Crankbait
Also called crank, diving plug
What is a crankbait?
A hard-bodied diving lure with a plastic or metal lip, fished by casting it out and reeling it back at a steady speed.
Crankbait at a glance
- Squarebill
- 2 to 5 ft
- Medium diver
- 6 to 8 ft
- Deep diver
- 10 to 12 ft and beyond
- Depth is set by
- The lip
- Not by how fast you reel
How does a crankbait work?
The lip catches water and drives the bait down and side to side. Reel and it dives, stop and most models float back up. That simplicity is the point: a crankbait is the fastest way to cover water and find out whether fish are in an area, because you can throw it, wind it back and repeat every twenty seconds.
What decides how deep a crankbait runs?
Depth is set by the lip, not by how fast you reel. Packaging usually states a running depth, and models are sold across the range from a squarebill that digs two feet down to a deep diver that reaches twelve.
Faster retrieves make the bait run more erratically, not much deeper. Line diameter does change it: thinner line lets a crankbait reach its rated depth, and heavy line can cost it a couple of feet.
Why should a crankbait hit something?
The strike almost always comes off a deflection, when the bait ricochets off a rock or a stump and changes direction unpredictably. Anglers deliberately fish crankbaits into cover for that reason, which also means you will lose some.
A crankbait swimming through open water at a constant depth is doing the least productive version of its job.
Pick your crankbait by the depth you want to fish, then keep it in contact with something: bottom, rock, stumps, grass edges.
What this means when you’re choosing
- A stated running depth on the package, and a bait rated a foot or two deeper than the water you intend to fish so it can stay in contact with the bottom.
- A moderate-action rod. A fast tip pulls treble hooks free, and this is the bait class where that costs the most fish.
- Baits that run true out of the box, or a willingness to tune the line tie. A crankbait pulling to one side never reaches its depth or its target.
The common mistake
Reeling faster to fish deeper
It feels like it should work and it does almost nothing. The lip sets the diving angle, so winding harder mostly makes the bait blow out and run erratically near the surface. To fish deeper, change to a bigger-lipped model, use thinner line, or make a longer cast so the bait spends more of the retrieve at full depth.
Common questions
How deep does a crankbait run?
The lip decides. Squarebills run about two to five feet, medium divers six to eight, and deep divers ten to twelve or more. Reeling faster makes the bait more erratic but barely changes its depth.
What rod is best for crankbaits?
A moderate-action rod, often in glass or a glass composite. The slower bend keeps treble hooks pinned while a fish shakes, where a fast tip levers those small points straight back out.
Where this comes up
The guides that use crankbait and show it on real gear.
Last reviewed . Crankbait is one of 222 terms in the fishing glossary.