Does it seem as though you have to weed through a number of baits to find one that actually runs properly?

Last weekend I picked up a strike king 8xd deep diver - it kind of surprised me when I saw them because I thought they were only being made in square bills. Anyway, I went fishin the next morning and I was very pleased with it. It ran perfect right out of the box, I was easily hitting the bottom and brush piles 16 to 20 foot easily and the bite was on! I was ecstatic about my new discovery in the 8 xd. Well, as usual I ended up breaking it off. I went and picked up another one, I would have got 2 or 3 but they only had one left of my color. I could not wait to get out on the water for a couple hours before the rain because I just knew I was gonna smash 'em on my 8 xd. The first cast it just doesn't feel right, it was slightly out of tune but I got it straightened out. Still it just didn't feel like it was running properly, I was not contacting brush piles that I know it should easily reach and I didn't get one bite. I have had this same experience with 5 and 6 xds also. It seems as though I have to buy several to get one that works properly and catches fish. It is beyond frustrating for me. Is it just me or is this a common occurrence with others?

Common. No 2 cranks run the exact same. I've got a handful of crankbaits that I only throw in tournament situations because they have something about them that gets more and bigger bites. I have never figured out what. I normally expect 1 out of every 3 cranks to run perfect oit of the package. Anything more I'm happy.

I've had good luck with Norman products.

yup

"Hitting 20 foot easily" with a 8xd is not something that happens for me.

Common

A good lure retriever can save those "special" crankbaits.

Really? They are the worst I've ever used for not running right. Catch plenty of fish but most I've bought in the past don't track true at all

Yeah I know, I bought one already

All I throw is SK Cranks and most all of them run fine I have had to tweak a few but for the most part they are good. I lied I do also throw the old DD22 as well.

Its not just deep cranks but just about all hard baits. I have some topwaters that catch more fish than others that are just like it. Have some Jerkbaits that have some really erratic action while others just like it don't do much at all. Have a Fat Free Fingerling that I bet I have caught over 300 fish on and have replaced the hooks no telling how many times. Have other Fat Free Fingerlings just like it that just don't get the job done like that one does.

Best thing to do is remember what baits catch fish and have a special box for the proven ones.

Common. Strike King has some of the worst quality control standards with their crank baits that I have ever seen and they have been that way for many years. You can purchase 6 Strike King crank baits and only 1 will run true out of the box. They have gotten better in recent years but they still need to improve. I will say that they do catch fish when you get them to run straight.

I wrote an article about this in 2000. Still relevant today. A friend and I tried to prove David Fritts wrong, that out of 100 CBs, only 5-10 would work by diving quicker/deeper, catching more fish, etc.. We threw each one for 500 casts and found 7 that worked like crazy. There were 22 that could be worked on and gotten better and you could have thrown the other 71 away, as they just weren't up to snuff, except one caught 2 of our larger fish (of the 22). Here is a link to the artcle.

http://www.wmi.org/multi_boards/doc.asp?message_number=44033&ini=d:\asp_ini\mb_5.ini

I posted them on here, but that was last year and I cnnot search over 6 months. David says he will not sell these CBs for $1000 each. I have 34 of them now, given several away and I WOULD probably sell them for $1000 each, but no one is offering that. LOL. I mark mine with a magic marker (indelibile ink). Hope this helps. Try again:

http://www.wmi.org/multi_boards/doc.asp?message_number=44033&ini=d:\asp_ini\mb_5.ini

Tight lines, keep safe and good luck.

Thad Rains

So with only so many cranks working correctly how many do most people have? Do you carry 3-4, 4-10, a boatload with extras hanging at home?

No crank bait brand runs perfect every time. Instead of gambling on an out of the pack perfect crank, tie one on, make a short cast or pitch with it and reel it to you observing if it goes one way or the other. Make your adjustments if required, and see if you can get it to run straight before you throw it. Takes less than 2 minutes.