Anyone else not care for crankbaits due to removal

I admit the first time I got a pike on a smithwick rogue I got all 3 trebles inbedded in my hand bad maybe i’m gun shy?
Anyway I mostly fish bass I find myself using single hook tactics a lot more and hardly use cranks just because they can be a pain in the rear to remove.
I can see trolling for eyes with shad raps etc. but for bass I just feel I get more bass on other tactics?
Plus the cost of cranks is crazy you can get alot of bass on 10 bucks worth of wacky worms and hooks.
Just curious if others shy away from cranks.

mrpike1973 wrote:

I admit the first time I got a pike on a smithwick rogue I got all 3 trebles inbedded in my hand bad maybe i’m gun shy?

One can do a few things to make hook removal easier and less dangerous.
(A) use a lip gripper to hold the fish.
(B) use long handled pliers to unhook the hooks.
(C) cut treble hooks as needed to facilitate removal. Sometimes it is very difficult to remove a treble when two or more barbs are embedded.
(D) consider swapping the present trebles with barbless or removing or bending down the barbs on the present hooks.

Also, if you are not keeping a fish, unhook the fish without removing it from the water. Letting him thrash around in the boat is hard on the fish and dangerous for you.
If you want to keep the fish, hit the fish with a dispatcher right away so it is not thrashing around.

My dad shies away after having a squarebill crankbait treble surgically removed from his knuckle. Got planted by a hammerhandle pike.

mrpike1973 wrote:

but for bass I just feel I get more bass on other tactics?

I’m just the opposite. For mid-summer patterns, I find a lot of bass schooled up, especially larger bass. If they are eating cranks, I’ll feed them what they want all day long. As far as money goes, I figured I already dropped $100 when I walked out the door. So if I’m at $140 after losing a couple cranks and caught 3#-6# bass one right after another Vs being at $110 and catching a bass here and there, that’s a no brainer.

I have good quality hemostats all over my boat. As soon as a fish hits the boat, control the fish, control the hook. Been fortunate, many, many years since a hook in my hand.

Cooking stores sell magnet strips for knives, I have one installed in my boat for pliers and a hemo- I always use a gripper when taking out trebles, I have my gripper on a zip tie that I put around a handle in my boat, so that stuff is out of the way but very accessible. Getting hooked is no fun, fished for decades w/o a problem then had it happen to me twice in a year.

Few years back for smallies I threw on a crank, instant action. But 3 out of the 5 fish got a loose treble in the eyeball. Hated that feeling I’m blinding fish.

Haven’t used em much since for bass.

The guy fishing in my boat this weekend will second guess treble hooks in the future. He managed to get stuck 3 times on Saturday. Only once was past the barb though. I rarely fish anything with treble hooks for smallmouth anymore.

To answer the OP’s original post… I still use crankbaits but a lot less. If there is a pike on the end of the line, I use a Lindy Glove to handle the fish and not use the net if possible: https://www.amazon.com/Lindy-Handling-Right-Glove-XX-Large/dp/B006PPNUII/ref=asc_df_B006PPNUII/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312142476371&hvpos=1o10&hvnetw=g&hvrand=639886549550563697&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9019698&hvtargid=pla-428084503153&psc=1

Where I have started to HATE – has actually been when I get a larger pike on a jerkbait and have to net the fish. The twisting snot-rocket along with 9 small ultra sharp hooks have knotted up my Frabill Conservation net so bad a couple times I have had to cut the hooks out.

…but better the net than my hand – –

They’re one of my favorite lures to catch fish with, but least favorite to unhook.

I’ve stuck myself past the barb a few times with them, but it’s worth it for the amount of fish they catch

On Superior, you HAVE to run them early in the year, or your catch rates will drop 90%.

Cohos, kings and lakers get squirrelly in the net, and you have to be careful.

B-man wrote:

Cohos, kings and lakers get squirrelly in the net, and you have to be careful.

Lakers are on par with eels when in the net and the bigger they are the worse they are.

You guys think a treble hook in the hand hurts? Try taking one in the head. My old man snagged my noggin with a crank bait a few years back because he failed to realize how close he was casting to me. A trip to the emergency room and an injection of lidocaine into the skull was the only way to remove it. I sometimes see 2 anglers standing side by side on the front deck of a boat with no one in the back and just wonder how long it is until it occurs again. Separate yourselves in the boat people, that’s why there’s a front and back deck.

Deuces wrote:

Few years back for smallies I threw on a crank, instant action. But 3 out of the 5 fish got a loose treble in the eyeball. Hated that feeling I’m blinding fish.

I hate that too. The fish was nice enough to bite and I end up mangling his eyeball. I really hate it when there looks like no damage, but by the time I am one it’s a deflated balloon.

Back on topic, you could always do what they do with saltwater baits and swap the trebles out for single hooks. You just have to figure out the specific style hook for this purpose. The best part about it is it makes the lure more weedless and less likely to snag on wood. You shouldn’t see much difference in catch rate. The hook generally is thicker gauged, wide inline eyelet and shaped more like a half circle, but don’t use a circle hook.

This wasn’t a bass but a pair of pliers, some ice and i was back fishing in 5 minutes.

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I don’t know how you took a picture of that Matt

Everytime I’ve done it adrenaline kicks in and I grab the pliers, no time for pictures or to let reality set in.

I tell myself “on three” and yank it out “on two!” lol

The worst one I had was buried in my palm. That one hurt for awhile. The finger ones surprisingly hurt very little, at least for me anyway lol

Only once did I have a hook go clean through and was able to cut the barb off.

IDO’s own Will Roseberg cut it for me

You should’ve seen the look on our faces when I pulled a Laker out of the hole and my hand was attached to it lol

Maybe its just because I fish muskies but trebles on “normal sized” hooks really dont phase me. Luckily I have never hooked myself knock on wood

B-man wrote:

I don’t know how you took a picture of that Matt

Everytime I’ve done it adrenaline kicks in and I grab the pliers, no time for pictures or to let reality set in.

I tell myself “on three” and yank it out “on two!” lol

The worst one I had was buried in my palm. That one hurt for awhile. The finger ones surprisingly hurt very little, at least for me anyway lol

Only once did I have a hook go clean through and was able to cut the barb off.

IDO’s own Will Roseberg cut it for me

You should’ve seen the look on our faces when I pulled a Laker out of the hole and my hand was attached to it lol

I tried to do the “pull it out backwards by attaching line thing” and I almost passed out as I yanked and yanked on it. I will never try that again.

I was smart enough to cut the other hooks off so I didn’t reattach it when I yanked it out.

Not a crank bait but ran a Mouldy,s Topper Stopper trailing hook into knuckle , slid it along finger and poked it out the middle knuckle. Had a guy cut the barb and pulled the hook out. Finger swelled up like a bratwurst ! I use a lindy glove and move carefully ! I think the tetanus shot almost hurt as much !

Hammer handle pike are the worst. I hang on tight to those little suckers. Fortunately, I’ve never had a hook in my hand/finger yet. Not to the barb at least… I’m sure my time is coming sooner than later. I’m especially careful with any type of trebles.

I love throwing crank baits. It’s my favorite bite when they are on. Only 1 bad experience when is was 24 or 15 a buddy over hand casted a husky jerk in to my noggin. That one hurt a little bit. 3 barbs in the meat. But his hot sister operated on me so it was ok.
But yes small pike are a super pain. Just hold one fall in my boat Saturday and tangle every rod up that was on the floor. Always keep a pair of good side cutters in the boat just in case. Not the rapla ones those are crap.Klein tools makes a really good side cutter for 35 or 40 bucks

B-man wrote:

I don’t know how you took a picture of that Matt

Everytime I’ve done it adrenaline kicks in and I grab the pliers, no time for pictures or to let reality set in.

I tell myself “on three” and yank it out “on two!” lol

The worst one I had was buried in my palm. That one hurt for awhile. The finger ones surprisingly hurt very little, at least for me anyway lol

Only once did I have a hook go clean through and was able to cut the barb off.

IDO’s own Will Roseberg cut it for me

You should’ve seen the look on our faces when I pulled a Laker out of the hole and my hand was attached to it lol

Funny you should mention that… I was thinking about it over the 4th of July when I buried a musky hook into the side of my hand. I was trying to get her unhooked too quickly before she settle down in the net and while in the water she tried to jump out of the net.

One good tug with a pliers and it popped right out.. The key is to make sure to put a forward torque on the shank of the hook which will help to disengage the barb

Will Roseberg wrote:

The key is to make sure to put a forward torque on the shank of the hook which will help to disengage the barb

Not if your “friend” yanks hard enough…

Brian Klawitter wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Will Roseberg wrote:</div>
The key is to make sure to put a forward torque on the shank of the hook which will help to disengage the barb

Not if your “friend” yanks hard enough…

This is not the time for a gentle pull…

Lots of interesting comments here. When I first stated fishing my Bride buried a #18 floating rap in my back. We were in 10 foot duck boat with a 2 horse motor we could not stand up or move around to look at it. We went to shore and to say I was animated would be a understatement. We got to the dock and a older gentlemen was out with a little child so I shut up no need to show a bad fisherman. He saw the blood and said to the child I’ve seen this before let’s go. then we all the older man my wife and I just started busting out laughing. Any way I could have bought many Raps for what it cost to get out. I think I will use cranks when needed but not a top tactic I always pinch the barbs down on any hook treble or single.

Manitoba law says no barbs, period, we catfish with single hooks pinched, so no barbs, as long as you keep a tight line, everything is good, not sure about trebles because have never tried that., but?

I love crankbait fishing. One of my favorite ways to catch fish. I’ve only been skin hooked a few times and the one fish that did get me pretty solid was nice enough to rip it right back out again.

That being said I tend to be a little gun shy with the trebles. Try using jerkbaits with 3 sets of trebles…..

Quote: That being said I tend to be a little gun shy with the trebles. Try using jerkbaits with 3 sets of trebles….. shock

I never use 3 treble lures ever.

mrpike1973 wrote:

Quote: That being said I tend to be a little gun shy with the trebles. Try using jerkbaits with 3 sets of trebles….. shock

I never use 3 treble lures ever.

As terrifying as they may be, they increase the hookup ratio by quite a bit. However I will take the middle one off occasionally to make it a bit more less scary.

mahtofire14 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>mrpike1973 wrote:</div>
Quote: That being said I tend to be a little gun shy with the trebles. Try using jerkbaits with 3 sets of trebles….. shock

I never use 3 treble lures ever.

As terrifying as they may be, they increase the hookup ratio by quite a bit. However I will take the middle one off occasionally to make it a bit more less scary.

Jerk baits is one of the most fun ways to bass fish when the bite is one.

Ah yes the dreaded treble hook. My worst one was up in Canada, 15 miles in the lake another 3 hour drive to the hospital. The hook wraped around my tendon so every move on that side was potentially painfull or worse. I could feel the hook on my tendon straight up my arm if I moved that digit at all. GROSS. I sat there thinking how not to ruin everyone’s day gently prodding the hook as much as I could. Then the body in its miraculous ways must of swelled up enough and it just popped right out. Ofcourse having barbless hooks paid big dividends. Certainly would never deter me from using treble hooks anywhere if it helps me catch more.

I haven’t steered away from cranks, though I have definitely made a trend towards staying away from any crank with more than 2 trebles unless I really need to and only use the net when again I really need to, especially with pike. Fortunately the worst one I’ve had was a pike drove one hook of a treble into the meat on the tip of my thumb and then ripped it back out on the next head shake before I could do anything. That one stung for a while, left hand too (I’m left handed).