Crankbaits that run 3 feet deep or less are hot. This relatively new development comes on the heels of the 1990s depth craze, a bassin’ revolution that kept lure manufacturers busy designing crankbaits capable of diving 15, 20, even 25 feet on a long cast with light line
But think back. The earliest crankbaits were what today’s bassers would call “shallow divers”—many running 3 to 5 feet deep on a steady retrieve. The Creek Chub Wiggle Fish is an example, the lure Georgia farmer George W. Perry used to catch the record largemouth in 1932. Anglers had little need for a deeper-running plug back then; plenty bass could be caught by casting to the shoreline of natural lakes and ponds.
By mid-century, however, many rivers had been dammed for flood control and electric power generation. A new bass-fishing phenomenon—reservoir structure fishing—was born. The advent of portable sonar units, specialized bass boats, and organized tournaments in the late 1960s caused an explosion in bass fishing popularity. As anglers probed deeper water, they discovered bass relating to points, drop-offs, underwater humps, and other previously untapped structures. This new breed dredged up deep bass on Texas-rigged plastic worms and metal-billed crankbaits like the Hellbender and Bomber.
Many newly inundated reservoirs contained vast stands of submerged brush and trees, attracting hordes of bass. Shallow divers like the Cordell Big O excelled. But once wave action broke up shallow brush, bass moved offshore, prompting reservoir anglers to rely more on deep-running crankbaits or plastic worms.
Credit David Fritts for bringing deep-diving crankbaits into the modern era. The North Carolina angler won the 1993 BASS Masters Classic and the 1994 BASS Angler of the Year title by dredging deep cover with long-billed crankbaits. Soon deep crankin’ ruled the pro tour.
The Advent of Super-Shallow Runners
Veteran Mississippi bass pro Paul Elias spurred the development of super-shallow crankbaits in the early 1990s. “I’d just competed in a tournament on Lake Okeechobee, Florida, where I had a problem patterning the fish,” Elias recals. “They were relating to grassbeds, and when the event started, I caught ‘em on a lipless crankbait burned through the 2-foot band of open water above the grass. But as the tournament wore on and bass became more pressured, they moved deeper into the cover, and I couldn’t get them to hit a fast-moving lipless bait. That really bugged me, and I talked to Mann’s Bait Company about the need for a lure you could fish in a foot or two of water at a slow speed.”
These discussions led to the development of Mann’s 1-Minus series, the first lipped crankbaits designed to explore this skinny band of water. The 1-Minus seemed radical at the time, with its bulbous tadpole-like body and stubby lip. Today, that general shape has been adopted by virtually all hardbait manufacturers, and super-shallow runners have racked up an impressive string of high-profile tournament victories.
New Generation
Due to the competitive nature of the lure business, manufacturers are close-mouthed about crankbait design, but they admit it’s much easier to build a deep-diver than a shallow-diver. “Merely shortening the lip won’t cut it,” says veteran lure designer Tom Seward. “Attaining the correct body movement and vibration in a super-shallow runner is a challenge. These baits require high buoyancy, a special plastic mix, a computer-modeled body, design elements like body fins, and a lip designed to deflect off objects for snag protection.”
