Replacing hooks on a crankbait

Again, I am not much of a bass fisherman but the subject came up the other day and I wanted to discuss it here.

I was talking to stretch about how I have lost more fish on a crankbait or jerk bait than all others combined.
He was explaining how with two or three hooks on a bait the hooks kind of work against each other as the fish struggles.
I just don't understand how they can get a facefull of 3 treble hooks and get off. :bash:

So my question is, if you were going to go to the trouble and expense of replacing the treble hooks on a crankbait or jerkbait, what would you use?

Or, is it not worth the trouble?

I am thinking something bigger and better quality?

In the past I've liked many of my lures but didn't like the hooks that were on them. A general rule is that when I replaced them I went with larger hooks than were originally on the bait.

I used to change out all my treble hooks to Mustad triple grip. I had good luck with fish staying hooked with them. Seems like nowadays I'm pretty happy with the hooks that come on most baits I buy. I think investing in a good cranking rod with a slow soft action will help you more than you can imagine, if you don't have one.

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One word, gamakatsu. Every single crankbait I own gets them if they don't already have them. For hybrids, all of the baits that have trebles get 4X strong gamakatsu.

Headhunter":8c20r8vz said:

One word, gamakatsu.

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That is all I use for all my single hook stuff.
Don't lose very many when that 5/0 jabs 'em

Spurhunter":wri6oxol said:

I used to change out all my treble hooks to Mustad triple grip. I had good luck with fish staying hooked with them. Seems like nowadays I'm pretty happy with the hooks that come on most baits I buy. I think investing in a good cranking rod with a slow soft action will help you more than you can imagine, if you don't have one.

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I am not a HUGE crankbait / jerkbait user but I did notice on the Redeye baits I just bought the hooks seem to be pretty sharp.

how you setting the hook? praise Jesus hookset or low sweeping. you playing them out some or trying to get it to the boat in a hurry? like spurhunter said a softer rod may help.

WTM":35w31quz said:

how you setting the hook? praise Jesus hookset or low sweeping. you playing them out some or trying to get it to the boat in a hurry? like spurhunter said a softer rod may help.

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I would say low sweeping.
Sometimes I wonder if I set it hard enough but most of the time they hit it hard enough that they probably set it by themselves.
With a soft bait though... wooo weee it's revival time baby!!!! LOL

With the exception of what I know is just a dink I never play them out, in the boat asap is my policy.

The only hook I don't use gamakatsu is for worm fishing. Eagle claw 2/0 45 auto. I have stuck out of 6 lb bass eye many times.

Other than that, gamakatsu. even my spinnerbaits, jig heads and crappie jigs, I pour them myself, all gamakatsu.

All good information above. I am not real particular about hooks but any strike king bait I use, the stock hooks come off. Strike King hooks are pretty terrible. Not very sharp and they break if a hard wind blows. Gammi's are really good hooks as headhunter has mentioned.

One thing to remember with jerkbaits is that changing hooks sizes will change the action of the jerkbait. Pay attention to that. Bigger hooks may sink the bait. Lighter hooks may let the bait rise. I normally want it to suspend so I have to be mindful of that.

I'm no expert, but I'm curious if you're using some sort of extra fast rod that you'd use for worms or something like that. If so, I wonder if you'd have better luck with a more moderate rod?

TNReb":2rg697ei said:

I'm no expert, but I'm curious if you're using some sort of extra fast rod that you'd use for worms or something like that. If so, I wonder if you'd have better luck with a more moderate rod?

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thats my guess if he is using flouro. reacting too quick and not letting the fish take it and losing them on a quick fight by popping the hooks. if thats the case, he would probably get better hookups using a quality mono. if he already has a top water setup with mono spooled he could try it with a jerk bait or shallow to mid depth crank and see how it works for him.

NumberOne is pretty much on being careful using a larger hook with weight and drag. one other thing with larger than designed hooks on crankbaits is a lot more hang ups, if you are using cranks correctly by bumping cover and structure.

There's not much of "hookset" required with trebles. The idea is that the fish gets as many of the hooks as possible, where as with a single hook lure, you are driving a larger heavier barbed hook through the tougher portions of the mouth.

That being said, if you want a better "catch ratio" with multi hooked baits, here is my advice; start with the hooks, my favorite hooks for cranks, jerk baits, and topwater are the Gamakatsu short shank EWG hooks. They seem to hold better. secondly, the rod you use plays a big role in landing fish on those type baits. For lipless cranks, and deep cranks I use a 7'11' medium rod. its like a buggy whip. Because of the parabolic acton of the rod, I can launch the bait to the moon. When you get a bite that medium action will actually help the fish get the bait better; it prevents you from ripping the bait away from them. Also, while fighting the fish, that soft action helps keep the hooks from being ripped out during head shakes or when they decide to go air borne. I learned this years ago when targeting large tail race trout.

A very long time ago I would remove the trebles and replace with something like this:


You can use a wheel or file to sharpen them which was my main reason for switching over but turns out they pick up a lot less weeds. Gamakatsu makes them if you wanna stay with them.



Old story: Age 12 was fishing on a party boat out of Pier 5 in Miami and the First Mate took one look at my terminal tackle and told me the hooks were very dull and I needed to get a file and put a point on them. The sharp hook really does catch more fish.