Crankbait depth

I hear a lot of references to crankbaits running deeper with certain line types, usually fluorocarbon. Can anyone tell me what the difference in the running depth would be for a DD22 when using 10lb fluorocarbon, or 10lb mono or 10lb braid? Assume you are using the same rod, cast the same distance and use the same retrieve speed in each test. Just curious what the differences would be.

10 lb braid would go the deepest due to it's smaller diameter. Line diameter determines cb depth.

Thickness of your line and the distance of your cast will determine just how deep your crankbait will run. I fish with the 8xd a bunch and have no problem getting it down to 25-30 fow on 12lb fluorocarbon and making long cast

30ft?

Only way an 8xd is going to hit 30ft is if he is trolling it....

strolling would be easy, casting I just don't see it.

Have to make a 125 yard cast to get an 8XD that deep

Sorry I meant Long lining basically throw it as far as you can and taking off with the trolling motor while free spooling it’s a bit time consuming but it’s really gets it’s down there and in the strike zone longer

Why throw it as far as you can? When I'm strolling, I throw the bait beside the boat and take off with the trolling motor while free-spooling.

strolling vs casting is like saying your 5 pounder if held right weighed just over 10, cmon man...

It's more about the cast really because depth per line diameter is relative to how far you can sling it out there. I always believed that line size and not type got you the deepest (10lb flouro & 10lb mono would yield same depth) but I fished with an FLW guy and he said that he get's 2-3ft deeper using flouro over mono of equal diameter. That may just be him but just an example that there are different views on this subject. You can't use 10lb braid for your example because it's diameter is going to be significantly smaller than 10lb flouro or mono so it will go deeper.

2ft deeper seems right with fluoro as it sinks and mono floats.

People are not considering the properties of the line when they say a line of similar size will go to the same depth. 10lb fluro will go the deepest out of all of them because fluoro sinks as opposed to mono that floats. You don't want to use braid with treble hooks in my opinion it gives the fish more leverage to get off the treble hooks when he moves since there is NO stretch at all. It it also more likely that you will rip those hooks out of his mouth since there is no give.

I'll guarantee you 10lb fluoro will not get a DD crankbait as deep as 10 lb braid. I do agree that braid for deep cranking is no good, though. Fluoro doesn't get deeper than mono because it sinks, either. If that were the sole reason, 20lb fluoro would get deeper than 10 pound fluoro because it's heavier and would sink faster than the 10lb. Fluoro gets deeper than mono because it is of smaller diameter than a similar pound test of mono. It's all about line diameter and resistance when you want to get a crankbait as deep as it will go on long casts.

You are absolutely right about the braid to flouro comparison but flouro is not necessarily thinner than mono. I use Sunline and their mono 10 is the same diameter as their Sniper flouro 10. Sunlines super flouro is actually thicker than the mono in 10. Now I don't know if I can get flouro deeper than it's mono equivalent all things being equal but it was just something I was told. Didn't get into the why he could get it deeper.

I will agree that fluoro sinks faster than mono, something like 1.7x faster. However, I just don't see that adding 2-3 feet of depth on a long cast. It hasn't been my personal experience.

David Fritts doesn't agree with you on that one. I am thinking I may give it a try on one of my cranking rods. Flexible rod, loosen drag a bit and see what happens.

Cool! Let us know how that works.

One line not mentioned was copoly. I don’t know if it sinks or floats. Feels just like mono to me but does anyone have experience cranking with it and how it compares to the others.

A study was done on this subject about 3 or 4 years ago. Using the same line size in mono and Flour9o, the flouro bait got down an additional .73" or something like that. Braid is a different story, however, as it is a smaller line diameter. THAT is the overall determination of how deep a bait will run, given different line types and casts lengths and etch. etch. etch. SOME baits just run deeper than others. Those are the baits that David Fritts said were made about 19:45 AM on Wednesday morning. That after that, the workers were thinking about the coming weekend and before that, they were reliving teh previous weekend. I have baits that run deeper than they say they will, but those are ODDITIES or flukes or whatever you want to call them. Hope this helps. Tight lines, keep safe and good luck.

Thad Rains

For a true test of all the lines mentioned, mono, fluorocarbon, co-polymer and braid you would have to get them all in the same diameter including the braid. If you went by the # test rating of the lines you would get false results.