Cranka Crab

[dane9092]

Hey Guys..

Just wondering if anyone has been fishing with a cranka crab and how did use go whats best method in regards to using them i live fairly close to Patterson river but have had not much success on hooking up a bream.

[MattRC]

Got a nice flattie the other day out on the boat. Just drifting and giving a little jig every 30 seconds.

[dane9092]

is there flatties to be caught in the actual river itself if so where abouts.. cause ive fished the patto alot and not once have i ever caught a flattie, ive caught heaps and heaps of bream, travelly here and there banjo once at the mouth and some pinkies but never a flattie.

[sloth]

For bream you can fish them on the drop near vertical structure, deadstick them on the bottom or for a retrieve I use a slow horizontal draw of maybe a foot or so followed by a decent pause. You can also shake the slack on a deadsticked crab to get a little movement into it.

[dane9092]

Great thanks alot.. will deff give it ago next time i head down there and hopefully hook my first bream on the cranka! recently just bought a little 6ft rod with a 1000 sized reel and feeling a bream on the end of that would be awesome!

[sloth]

Took me a while to dig this out of my facebook feed ..... From the guy who invented them and owner of cranka :

We think you will find them very versatile once you get a feel for them... You can't fish our crabs too slowly but having said this we use the 5.9 gram model typically when searching flats and long cast are the order of the day.

We pitch them as long as possible letting them settle on the bottom... Then With a low to the waters surface rod tip position we impart a slow draw and pause style of retrieve while maintaining our crabs contact with the bottom.

Slowly draw your crab / rod tip in towards your feet pausing to take up slack line and winding your rod tip back out away from your feet again back to its start position and repeat the draw and pause action.

Mixing up the length of your draw and the length of the pause can pay off on some days. Also imparting a subtle tip shake as you draw your rod tip can work a treat.

If you practice this draw and pause / rod tip shake style of retrieve in clear, shallow water at your feet you will soon get a feel for how subtle a tip shake makes the legs and claws look alive in the water.

Throw in the occasional high stick rod tip lift if you bump into any bottom structure and you can't go wrong.

Subtle movements really get the floating claws and legs looking alive... And keeping your crab close to or on the bottom like a real crab clawing along with lots of pauses thrown in is deadly!

Enjoy!

[MattRC]

is there flatties to be caught in the actual river itself if so where abouts.. cause ive fished the patto alot and not once have i ever caught a flattie, ive caught heaps and heaps of bream, travelly here and there banjo once at the mouth and some pinkies but never a flattie.

Sorry mate I didnt mean Patto river. We were off Altona. Was just letting you know how we got the Flattie.

[4liters]

What species will try and eat a crab lure? Will pinkies and whiting have a go at it? And does the bottom need to be clear of weed for them to work?

[sloth]

Most species will have a crack. They are relatively snag proof. If fishing weedy areas it pays to target the sandy patches between weed or the edge of the weed bank - but that really holds for all lures - not just the crabs. They work in a variety of situations and on different type of structures but worth bearing in mind they're not a great search/prospecting lure as they need to be fished slow. I use the crabs in places I know fish will be holding, where I've had hits on a prospecting lure or where I can sight foraging bream.

[4liters]

Most species will have a crack. They are relatively snag proof. If fishing weedy areas it pays to target the sandy patches between weed or the edge of the weed bank - but that really holds for all lures - not just the crabs. They work in a variety of situations and on different type of structures but worth bearing in mind they're not a great search/prospecting lure as they need to be fished slow. I use the crabs in places I know fish will be holding, where I've had hits on a prospecting lure or where I can sight foraging bream.

Thanks