Losing Hooked Bass 2024
livetofish28 reply :
I just got in from another day of fishing and caught one fish and it was a gizzard shad i snagged. I hooked a total of about 25 fish including one about 5 pounds on a lipless crank with stock hooks.. im fishing a st croix mojo bass big cranker with 40# power pro on a pro qualifier. I would set the hook just like I normally would and the bass would be on for about ten to twenty seconds and then it would be off. Is it the hooks or is it something else. If anyone could give me some suggestions it would be greatly appreciated. thanks
deaknh03 reply :
you lost 25 fish? all using the same lure?
WRB reply :
Lipless cranks are problematic for poor hook sets in cold water. This reason is the treble hooks tend to get only lightly skin hooked because bass often strike to injure the shad before returning to eat the injured bait fish. Changing the hooks to wide gap round bends one size larger than stock hooks help. Some lipless anglers will remove the rear treble and go 2 sizes up on the center hook.
I think your primary problem is the rod and line you are using. If you own a slower action crankbait rod med/hvy glass or Eglass rod and change to FC or Premium mono 12 lb line, your odds will go way up. Also set the reel drag to 3 to 4 lb tension. You are ripping the hooks out on the hook set, so just reel and sweep the back and let the reel drag do it's job.
Tom
PS; if you have gizzard shad, think about a 5" flutter spoon.
livetofish28 reply :
Ya i changed halfway through but the bites stopped switched it back bites started again.
JCiurej34 reply :
I generally swap out the hooks to KVD Elite trebles or Gamakatsu EWG trebles which have drastically helped me to land more fish. I too have the Mojo Glass Crankster which works really well for me since it has a moderate action. As for the line, I would go with mono or fluoro because the added stretch will also help you to land more fish. When I set the hook with crankbaits I let the rod load up and I sweep to the side. I do not set as hard as I would with something like a jig or texas rigged plastic.
I think the problem you are having is with the line because due to the fact that braid has near zero stretch it will easily rip the hooks out of the fish's mouth especially when they are just slapping at the bait. Swapping out the hooks and using line with more stretch should help. I Hope this helps.
Zackbassmaster reply :
If you really want to use that lipless just try and find triple barbed, sharper hooks. I put triple barbed trebles on my cranks.
WRB reply :
The St Croix Mojo Big Cranker is a glass 7'8" rod and should good, heavy action, so definitely change to premium mono or FC line with lipless crankbaits, unless you are ripping through weeds and this time of year that would be unusual.
Tom
ClackerBuzz reply :
On 1/14/2013 at 7:12 AM, WRB said:I think your primary problem is the rod and line you are using. If you own a slower action crankbait rod med/hvy glass or Eglass rod and change to FC or Premium mono 12 lb line, your odds will go way up. Also set the reel drag to 3 to 4 lb tension. You are ripping the hooks out on the hook set, so just reel and sweep the back and let the reel drag do it's job.
x2.
or if ur on the water and don't have the proper equipment with you just add patients and less elbow grease. let them have the crank a few extra seconds and do a soft and slow hook sweep. once they turn their head they will be hooked. and finesse reel them in with 40lb braid.. let the rod load when they fight or the hooks can still pop out
livetofish28 reply :
I forgot to mention I had a 12# mono leader on the braid
ww2farmer reply :
I am going to buck the "wisdom" of what is already posted, I fish my cranks on braid exclusivly. I do use moderate action cranking rods as well. I probably caught 500+ fish last year cranking with braid, and I don't think I lost more than a handfull. Change your hooks to a heavier wire hook, insted of hooking those fish with the stock hooks, you might be flexing the hooks too much on the hook set, and once you have changed the hooks, don't come out of your shoes setting it on them. I let them load the rod, and pull back on them with hard steady pressure off to the side, more time than not the hooks will bury them selves for me doing it that way. The parobolic action of a moderate cranking rod, combined with having the drag set on your reel will keep the fish pegged............that is if you get the hook into them. There are always "those days" when they just slap or nip at stuff, and those are the days we all lose fish, but having good hooks will get some of those slappers and nippers to the boat.
I would love...........absoloutly love, to have all these people who spew out the standard nonsense of "braid is no good for cranking" come fish with me for a day. I have turned almost every person who used mono or fluoro for cranking into braid users after seeing me use it effectivly.
flyfisher reply :
Are you sure there were fish on? To lose 25 is a lot. It may also be pickerel who tend to hit a bait on the side, chomp down then spin the prey to swallow. Makes it easy to miss them.
I will also echo sharp hooks are very important and the slam it home hook set is not needed
livetofish28 reply :
On 1/14/2013 at 10:16 AM, flyfisher said:Are you sure there were fish on? To lose 25 is a lot. It may also be pickerel who tend to hit a bait on the side, chomp down then spin the prey to swallow. Makes it easy to miss them.I will also echo sharp hooks are very important and the slam it home hook set is not needed
I'm 100% sure they were all fish when I watch them come to the surface and then dive back down it's obvious its a fish and in the lake I was fishing we don't have pickerel
flippin and pitchin reply :
You're cursed, plain and simple. You have done some transgression to the fish gods. You might as well give up the sport or try a glass rod.
00 mod reply :
What about gar? They are hard to hook, even with trebels. Other than that, take the advice of the others, and try less hook set and stretchier line.
Jeff
livetofish28 reply :
On 1/14/2013 at 11:05 AM, 00 mod said:What about gar? They are hard to hook, even with trebels. Other than that, take the advice of the others, and try less hook set and stretchier line.
Jeff
I wish we had gar it give me a reason to throw those big lures I keep collecting from sales the hookset method is that I have always done and has worked really well in the past. The lure is new and the hooks seemed fine I'm going to probably try some mustad wide gap treble and see if my luck changes The fish taunt me with a ten second fight then spit the hook. I wasn't the only one with the problem everyone else couldn't land a fish either
Comfortably Numb reply :
If I lose a bass on a crank, it is usually when they come to the surface and jump/shake. In that case, when you feel the fish coming up, ease up and stick you rod down in the water.
I found a medium rod bends more and keeps the line tighter
Shewillbemine reply :
Losing 25 bass sounds like a maddening experience.
How did you stop yourself from lighting a stick of dynamite and just dropping it in the water?!
SirSnookalot reply :
Everyone loses fish ! Not landing 1 in 25 tells me only 1 thing......... user error. It isn't the line, type of lure, hooks, rod and reel or anything, blind luck would have landed at least one. Sorry to say you are setting the hook early or late and not getting a solid hookset, not keeping the rod low on a jump, or maybe the drag is not set properly.
Sam reply :
Suggestions to go along with the others above:
1. Make sure you never allow slack in the line. A little bit of slack is all they need to throw the bait, especially treble hook baits.
2. Treble hook baits create a fulcrum that allows the hooks to pull themselves out of the fish's mouth. Nothing you can do. That is the way the bait is designed. Sammy's are notroious for this. This is why you cannot give them any slack. As stated previously, braid has no slack so once the hooks are set they are set.
3. Also as stated above, sharp treble hooks are a must. You may want to consider changing to a sharper hook. You tried switching them out for one size larger and they did not work. You may want to a)replace only the front hook with a larger size or b)remove the rear hook and leave the front hook, only.
4. Mono line has some stretch to it which is what you want. That stretch gives you the power to set the hook. Today some of the pros are using flouro for topwaters and treble hook baits. So the mono stretch advantage may not be as strong as first believed. As Ike says: "Mono for treble hook baits and flouro for all other baits."
5. Do you set the hook hard over your head? Do you throw yourself on the ground or out of the boat? Do you cross their eyes? How about swinging the rod to your left or right and let the bait and fish set the hook? When you fish treble hook baits try to move the rod from your left to right or right to left at waist level to set the hooks. If you set them too hard and they are in the front of the bass' mouth you can wave good-bye to the fish.
6. Keep rod tip high as you reel in the fish. If the fish jumps you can always reel very fast with your retrieve to keep the line tight and put the rod tip in the water to keep them from jumping. Just keep the line tight.
7. Small bass and bluegills can drive you nuts. You maybe getting hit by smaller dinks and their cousins. If this is the case you will miss more than than you hook.
Good luck and keep us posted how you do with your treble hook baits.
Sam reply :
28, let me add the following:
User error may be the problem as stated above however the fish may not have been agressive when you were fishing. Nonagressive fish tend to "short strike" your baits and although you think you have a fish on either the bass has the hooks in the front of their mouths or they let go of the bait.
Use a cranking stick. These rods are designed for crankbaits and have the power and tip action to set the hook. One of my favorite cranking sticks is from Bass Pro Shops and it works almost as good as my G. Loomis cranking rod.
When you feel the bait stop or you feel the hit swing the rod to your left or right as I suggested. A too strong hookset can pull the bait away from the fish.
Always keep your drag tight. You may want to put your magnets in an "X" pattern.
Read the rod's paramaters and stay within them for line test and bait weight.
A too light of a rod with a heavy bait is asking for trouble as is going outside of the rod's specifications.
LgMouthGambler reply :
On 1/14/2013 at 6:13 PM, SirSnookalot said:Everyone loses fish ! Not landing 1 in 25 tells me only 1 thing......... user error. It isn't the line, type of lure, hooks, rod and reel or anything, blind luck would have landed at least one. Sorry to say you are setting the hook early or late and not getting a solid hookset, not keeping the rod low on a jump, or maybe the drag is not set properly.
I'm gonna say this is your problem.
J Francho reply :
You're probably just horsing them in too hard.
Braid and moving baits? I know many make it work, but it's like nails on a chalkboard to me. Give me my good old CXX for that.
MCS reply :
Came across this today, found it may pertain to this thread slightly. Interesting read.
http://www.bassmaster.com/tips/crank-em-cold
for those to lazy to click here are some of the good parts of the article by Mr. Pete Ponds.
"But when the bait comes along, especially when it rapidly increases its speed, they want to swat at it. It’s their nature.
I say swat because a lot of the fish I catch doing this are hooked on the outside of the mouth. If they wanted to eat it they could. I suspect they’re reacting much like we react when a bee or a fly is buzzing around our heads. We slap at it to make it go away."
"My tackle choices are pretty straightforward. I like a 1/2-ounce Rat-L-Trap — traditional or the Pro Trap model — (color optional) thrown with a 7-3 medium-heavy action Duckett Fishing rod and a high-speed Ardent Edge reel. My line is 30-pound-test Vicious braid. I use braid because it gives me the feel I need to detect when a bass is swatting at my bait but not making contact with it.
One final tip: You don’t have to set the hook when you feel a fish. In fact, that’ll often cause you to lose it. Just loosen your drag a little and pull back hard. The hooks will penetrate past the barb and you’ll be good to go."
ww2farmer reply :
On 1/15/2013 at 5:26 AM, MCS said:Came across this today, found it may pertain to this thread slightly. Interesting read.
http://www.bassmaster.com/tips/crank-em-cold
for those to lazy to click here are some of the good parts of the article by Mr. Pete Ponds.
"But when the bait comes along, especially when it rapidly increases its speed, they want to swat at it. It’s their nature.
I say swat because a lot of the fish I catch doing this are hooked on the outside of the mouth. If they wanted to eat it they could. I suspect they’re reacting much like we react when a bee or a fly is buzzing around our heads. We slap at it to make it go away."
"My tackle choices are pretty straightforward. I like a 1/2-ounce Rat-L-Trap — traditional or the Pro Trap model — (color optional) thrown with a 7-3 medium-heavy action Duckett Fishing rod and a high-speed Ardent Edge reel. My line is 30-pound-test Vicious braid. I use braid because it gives me the feel I need to detect when a bass is swatting at my bait but not making contact with it.
One final tip: You don’t have to set the hook when you feel a fish. In fact, that’ll often cause you to lose it. Just loosen your drag a little and pull back hard. The hooks will penetrate past the barb and you’ll be good to go."
Wonder where I have seen that before.
livetofish28 reply :
tried again today with new mustad treble hooks and the result was completely different i landed about ten and losing only one. The lure was new and i guess the hooks were the problem. i have never had any touble before using the method to set the hook as i normally would with a nice slow sideways set. when i look at the old hooks i noticed that one of the shanks on the rear treble was bent outwards which may have been the problem.
iabass8 reply :
out of curiosity, was it a cotten cordell lipless crank?
livetofish28 reply :
On 1/15/2013 at 7:08 AM, iabass8 said:out of curiosity, was it a cotten cordell lipless crank?
i believe it was
wnybassman reply :
On 1/15/2013 at 6:54 AM, livetofish28 said:tried again today with new mustad treble hooks and the result was completely different i landed about ten and losing only one. The lure was new and i guess the hooks were the problem. i have never had any touble before using the method to set the hook as i normally would with a nice slow sideways set. when i look at the old hooks i noticed that one of the shanks on the rear treble was bent outwards which may have been the problem.
So that tells me they were actually eating it today, instead of just swatting at it. lol
Bankbeater reply :
Always sharpen the hooks on new baits. Never assume that they are sharp right out of the box. That way you don't have to worry about it.
iabass8 reply :
well if it was i had the exact same issue a couple years (not 25 bass but a few that got me scratchimg my head)ago testing the bait on a hot lipless bite. Wss using a MHM legend tournament /w 12lb fluoro and couldnt keep a fish hooked to save my life. It was very frustrating as shallow cranks and lipless presentations are something i take pride in and do considerably well.Switched baits and the issue was solved. Switched out hooks on the cotten cordell and it fixed the issue.On 1/15/2013 at 7:11 AM, livetofish28 said:i believe it was
tbone1993 reply :
On 1/15/2013 at 7:08 AM, iabass8 said:out of curiosity, was it a cotten cordell lipless crank?
Or as others refer to it cotten corcrap...
livetofish28 reply :
I love to fish a lipless crank it's probably my favorite bait I normally always have a rod with one on it. I guess it was the hooks because I've never had that problem before
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