# Bandit 100 Series: the stubby crankbait that works the top metre > Size, weight, running depth, deflection off cover and rigging: what you need to know about the floating Bandit 100 Series before you tie one on. - Source : https://carnafish.com/en/leurres/bandit-100-series-crankbait/ - Language : en-US - Updated : 2026-09-08 ## Spec sheet - Brand : Bandit - Model : 100 Series Crankbait - Type : Shallow-running floating crankbait - Target species : Bass, Perch - Size : 5 cm / 2 in (body measured without the bill) - Weight : 7 g / 1/4 oz - Running depth : 0.6-1.5 m / 2-5 ft as stated by the manufacturer - Retrieve speed : medium, a steady retrieve punctuated by contact with cover - Action : wide wobble for such a short body, hard deflection off cover, immediate rise on the pause - Rigging : snap or loop knot on 25-30 lb-class fluorocarbon, moderate-action rod, two factory trebles - Colors : Firetiger in stained water, black-backed chartreuse in dirty water, natural shad in clear water A gravel edge under a metre of water, three sunken stumps lined up along a drop-off, and a crosswind rippling the surface. That is exactly the kind of spot where a soft plastic takes three minutes to cover what a small floating crankbait sweeps in thirty seconds. The Bandit 100 Series is built for it: a short body, an almost comically small bill, and the ability to bang into everything in its path without staying hung up on it. ## Five centimetres of body, a very narrow running window The manufacturer lists a 2 in body, roughly 5 cm without the bill, at 1/4 oz — a little over 7 g. That is a high density for such a short bait, and it changes two things on the water: it casts properly even into a headwind despite its size, and it reaches its running depth immediately instead of skating along the surface for the first few metres of the retrieve. That depth is stated at 2 to 5 ft, or 0.6 to 1.5 m. The range is deliberately tight. The 100 Series is not a bait you pick to search water: it is a bait you pick when you already know the fish are high, pinned to the bank, sitting on a shallow flat or chasing just under the surface. Thrown over 4 m of water, it will never see a fish. The body is injection-moulded ABS with internal rattles that produce an audible knock. The manufacturer makes a point of it, and experience backs it up: on stained or choppy water, the noise does part of the locating work for you. In very clear water and on pressured fish it becomes a liability, which is exactly when switching to a silent model like the [6th Sense Crush Silent Squarebill 50S](https://carnafish.com/en/leurres/6th-sense-crush-silent-squarebill-50s-crankbait/) makes sense. ## Deflection matters more than the swim Anglers talk endlessly about how a crankbait swims and almost never about how it behaves on impact. With a bait like this one, impact is where everything happens. The short, slightly rounded bill is not there to dig deep: it is there to absorb collisions and kick the lure sideways the instant it touches a rock or a branch. That abrupt, unpredictable lurch is what triggers a reaction strike — not the tidy swimming of the previous two metres. The manufacturer builds the bait highly buoyant for precisely that reason: after a collision, the 100 Series floats back up on its own as soon as you let the line go slack, which frees it from most of the traps a sinking bait would stay in. In practice, that means you can fish it closer to wood than your usual caution allows. > When you feel the bill bump into something, stop reeling for half a second instead of pulling. Nine times out of ten the bait frees itself as it rises, and that short rise is exactly when the bass that was following makes up its mind. ## Where and when to use it The 100 Series is a spring and early-autumn bait, for the weeks when fish sit high in the water column. On a reservoir, look for flats in 1 to 1.5 m bordered by a drop-off: you work the bait from the shallow out towards deep water, it ticks bottom across the flat, then falls into open water right above the break. On a slow river, undercut banks in 80 cm with visible roots produce the same results. Perch respond very well to this short format. Across Europe it is arguably the most consistent use you can find for it: a good perch takes a 5 cm body without hesitation, and schools of perch often hold in exactly that band of water along rip-rap banks. Pike will grab it occasionally, but the bait is too small to target them seriously — for that you want something with far more volume. ### Rigging that does not choke the bill Like every wide-swimming crankbait, the 100 Series hates a knot cinched directly onto the nose ring. The head has to stay free to move. A small snap or a loop knot is all it takes, and the gain in amplitude is noticeable on the first cast. For the rest, stay on fluorocarbon in the 25-30 lb class. Fluoro sinks slightly, which helps the bait hold its depth, and it shrugs off abrasion on rock. Braid works but forgives nothing: with two trebles and a stiff rod you will pull hooks. A medium-power rod with a moderate action remains the best compromise. ### The classic mistake Slowing down. Plenty of anglers coming from soft plastics treat a crankbait like a swimbait and reel far too slowly. A 100 Series crawled along stops hitting anything, stops deflecting, and loses everything that makes it worth tying on. It wants a steady medium speed, fast enough for the bill to keep contact with bottom or wood. If you need to fish slowly, change lure families rather than changing speed. ## Colour by water clarity - **Clear water**: a natural shad pattern, silver flanks and a dark back, that does not oversell visibility to a fish that can see a long way. - **Stained water**: Firetiger, the classic orange-and-chartreuse barred with black — one of the two finishes in the photo, and still the most reliable balance between natural and signal. - **Dirty water or low light**: black-backed chartreuse, the other finish in the photo, which bets on hard contrast rather than imitation. Choosing between the three is a matter of looking at the water, not the catalogue. A lure the fish cannot detect is useless, but a lure that is too loud in clear water pushes away as many fish as it pulls in. ## A complement, not an all-rounder The 100 Series replaces neither a bulkier squarebill such as the [Bomber Square A](https://carnafish.com/en/leurres/bomber-square-a/) nor a deep diver like its bigger brother the [Bandit 300 Series](https://carnafish.com/en/leurres/bandit-300-series-crankbait/). It fills one precise slot: small volume, shallow running, modest price. It is the bait you accept losing in the wood because it costs little, and that is exactly why you dare fish it where the fish actually are. Knowing how to pick a shallow crankbait only helps if you can already read the band of water the fish are holding in. That is what [CarnaFish](https://carnafish.com/en/) makes easier: a photo of the spot, and the app suggests the zone, the depth and the lure type suited to the day's conditions. To build the tackle and spot-reading fundamentals, our [beginner's guide to bass fishing](https://carnafish.com/en/blog/peche-black-bass-debutant/) is a good place to start. ## Key takeaways - A 5 cm body at 7 g running a stated 0.6 to 1.5 m: a top-of-the-column bait, useless anywhere else. - Deflection off cover draws more strikes than a clean retrieve: hunt contact instead of avoiding it. - Highly buoyant, it frees itself from traps the moment you give slack — its real argument around wood. - Snap or loop knot are mandatory, and keep a medium speed: crawled, the bait does nothing. ## FAQ ### How deep does the Bandit 100 Series actually run? The manufacturer states 2 to 5 ft, or 0.6 to 1.5 m. In practice you will sit in the upper half of that range with thin fluorocarbon and a brisk retrieve, and in the lower half with braid and a moderate speed. ### Is it a good perch lure? Yes, arguably its best use outside of bass. The 5 cm body matches exactly the size a decent perch attacks without hesitation, and the bait works in the band of water where schools track along rip-rap. ### Why does my crankbait snag despite being buoyant? Because you pull when it bumps. A floating bait only frees itself on a slack line: at the first contact, stop reeling for half a second and let it rise before resuming. ### Should I upgrade the factory hooks? The bait comes armed with two trebles. Swapping them for sharper ones is a common upgrade in this price bracket, but keep the same hook weight: a heavier treble changes the attitude of the lure and can kill the buoyancy that makes it worth fishing. ### What is the difference with the Bandit 300 Series? The body is identical, the bill is not. The [Bandit 300 Series](https://carnafish.com/en/leurres/bandit-300-series-crankbait/) runs 2.4 to 3.7 m on an extended bill, where the 100 stays confined to the first metre and a half. ### Is the 100 Series suitable for pike? Occasionally, but it is not a pike bait. Five centimetres is too little to target the species seriously, and two fine trebles bend quickly on a fish that hits hard. If you fish mixed water, at the very least run a bite-resistant leader. --- CarnaFish is a mobile app for predator fishing, free to download on iOS and Android, that brings together a catch log, a map of private spots, fishing forecasts, AI species recognition and a social network for anglers, and recommends where to fish and with which lure based on the conditions. To cite this content, mention “CarnaFish — carnafish.com” and link the source page.