10 12 2011 004

Danged purty bait Ben!, Don't know if I could make a long enough cast to get the full benefit of that bill. Make one hell-of-a deep dive troller though! Probably 25-28 foot on on 125+ foot of line I would guess.

Bait and paint job are great

Hey Ben

Great Work

Thanks guys. Fishing deep diving cranks became an obsession of mine many years ago and it has carried over into building them. And this type of crank retrieves sooooo much easier than baits like the Mann's 20+ and 30+ or the Luhr-Jensen Hot Lips Express. Those suckers will have you looking for the Ben-Gay after fishing them all day.

Making long casts is all about using the right equipment Brad. You need a long rod. Something in the 7'6" neighborhood. A smooth, properly maintained reel and line with a diameter that is as small as you can get away with. For throwing my larger cranks I like to use an Ambassadeur 6500. It has a large, wide spool with plenty of line capacity. The reason I like the reels with the big, wide spool is that they let out more line with each revolution of the spool than smaller reels do. I usually fish them on mono in the 10 to 15 pound test range. And if you want to gain a little more depth you can use a line like Fusion which has a much smaller diameter than mono. With a similar setup making long casts won't be a problem.

Now thats a great DEEP DIVER!! Awesome work Ben!!

Ben, that is a great looking diver. I have a soft spot for that body shape. Try 20/6 powerpro with that bad boy, no stretch helps with the hook ups when the bait is down deep. I would guess 21-23ft on a long cast.

DANG! That looks sweet.

Thanks Patrick and Benton. When I used to fish all the time I fished my deep divers on Fusion. (not sure they even make it anymore) Your definitely right about the no stretch on the hooks sets on a deep crank. And the increased sensitivity gives you a much better feel for what the bait is doing. When a bass comes up from behind and engulfs the bait the only thing you might feel is that the bait has stopped thumping.

Looks great!

You're all set for dredging up those winter bass.

I would have never have had the courage, or the genius mind, to put that long a bill on a crank.

Let us know how deep it runs, and how stable it is at speed.

Nice one, Ben! Should be able to power right past those guys throwing DD-22's and such.

Thanks Mark and Bob. Soon as I can get to a lake that has enough water left in it I'll let you know how deep it runs.