Best Crankbait Rods for 2022

The Best 6 Crankbait Rods

What’s a Crankbait?

A crankbait is a fish-shaped plug constructed of wood or plastic with two treble hooks suspended from the bottom. A bill, sometimes known as a lip, is added to the front of most crankbaits. The lip is an important part of the lure because it propels the bait down into the water as you reel, adds to the movement, and helps the bait deflect off of cover.
Crankbaits are available in a variety of sizes and forms. Some have rounded edges and are fat, while others are flat sided. The action of the lure is determined by the body form, as well as the size and shape of the bill. Some have a tight, vibrating wiggle, while others wobble widely.
Crankbaits are designed to target all regions of the water column, with small, square-billed baits reaching depths of 3′ and large-billed baits reaching depths of 25′.
When you make these baits run into anything, whether it’s the limbs of a dead tree, the gravely bottom of a lake , or the bits of riprap close to a dam, they excel at tempting fish to bite. A strike is often triggered when the bait is forced to deflect off cover or structure.

In addition, they are less likely to become hopelessly snagged because the bait’s buoyancy causes it to “back out” of cover when you halt your retrieve.
Unless it’s a suspending model (a neutrally buoyant lure), your crankbait will float and rise slowly when you stop reeling.

Lipless crankbaits are also available. These baits are similiar to ordinary crankbaits, with the exception of the lack of a bill and the fact that the majority of them sink. They’re always flat-sided.
At moderate retrieval rates, they have a tight wiggle movement, but they may be slowed or sped up to modify the action.
Lipless crankbaits are best used in open water or towards the edge of grass cover because they aren’t as snag-resistant as their lipped counterparts. Depending on the weight of the lure and your retrieval speed, they also seem to run at a steady depth of about 6′.
All of this combines to make a lipless crankbait an excellent search bait. With a lipless crankbait, you can cover a lot of water.

Crankbaits come in a range of forms and sizes, as previously noted. If you’re unfamiliar with this kind of lure, do some web surfing to acquire a feel for the different varieties of lures available. Lure producers have been able to create some very realistic-looking and effective baits thanks to modern materials and innovative manufacturing procedures.

What Characterizes a Great Crankbait Rod?

You probably have a few rods that aren’t suitable for catching fish using crankbaits.
An unskilled angler is likely use a fast action rod and tie on a crankbait. That is a poor decision.
While a fast action rod is ideal for fishing plastic worms, it is ineffective for crankbait fishing. Before a hookset, the stiffer tip of a worming rod rips a crankbait out of the fish’s mouth.
Fish have more time to suck the bait in with a moderate to slow action rod. Because the rod tip provides less resistance, everything moves a little softer and slower than while worming.
A softer action will also allow you to cast further and play your fish more easily after it’s hooked.
Depending on the type of crankbait fishing you do, crankbait rod weight might range from medium to medium-heavy.
Crankbait fishing rods should be at least 6′ 6′′ in length, with 7′ being the ideal length. The increased length allows you to move a lot of line quickly during the cast and hook set.

Rod materials and price are minor considerations compared to a rod’s action. Rod length and weight are also irrelevant when compared to the most important factor: rod action. When purchasing crankbait rods, one rule to remember is that they must have a moderate to slow action.

Considerations When Purchasing:

Lure type, rod action, length, and weight, construction materials, and price should be considered when buying a crankbait rod

Type of Crankbait

It’s a good idea to pick a crankbait rod based on the type of lure you’ll be employing. Crankbaits always require a rod with a somewhat slow action, but there are a few more considerations. Here are some pointers:

Crankbaits with Round Bills

Round bill crankbaits are fantastic in wide water around points, and drop-offs because they run deep. To make the lengthy casts required, you’ll need a long rod. Furthermore, greater rod length aids in setting the hook when your bait is far away, for example when fishing in deep water. In terms of rod weight, you can get away with a medium weight in open water because you won’t need to move the fish away from cover.

Crankbaits with Square Bills

When casting around visible cover, a shorter rod can assist you make more accurate casts. When employing square billed crankbaits, a short rod is required because they excel near shallow timber cover. The agility of a shorter rod helps if you need to make a a difficult cast tight quarters to get your bait in the appropriate position. A medium-heavy weight rod is preferable as you’ll need the ability to get a fish out quickly if he hits your bait in cover.

Crankbaits Without Lips

Lipless crankbaits, like round bill crankbaits, require long casts. You’ll be looking for fish and will need to cover a lot of ground quickly. A medium-weight rod is also recommended for lipless crankbaits; when fish strike these baits, a gentler pressure is required to bring them back to the boat.

Rod Action & Weight

Rod action is the single most crucial feature of an excellent crankbait rod. A crankbait rod’s action should be moderate to slow. With this style of bait, a fast action rod will simply not cut it. The weight of a crankbait rod is less important; medium and medium-heavy actions both work nicely.

Here’s a refresher on the meanings of the terms weight and action:

• The weight of a rod determines how easy it bends.
• The action refers to the point on the rod where the bend occurs.

Crankbaits require a rod with a relatively slow action since this allows for simpler casting and greater hookups. The treble hooks of the crankbait will dig in when a rod can flex when the fish attacks, whereas a stiffer rod is more likely to pull the lure out of the fish’s mouth.

Length of Rod

You’ll need a long crankbait rod in many situations.
The sizes 7′ and 7’6′′ are particularly popular.
A longer rod is the way to go when you perform a huge, sweeping hook set, or want to make lengthy casts.
When fishing with square bill crankbaits, there is one exception to the long-rod rule. They only go about 3 feet deep, making them ideal for fishing shallow wood cover. Precision casting is required when fishing in that type of cover, so a shorter pole comes very handy. Still, if you’re under 6’6′′, you won’t have the control you need to pull a fish out of cover once they’ve struck.

Materials:

Graphite is a common construction material for many types of fishing rods, and it’s especially popular for crankbait rods. Rod makers use the latest production processes to strengthen graphite by heating it to extreme temperatures.
A graphite blank is made using parallel graphite strands and combining them into sheets using resin. A stiffer rod will have more fibers and resin material than one with less. Additional layers can be added to improve the performance of the blank, with fiberglass being a popular secondary material.
For a long time, rods constructed entirely of fiberglass have been popular, but the material has a reputation for being extremely heavy. But, fiberglass manufacturing techniques have greatly improved over the years; various producers have developed light-weight fiberglass rods. Because they have a slower action than rods made entirely of graphite, all-glass rods and rods made from a combination of fiberglass and graphite make excellent crankbait rods.

Price

A good crankbait rod will cost you between $50 and $150, with some rods with premium construction components costing over $200.
Crankbait rods are not inexpensive, but they do not have to break the bank.
Characteristics like a high-end cork grip or a sparkling finish are some of the factors that make one rod pricier than another. Keep this in mind when looking for the best crank rod for the money: the materials and production techniques used to produce rods have improved, and rods are much easier to construct than in the past. As a result, manufacturers can cram incredible functionality into their low- to mid-range rods.

In Conclusion:

It’s All About Action When It Comes to Crankbait Rods!
Crankbaits work well in a variety of scenarios. They can attract fish holding on steep rocky banks, ledges, shallow flats, and near grass beds, as well as fish holding near shallow wood cover.
The most important thing to remember is to choose a rod with a relatively slow action. Rod length and weight are also important, but not as much.