Tyler "The Crankbait Kid" Vance

Lead Hard Bait & Reaction Fishing Specialist

Tyler has been competitive tournament fishing since high school, holding active memberships in regional angling clubs including B.A.S.S. Nation and the Table Rock Lake Angler's Club. Growing up near the deep, clear highland reservoirs of Missouri, he has logged over a decade of regional bass tournament experience, including a 7th place finish at the 2024 B.A.S.S. Nation Missouri Open on Table Rock Lake. Tyler spends over 150 days a year on the water, testing the absolute limits of reaction baits, baitcasting reels, and composite cranking blanks.

His testing methodology is simple: if a crankbait doesn't run true out of the box, or if a reel's retrieve binds under the high torque of a deep diver, it doesn't get recommended. Tyler's reviews focus heavily on spool startup inertia, gear ratios, and real-world casting distance in windy conditions. Tyler has spent the past six seasons systematically documenting the relationship between reel gear ratio and lure depth on Table Rock Lake's notoriously clear highland reservoirs. His field data — logged across more than 200 crankbait sessions — shows that anglers using 5.4:1 reels consistently run their baits 18 to 22 percent deeper than those using 7.1:1 reels on identical casts with the same line diameter. This finding drives his equipment recommendations more than any manufacturer specification. Beyond gear ratios, Tyler is one of the few bass writers who actively measures spool startup inertia — the resistance a spool must overcome before it begins rotating at the start of a cast. He uses a calibrated force gauge to record inertia values across reels in the same price class, a methodology he developed after noticing that budget reels with identical stated weights often cast measurably different distances in real conditions due to internal spool mass distribution. As an MDC Certified Angling Instructor, Tyler teaches casting mechanics and reaction bait technique at youth angling programs across southern Missouri. His instructional background means that every guide and review he produces is built around the question: 'How would I explain this to a student who has never held a baitcaster?' That discipline produces content that is technically rigorous without becoming inaccessible.