Crankin

[djkimmel]

Figured you were a mimeograph sniffer

[Firefighter Jeff]

Me too Jeff!!  They smelles soooooo good!   

   Pewwww Mike  !!!!  That and you didn't dare make a mistake. You had to cross out the mistake and retype or write it.  lol 

[Lightningboy]

Okay, time for my .02.  (Like that really matters)

Almost all cranks will catch fish on any given day.  There are too many variables in design to say one is better than the other.  The only real difference in price is quality control of the product.

To keep a low shelf price for a bait, there must be cost savings during manufacture.  Bandits, normans, strike king, and other baits in that class can be serious fish catchers.  Some, like the DD22 or the SK series 5 are considered staple baits.  But next time you're at BP look over a bunch of the same crank.  Check how well the halves line up, check how true the bills run.  Check the quality of the hardware.  Only about one out of ten will be a serious fish catcher, because that's about how many are made well.  Yeah, most are OK; but only a few are the real fish catchers.

Does anyone else have problems with the Strike King paint comming off the baits?  I've taken to coating my SK baits with a thin layer of Devcon 2 ton epoxy to save the finish.

The higher priced baits have better general quality checks before leaving the factory.  When I buy a Lucky, I don't tend to get any losers that won't run.  Is one out of ten LC cranks better than the other 9?  Could be, just haven't been able to afford the experiment.

There's no way to tell which baits will run great unless you tune them.  Take the box, park it on a dock, and tune the eye on each bait.  If you can't get one to run well, get rid of it; it'll never be a winner unless you correct the flaws in the bait.

I like to call lipless cranks "traps" or "rattlebaits".  BTW- If you're not including rattlebaits in your arsenal, you're really missing the boat.  Can't think of a better bait from ice out till the spawn. 

Hint for rattlebaits in the weeds- chose those with a rounded back, they shed grass better.  Also, those that run shallower.  And throw them on braid; when you stick in the grass give it a yank to break it free, and hold on!

Plano was smart enough to buy out their only real competitor; falcon FTO's.  Tough enough to stand on, and hold baits without tangling.  It'll be interesting to see if Plano expands it's version of that line.

Last piece of advice: make contact with the bait!  Yes, I was drooling over the hog fest down in New Orleans.  Did you notice how they all said you needed to bang the stumps repeatedly with your bait to get bit?

[Big dreams]

I have never paid that much attention to the eyes of cranks before.  I have noticed how some always dive to the right/left.  I have always used this to my advantage by casting next to a dock and having the bait go under the dock.

BgD