Crankin' guys: Glass/comp vs. graphite rods

jazzwannabe · Post by **jazzwannabe** » Thu Aug 30, 2012 5:26 pm

In your experience, does one rod work better than the other to keep fish buttoned?

Oldschool · Post by **Oldschool** » Fri Aug 31, 2012 7:56 am

Your fist consideration selecting a cranking rod is ease of casting the lure type you are fishing with. The reel and rod should be perfectly balanced to make both long and accurate casts. Most deep diving crank bait are between 1/2 to 1 oz and casting distance between 30 to 40 yards, 50 yard cast are rare under fishing conditions, a good balanced rod/ reel and proper line can achieve long cast.
The rod needs to have enough back bone to control bass. The rod tip should give feed back what the lure is doing, a lot of strikes feel like the lure came untied and you need to know when the vibration stops.
Glass rods are going to be heavier than a glass/graphite comp rod and weight is important for balance. Handle length is important; the handle must fit you and your casting technique. Most graphite bass rods are not parabolic enough or too fast of action for a good costing cranking rod, you need to pick up, touch and feel rods and select what feels right to you.
As far as keeping bass hooked, totally depends on where the lure is in the basses mouth, all you need is solid tissue and you should be able control the bass with your drag set properly ( about 4# tenion) and you don't over do your hook sets; crank fast then sweep the rod back, then keep the rod loaded. Most crank fish are lost at the boat because the angler I rushed; back off the drag, take a deep berth, land the basss.
Tom

elfish16 · Post by **elfish16** » Fri Aug 31, 2012 9:27 am

be careful Tom, you said casting 50 yards is rare, most people claim 100yds is a normal cast!

Oldschool · Post by **Oldschool** » Fri Aug 31, 2012 9:52 am

elfish16 wrote:be careful Tom, you said casting 50 yards is rare, most people claim 100yds is a normal cast!

Go out to your local vacant football field and give it your best try, those yard markers don't move and 50 yards is a very long cast with your feet planted on deck. Let me know if you can cast further thn 50 yards with your favorite crank bait!
Tom
PS; it 's like 10 lb bass that only weigh 7 lbs on a scale, estimate are a lot easier.

fish_food · Post by **fish_food** » Fri Aug 31, 2012 11:34 am

Oldschool wrote:Most graphite bass rods are not parabolic enough or too fast of action for a good costing cranking rod, you need to pick up, touch and feel rods and select what feels right to you.

I think the original poster is asking about glass/composite cranking sticks versus graphite cranking sticks. Graphite cranking sticks can be had in moderate-fast to deep parabolic actions, just like their glass counterparts...

elfish16 · Post by **elfish16** » Fri Aug 31, 2012 1:05 pm

on topic though, I've become a HUGE fan of glass and composites. But no matter what, a crank bait gets thrown by fish and it makes no sense. I throw the Lamiglas 765 Skeet reese rod and the KVD 7'10" Composite rods...both are amazing and parabolic. I've not been a huge fan of the graphite cranking rods...

dwise · Post by **dwise** » Fri Aug 31, 2012 2:12 pm

I'm Old School...glass all the way for cranking.

Oldschool · Post by **Oldschool** » Sat Sep 01, 2012 10:48 am

jazzwannabe wrote:In your experience, does one rod work better than the other to keep fish buttoned?

OK, what reel do you plan to use? What lures; weight, diving depth?
What line?
With that information it's possible to make some recommendations.
I fished with a Fenwick glass 7'3" custom popping rod blank for over 25 years and caught crank bait bass all over the US, Mexico and Canada, with out a doubt my favorite crank cranking rod.
When my son starting fishing with me, I purchased a Dave Fritts Lew's 7'' med/hvy crank rod and Lew's RC3 round cranking reel. This rod is a glass/composite and casts very well, the reel worked great and we caught a lot of big bass on that outfit, he still uses it to this day and it's lighter weight and works just as god as my Fenwick glass rod.
Today I fish with a custom glass/composite 7'3" blank very similar to the Fritts rod, with the guides placed to optimize casting distance. I like to use Berkley Big Game 12 lb mono in the deep structured lakes that I fish; good knot strength cast extremely well in the wind.
For lighter weight lures; 3/8 to 1/2 oz cranks, I use a Loomis 7' glass/ composite popping rod blank, lighter rod and cast the lighter weight lure very well and has enough back bone to handle big bass. I use a Ardent 1100 on this rod.
The key to keeping bass hooked with treble hooks is changing the hooks to 1 size larger and experimenting with hook type for each crank bait type. Bass don't simply strike a Crank bait, they engulf it and bite down hard to kill the critter, then open their mouth to turn with the lure. If you hook set with the basses mouth open, you will get poor hook set. With practice you learn the timing and usually get a solid hook set. The faster action rods tend to make you react a little faster, about the time the fish opens it's mouth and that can lead to lost fish.
Tom

basslayer · Post by **basslayer** » Mon Sep 03, 2012 9:09 am

Ive always prefered graphite cranking rods because they are usually lighter and more sensitive. The composite rods have changed my opinion on this, they really seem to be the best of both worlds. I still prefere graphite for top water because its more responsive and allows me to work those baits more eratic.

Cooch · Post by **Cooch** » Tue Sep 04, 2012 2:34 am

Glass all the way. The Glass/composites can be very good as well, I've come to really enjoy and be confident when fishing my Elite Tec ECC73. The less reactive and softer tips will allow you to better fight a fish with out yankin that crankbait out of his mouth.

Graphite is too stiff, you'll yank that crank out of his mouth and have yer heart broken on bigger fish. Just ask the 2012 FLW Delta Champion Brian Carpenter who cranks a lot and to my amazement only used graphite rods. I kept tellin him fer 2 years it was gonna haunt him. In the 2012 WON pro-am here, two weeks prior to the FLW, he lost two very big fish and it cost him first place. During practice for the FLW, Charlie Weir gave Brian a Powell graphite rod to try, never lost a fish and won the FLW event. The week after the event, I loaned him one of my custom crankin rods that Beichman built for me out of a Lamiglass blank, a glass blank originally designed for Salmon mooching. Been 5 months, I still ain't got that rod back!