Crankbait idea.

[keithdog]

Yesterday I purchased some new treble hooks to replace the existing hooks on some of my crankbaits. I was about to start changing the hooks when an idea popped into my head and I thought I would throw it at you guys and see what you think. What if I just change the first hook hanging from the belly of the bait and leave off the tail hook completely? My thinking is simply that this would make the lure more weedless and better able to work through brush without hangups, and still have that treble in the centeer portion of the bait to hook the bass. I am a little concerned about short strikers, but to be honest, I cannot remember ever hooking a bass on a crank that wasn't hooked by the belly hook. Sometimes, the tail hook is ALSO hooked into the basses jaw along with the middle hook, but never the tail hook alone. Have any of you ever tried this before?

[texasbasser]

I use it on rattletraps sometimes, dont really notice a difference.. You probably do have short-strikers, they just hook themselves during the fight with the belly hook.

[3dkicker]

Caught a 3 lb bass today on the back hook. Not a good idea considering that I watched two other bass suck and spit my crankbait today and not get them with 2 hooks.

[dampeoples]

Yeah, but oh boy will it wiggle more

[Marty]

Try it if you think it will help. In my case, a number of crankbait fish have been caught by the rear hook only.

[keithdog]

Well I figure I'll give it a try. What the heck. If it works, thats great. If I have trouble, the back hook goes back on. The way I figure, if the bass sucks it in, the hook is going in with it. God knows how many times my crankbaits want to snag on everything they come near. Anchor rope, my spare shirt, a rag, any overhanging branch,etc, etc, etc ....LOL

[Mac1]

Another thought.....if you have to put the back hook back on....try a single hook in place of the treble with the hook point riding up as it hangs...that is to say if it's hanging straight down, the point will be to the rear. If it hangs sideways on your lure.....add an extra split ring to get it hanging to the rearward. Just thinking out loud....good fishing, Mac

[islandbass]

I say give it a try as it will probably change the action enough to give'em something new. Ironically though, I'd say 95% of my crankbait bass are caught solely with the rear treble.

[keithdog]

Here is an update on my crankbait alteration idea. I was out today and hooked into 14 fish. I landed 9 of the fish, which were 8 bass and 1 walleye. Four of the fish were taken on the altered crankbaits with one treble under the belly, including the walleye. ALL the fish which hit my crankbaits were securely hooked and landed. The 5 fish that shook loose hit either the spinnerbait or the frog. While this is definately not an extensive study, I was pleased with the results of the crankbait experiment. The crankbaits seemed to have more action and were DEFINATELY more weedless than with two trebles. I think the belly treble rides far enough behind the lip and head to be deflected from many hangups. It should beinterresting in the comming weeks as the bass will be hitting cranks with a bit more gusto around here. I'll get a better idea of how this experiment will go then. But for now, it looks good.