For Bass Pro Tour pro Mike McClelland, cranking rocky sections of shoreline in the Ozarks is second nature. McClelland, who has amassed 8 tour level victories during his career, can attribute many of those victories to that specific technique, which is near and dear to his heart.

McClelland’s go-to bait when approaching rocky cover is the SPRO RkCrawler 55. It’s no surprise that when McClelland designed this bait he had cranking rock in mind, and thus focused on making sure the bait embarked a wide, wobbling, hunting action, that is perfect for digging down and deflecting off rock.

Although the bait is a huge part of the equation, McClelland insists that the type of line and its size is equally important to having success with this technique. “Any time I am approaching a bank I am going to crank with a RkCrawler I am going to have it tied on with at least three different pound tests of Sunline Crank FC. The reason I do that is that I am then able to approach that particular stretch of bank at totally different depths and angles” said McClleland.

“Simply switching from 10 to 12, or 14 pound test line on the same bait allows me to change the depth, and in some ways the action of the bait depending on what I am trying to achieve. Giving myself those options of various depths and actions with the same bait allows me to catch fish I may not have otherwise on the same bait. Changing the pound test line I am using on the RkCrawler has allowed me to catch fish in the same areas I had already fished through on numerous occasions” McClelland said.

With the release of the new Sunline Crank FC the guesswork has been taken out of choosing which flouorocarbon to use for cranking. “The new Crank FC by Sunline is really the deal. It has the perfect amount of stretch you want in a cranking line, and the handling, performance, and casting distance is phenomenal. It is by far the best line I have ever spooled up for throwing a crankbait, and I’ve used them all” concluded McClelland.