Two crank-pulling questions

[MJohnson]

First off, I've never pulled cranks for crappie, but I'm going to give it a go this year. Due to number of rods, money, boat size, etc, I'll probably only pull 2 at a time.

Question 1: If you could only have 4-5 colors and sizes of cranks total, which would you choose?

I can't afford to have 5 different 200 series, 5 300 series, etc. I'm thinking two of each in different colors, like pink, pearl/chart, Tennessee shad, and maybe solid black.

Question 2: The guy at my bait shop claims Bandit got bought out by another company and they (Bandit) are going to raise the price soon. Anybody else heard that?

They're already $6 a piece, if they go up any more I'll switch brands or just forget about pulling cranks. I might email Bandit and see what they say.

[Rees Guide]

I would look at the Arkies, better price for sure and you could put more color combos in your arsenal. Chrome is a gotta, black or blue back. Arkie also brought back the Chrome Clown. After the way Bandit left their employees the way they did I doubt I ever spend another dime on Bandits. Arkies on their website run 4.50 for the 350s and 2.50 for the 220s.

[NickD]

Try some Flicker Shads. I've caught a lot of Crappie with them and they are about $4 each.

["G"]

There is not a better running crankbait than a Arkie 350 series and they come in great colors.......and.......they are a major sponsor of C.C too. That being said....Johnson is also a major sponsor of C.C and they have some good crankbaits out and I like them better than the Flicker Shads, they look very similar.

[skeetbum]

Pink, Chartreuse, Pink, Black, Pink, purple back/ chartreuse belly, Pink, Pink/Purple back, Pink, Silver/black shad imitation with spot, pink, solid red..........
Don't forget pink.
I have several different brands and all work good at different times. Run different colors til you get a few and change out those not producing til they do.

[NickD]

Are the Arkie 350 series bigger than the crappie cranks?

["G"]

Nick......the Arkie 350 series the body is about 300 bandit size......the bill is slightly smaller but it has 2 more degrees of dive angle. They pull within a foot of the bandit 300 trolling depth chart. They have a better wiggle and a better sounding rattle.

[Rees Guide]

Are the Arkie 350 series bigger than the crappie cranks?

Yep, good bit.

[NickD]

Sounds good, I'll have to give then a try then. The other ones I got last year were just a little small for me. I'm not concerned much about depth, I use our Tadpole weights if I want to get deeper than 5-6 feet so i don't have to let as much line out.

[Rees Guide]

Sounds good, I'll have to give then a try then. The other ones I got last year were just a little small for me. I'm not concerned much about depth, I use our Tadpole weights if I want to get deeper than 5-6 feet so i don't have to let as much line out.

I caught a lot of fesh on those little dudes weighting them down like you are talking about last summer, was reluctant to use them but they seemed to work real well down deep, like running the bait in the 20 foot range. Didnt have to do that much last summer but when I needed to I went to them and they worked like clock work.