Deep Cranking with David Dudley

Virtually every novice angler knows and understands that to find good populations of post spawn bass, a deep diving crankbait could be the best way to cover water.  Castrol GTX Pro David Dudley points out some of the more common mistakes made when deep cranking.

"My lure of choice is a Norman DD-22 crankbait.  I can cover lots of water eliminating water that is unproductive.  When I do locate a group of fish, I can slow down and refine my approach to decide what the fish actually want."  Dudley says that he sees a couple of crucial errors that many anglers make when deep cranking.

"The trouble with a deep diving bait that gets down, say 12 to 15 feet is that typically the bait barely gets to its optimum depth before it starts back to the surface.  A lot of guys that I guide for make casts that are too short, so that the bait never reaches its optimum depth or if it does, the bait is only in the strike zone for very short time."

"To properly fish a deep diving crankbait, like the Norman DD-22, an angler needs a long rod, 7' to 7.5'.  The long rod will allow the angler to cast much further than say a 6 or 6 and a half foot rod."  In other words, you are not going to be using that five and a half foot rod with the pistol grip.

"Along with the long cast that I get with a seven foot rod, I use only ten pound test line, which allows the bait to get down quicker and to stay down.  If you crank any heavier than ten pound test, the line starts to hurt the action of the lure."

Deep cranking this Spring?  Try a long rod and light line; the extra distance you get on the cast means your bait will dive deeper, longer and most importantly, stay in the strike zone long enough for the fish to strike.