Bait Eating Trees 2025
Choporoz reply :
Typical day on the water yesterday....two good fish on a craw colored red-eye shad and then, BAM...straight into a tree - 15 feet out of reach. I got to thinking....I haven't owned a lure type that hasn't found a tree...or at least an overhanging bush. But lipless cranks...man...they just sail soooo nice....and trees love 'em! If I visit your lake, what lures that you previously owned would I find in the overhanging tree branches?
scaleface reply :
My most productive shallow crankbait ever is up high in a tree . I just could not figure out a way to get it back .
fishballer06 reply :
The local PA trees love a good topwater lure.
Senko lover reply :
Why did you not have an "all of the above" option??
Senko lover reply :
Oh, and typically I don't have a problem with the bait in my ponds eating trees. You must have some nasty little shad where you fish!
the reel ess reply :
I've climbed a tree from a kayak to get a gold Rat-L-Trap back. Sometimes (often) it's the best bait I have for my favorite reservoir.
WRB reply :
Any tree near shore at night.
Tom
Jar11591 reply :
On 11/17/2015 at 5:03 AM, fishballer06 said:The local PA trees love a good topwater lure.
Same with the trees in upstate NY.
Jar11591 reply :
Sometimes my depth perception is deadly accurate when casting towards trees. Other times, I'll put my bait 15' up a tree--still going up.
KyAngler_1120 reply :
LOL there is no, "All of the above" or I would have checked that.
A-Jay reply :
On 11/17/2015 at 5:23 AM, WRB said:Any tree near shore at night.
Tom
I with Tom here and for me it's spinnerbaits.
I really prefer the darkest of Moon-less nights in the summer, but loose situational awareness for just one minute, with a black night & no horizon, it's really easy to launch a bait right into the woods, or across two docks, or if you're really going good, into an open window ~ 
These baits are rarely recovered.
A-Jay
desmobob reply :
I just got home from a cold day of fishing. I left a nice Red Eye Shad lipless crank in a beautiful little cedar tree. The irony is, I found that very same Red Eye Shad where somebody else left it... in a tree along the bank! What goes around, comes around....
Tight lines,
Bob
Catt reply :
Any bait in the spring around Buck Brush 
thirtysixit reply :
If Charlie Brown was an angler he would throw squarebills! 
K_Mac reply :
On 11/17/2015 at 6:47 AM, thirtysixit said:If Charlie Brown was an angler he would throw squarebills!
You may be right. Even with a perfect cast, a squarebill is often deep in the woods!
Having spent a lot of time night fishing I agree with Tom and A-Jay. There are times when the lost bait is easier to accept than the professional overrun that goes with it.
Bluebasser86 reply :
You won't find any of my baits in trees, a telescoping lure retriever insures that. When I find someone else's bait in the tree, it does a great job getting that bait out too.
lo n slo reply :
What about those underwater trees?
68camaro reply :
I have a megabass popper in tree right now with attached line tied to discreet location in bush while I figure out how to get lure down.
bigbill reply :
It was the year when the rapala glass raps were offered.
I was in a rush to fish. It was a tad windy. I had around $35 in lures in the trees when I left. I couldn't stay there any longer. I couldn't afford it.
Most years I lose nothing.
Fisher-O-men reply :
50 # braid brings the tree to me! (or straightens the hook)
Bluebasser86 reply :
On 11/17/2015 at 10:30 AM, lo n slo said:What about those underwater trees?
Telescoping lure retriever 
Seriously, if I can reach it, I bet I have over a 90% recovery rate, and most of the baits I lose are jigs/T rigs or other bottom contact baits that get wedged. They might seem a little expensive at first but after I get a couple LC baits unsnagged or get a few expensive baits out of the trees that others have left (I got 3 Lucky Craft, 1 pre Rapala wart, and 1 Megabass out of the tree in a day last time I was at Table Rock), they pay for themselves.
Oregon Native reply :
A nice breeze and a flat sided crank or trap sails really nice!!!
Bankbeater reply :
Some years back we lost a shallow running crankbait in a tree near the shore. About 10 months later we were fishing the same spot and went under that same tree. There hanging about a foot over our heads was that shallow running crankbait.
Fishes in trees reply :
Some stuck lures require a pole type lure retriever. I got one. Other stuck lures require a hound dog type lure retriever. I got one. Sometimes you need one, sometimes the other. Once I get a lure stuck, and I get all of them stuck from time to time, first I always ask myself the question, "How much do I want this lure back/" If it is a shaky head - I'm not that concerned, because I've got lots of shaky heads. Jigs - depends on the jig. Home made jika rig - kinda depends on if it is one I made with tungsten weights or lead weights. and so on.
My thing about stuck lures is about wasting time. I won't spend more than 5 minutes attempting to get a lure back, more than that is wasting the and fishing time is too valuable. Nothing is etched in stone though, and I've spend considerably more time than than trying to get lures back - some for sentimental reasons. Another reason for spending more time is that lure retrieval requires practice, i.e. you aren't born knowing how to expertly use a lure retriever. If you aren't an accomplished lure retriever user, then time spent learning is time well spent.
If you're fishing from a boat carrying both types of lure retrievers is a no brainer. If you're bank bound, I think that carrying an extendable pole is a good idea.
desmobob reply :
I'd love to have one of the pole type retrievers. The only thing that holds me back is the thought of it taking up boat space... the ones I looked at don't collapse to a very short length at all. I know I'll have to break down and get one anyways. Today, I looked up with a tear in my eye at the Red Eye Shad I hung high in a cedar tree yesterday. It was glistening in the sun, taunting me.
Tight lines,
Bob
jbw252 reply :
Ditto on the lipless crank baits. They love to zing into trees before I can stop them.
Ratherbfishing reply :
The only thing more ravenous than Charlie Brown's kite eating tree is the infamous lure eating tree-only there seems to be more than just one of them.
It's been my experience that the TYPE of lure being eaten is less relevent that the cost of said lure (or it's ability to be replaced). Expensive and difficult to replace lures are definitely high on the lure eating trees menu.
Jtrout reply :
Crankbaits and trigs. Theres a chatter bait in a tree in my front yard!
68camaro reply :
I used a hound dog type retriever successfully first time today, got a spinner stunk on underwater tree, retrieve got it right off.
atcoha reply :
plenty of downed trees/branches in the creek where I fish, It loves t-rigged anything. Got a notion to throw a big grappling hook on a chain and drag that stuff out with my truck.
everythingthatswims reply :
For me it's a spinnerbait because once it wraps around the branch it will spin around a dozen more times in a split second, no trebles to catch on anything. I also tend to put the spinnerbait up against the bank more often and in little nooks and crannies between branches.
Bassguytom reply :
So red and white bobbers don't grow naturally on trees? We see them all the time and always just called them bobber trees. This forum is awesome! I learn something new every day!
Further North reply :
Late winter, 2014...I was at a sports show in the Twin Cities and bought a few Doctor Spoons because some guy I was talking to said they worked great on pike and muskies in Canada...
June of 2014...Lake of the Woods...water is the highest it's been since the early 60s...3 ft, maybe more above normal...the 1 1/8 oz., red and white Doctor Spoon begins to produce toothy fish like crazy. A big, silver, toothy fish swims off with the first one on day two. Daredevels work...but nowhere near as well...I've got one left...can't tell you how many pike it caught...I don't have that many fingers and toes...even if I were quintuplets...and a bunch of musky...even a few smallies...
The other thing I can't tell you is the number of times we beached the boat to get out and pull that spoon out of trees, bushes, crevices in on-shore rocks...to catch fish that week you needed to be right next to shore...late Friday...maybe an hour before dark, I zing that spoon into shore a little too hard, it hits a rock and bounces up into the bottom branches of a cedar tree. I's pretty stuck, but I get a good angle on it and finesse it out, onto the big rock and twitch it into the water about 6 inches off shore...count it down to about 3 feet, give a soled twitch...and stick it solidly into another cedar that is underwater. Fought with that SOB for 20 minutes, and eventually broke the line and watched that spoon pop out and flutter to the bottom in 15 ft. of water....
I took a dozen up with me this year...
F@#$%^& cedar trees...
Alonerankin2 reply :
Sheesh, first it's Bigfoot, then a concrete sea monster.. Then the paranormal, followed by gigantic spiders. Now it's bait eating trees. I'm heading back to the Whiskey thread, lol.
Bankbeater reply :
Usually it's that one skinny little branch that blends in and I don't see it until the bait is hanging from it.
bigfruits reply :
rat-l-traps at dark!
noob tip: if bait has not wrapped around the branch yet, aim rod at branch and reel bait until it is about 2 inches from branch. lift rod until the bait flys off branch. the trick is not lifting the rod too fast and keeping it in one long motion all at the same speed.
jbarnard reply :
On 11/19/2015 at 10:40 AM, Bassguytom said:So red and white bobbers don't grow naturally on trees? We see them all the time and always just called them bobber trees. This forum is awesome! I learn something new every day!
sound like there ready for christmas
jbarnard reply :
where i live i fish mainly shallow water reservoirs. with that being said apparently the trees here like a squarebill
NorcalBassin reply :
More rocks than trees in the lakes around here now (tree line is a loooong way away from the water with the drought), but I'm most prone to forgetting just how well lipless cranks cast and lose those more than anything else above the water. However, the rocks have a serious appetite for jigs.
Jolly Green reply :
My homemade lure-gitter mostly collects spinnerbaits out of the local trees, along with recovering my own stuff. 90% of the time, it works every time!
This was my bait-eating tree catch of the season though, a Bucher Top Raider that somebody hung about 30' up. A 3/4" oz weight and a big treble on a scrap few dozen yards of 100 lb. braid made a nice, castable grappling hook.
68camaro reply :
On 11/17/2015 at 10:50 AM, 68camaro said:I have a megabass popper in tree right now with attached line tied to discreet location in bush while I figure out how to get lure down.
Got my lure back today, used my telescoping branch trimmer to reach it.
desmobob reply :
On 11/21/2015 at 11:57 PM, Jolly Green said:My homemade lure-gitter mostly collects spinnerbaits out of the local trees, along with recovering my own stuff. 90% of the time, it works every time!
Cool. I'm going to make one. I ordered a JDM rod last month and the seller shipped it taped to a very nice, brand new, twist-lock telescopic aluminum pole inside the box. Best part is, it will fit in my rod locker. I just need to bend up some heavy music wire to make the "spring" for the end.
Tight lines,
Bob
blckshirt98 reply :
For me it's been lipless crankbaits because I can chuck them the farthest/highest. They find all the tall branches close by and the low hanging branches at distance.
Crappiebasser reply :
This is why you take a kid fishing. Those little rascals can shimmy up and get most baits back.
Ski213 reply :
On 11/17/2015 at 4:54 AM, scaleface said:My most productive shallow crankbait ever is up high in a tree . I just could not figure out a way to get it back .
Stihl lure retriever will do the trick.
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