations. Buoy markers are my best friends when fishing like this. You can be a mile offshore and mark a specific rock pile or ditch with pinpoint accuracy using a marker buoy. My favorite method is to throw the buoy next to where my boat is located and remember the exact direction I cast. That way you can hit an exact piece of cover repeatedly without having to worry about getting your bait or the fish caught in the buoy line. It also helps if you do not want the angler in the back of your boat to be able to hit exactly the right spot.

The business is the crankbait. Many tournaments have been won on many different deep crankbaits. I have used many of them over the years such as the Poe’s 400, Rapala DT 16, Norman DD22, Bagley’s DB3, and Bomber Fat Free Shad. I took my knowledge of deep cranking and designed the SPRO Little John DD. It casts a mile, gets to 20 feet deep, digs on the bottom, has a great action, and is not too hard to crank. I encourage any angler to fish it next to any other deep crankbait. Fishing a deep crankbait can definitely be easier if you choose the right lure.

Now we know what technique wins many summer events. Take these basics of deep cranking to develop what works best for you. Take your sunscreen, plug knocker, marker buoys, and go win a summertime bass tournament!