Favorite deep diving crankbaits

Its getting to be that time of year where you need to whip out a trusty deep diving crankbait.. I personally have not been able to find a "go to" exactly.. I switch between deep diving rapalas or deep diving strike king.. Just curious to see what everyone else is using

I just got a new "go-to" deep diving crankbait - and I can crank it with no problems from depths of 6" to 20+ feet (seriously, no joke).

The Strike King 6xd - HOLY SMOKES is all I will say... I did catch a 3lb spot on it yesterday. I was bouncing it off a rock bottom in 13' of water. A week before that I caught one around 1.25 off a sand bar that was about 6" (and yea, that's inches) deep.

This is one of the best rooting and deflecting baits I have thrown in a long time.

All I use is strike king cranks. Haven't had much luck with cranks in general, but I've had MORE luck with SK :lol:

Plus they stand up to a beating... can't cast around these parts without bringing up a pound of weeds, and I've always been one to smack the lure on the water to clear them. Rapalas and normans cant stad up to that kind of abuse without losing a bill :evil:

I keep going back to what works here in central illinois and thats the deep diving rapalas in bluegill or baby bass.

and even as much as I like the Strike King 6XD... I guess my all time favorite that I would never give up for any other crankbait is the Norman Deep Little N Suspending models.... if I need to go deep - they go on a carolina rig

I like the Normans and the Spro Little John DD, actually I like all the Little John series CB's

How deep?

I have heard several people rave about crank baits, but I just never catch much on them.. must be an operator issue.

JRHOADES20 said:

I have heard several people rave about crank baits, but I just never catch much on them.. must be an operator issue.

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Same here. It's definitely an operator issue: I fish with a buddy that does awesome with them. I, on the other hand, do not.

I have been using the strike king 6xd and rapala so far this summer but I would really like to try the spro little johns.. I have heard good things about them.. I have had a little luck here and there with raps and strikes but nothing I can consistently go to yet.. I am hoping to get more consistency with my new cranking rod that comes tommorow morning!

I love throwing deep crankbaits. i don't get the chance to use them around here but i have had a lot of success fishing the DT16 down on KY lake I picked up the spro little john dd and will be giving it a try this fall

the spro little john DD is an awesome bait - and I use it interchangably with the SK 6XD (with rattles and without)... but that DD is a HEAVY lure - I think it's 1oz, and the 6xd is 3/4oz

favorite colors for the little john? looking to pick up a couple to go with my new cranking rod

Queencitybassman said:

favorite colors for the little john? looking to pick up a couple to go with my new cranking rod

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citrus shad, citrus shad, citrus shad and cell mate (especially here in the carolinas & ga

My vote is for the new Rapala DT20 with Sureset Hooks. Here is one of the many weve caught off it this year. 6lb 10oz

:twisted: I'm also a big fan of the Rapala DT-Series .....