I don't think I can hit bottom at 12ft with a 6xd. I know my rod and reel are too cheap and not set up correctly. But before upgrading which is the most important factor to achieving good depth? A good rod or a good reel? I think my line is ok?

BPS Tourney Special 5:6:1
TFO Professional 7' MH
I use either 10 or 12lb flouro seaguar red label or pline

Long casts

long cast and a bait that runs true. If a 20' diver runs to the left or right you'll be lucky to get 12-14 feet out of it. Is your rod a moderate action? A parabolic rod is better. Medium Heavy Moderate or Medium Moderate is what you want. Looks like your line and reel are fine, unless you're not getting much distance on a cast.

Agreed. I can get my 6xd to hit 16ft on regular basis.

Thank you all, the rod is a moderate-fast action. What are you thinking of when you say long cast? It's hard to judge, but I bet I can throw it 50 yds? Easily 3-4 seconds of "hang time". I throw it as far as I can, point the rod tip down and almost "pull" the bait towards me at the start reeling fast. Then I settle into a moderate to fast retrieve to keep the rod tip loaded with the pull from the bait.

A couple days ago I was sitting in 8-10ft throwing out to 20 and bringing it back, rarely would touch bottom towards the end of the cast.

If you look closely at reel specs, they don't have 3 numbers, it's two (5.6:1), in your case, for each full-turn crank of the handle, the spool rotates 5.6 revolutions, giving you a decent gear ratio for lures that "pull back". The lower the first number, the more leverage you have against the lure's resistance.
Your line should be OK. I think the diameter makes more difference that whether the actual material sinks or floats. As a SCUBA diver, I've seen a view of line going to a crankbait, and it's not straight to it; because of the drag of the line cutting through the water, it's actually got a curve to it as it descends from the surface to the lure. Thick line can limit how far down a lure can pull the line as it bows in resistance to the drag in the water. Smaller diameter line cuts through the water better, letting the lure dive deeper.
I think your limitation is being able to make long casts. There's a reason there are a lot of 7' 6" and up crankbait rods. They give more leverage for longer casts, and so does the slow action of the rod. A long slower-action (that "parabolic thing") rod will load up more, and give more leverage with that loading. The shortest rod I have for true deep cranking is 7' 6".

That makes sense thank you. I'll get a longer, more parabolic rod and see how far I can chuck it then.

You should be able to hit 12ft with a 6xd on a short cast. Like someone said above, make sure it's tuned correctly.

I can usually tick the bottom at 18 feet on a long cast with 20lb braid. My set up: Kistler helium heavy moderate 7'10" with a revo toro high speed beast.

I could hit 12 feet tossing it out and retrieving it by hand. Something is wrong with your lure or you are hitting bottom and just not realizing it.

Tuning is huge. I won't make a cast until I get it running perfectly straight and I mean perfect. If I can't get it perfect I cut it off and tie on another one. Obviously casting distance is the next biggest thing. I can get it ticking bottom in 20-21 feet but that is a bomb down wind cast. 14-18 feet should be easily attainable on normal long casts. 8 foot rod, 12 pound flouro, high line capacity reel, and a 5 something gear ratio is what I prefer. I deep crank a ton.

I am kinda new to deep water cranking in addition to the above what is yalls favorite baits and top 2-3 colors?

Thanks

All 3 play a role! Also running straight is necessary.

You can whip a 6XD really far with a 7ft MH Ugly Stik spinning rod and a 3500 spinning reel.
It’s not what I use now (but I still throw lighter deep divers like the 6XDs and DD22s with spinning gear)
Easier to throw lighter crankbaits farther on spinning gear, at least for me.
And I like the drag system on spinning reels for medium and smaller treble hooked lures
10XDs, I use a baitcaster and swimbait rod.

long cast, line weight, reel gear ratio is the three most important ones with long rod like 7'6+. I like deep cranking with 10lb line it gets the 6xd 16-18ft. hard to beat a sexy shad or blue back yellow 6xd sucker will catch everything that swims.

A long rod will always increase casting distance on any lure. I like to use a rod between 7.5'-8' long for deep diving crankbaits since accurate casts which are much easier achieved with shorter rods are usually not needed when throwing a deep diving crankbait. Aside from using thin diameter and dense line like the 10-12lb fluorocarbon you are using I recommend using a baitcasting reel which has a wider spool for longer length casts. Also casting with the wind at your back will help increase your casting distance in addition to turning off as many of the centrifugal brakes on your reel as possible without backlashing too often so that it does not slow the line leaving your spool nearly as much during your casts. With loosened centrifugal brakes you will backlash much less often by simply letting the rod do the work rather than casting as hard as possible which will more often result in a backlash. In addition it is very important to make sure to have your crankbait properly tuned to be running as straight as possible on a quick retrieve to help achieve the maximum diving depth from them and keep your rod tip down towards the water, especially at the beginning of your retrieve. After catching a fish or two you may have to adjust your line tie to ensure your deep crankbaits are running in a straight line. I hope this helps, good luck!