mark poulson Posted July 1, 2012 Report Share Posted July 1, 2012 Good news, bad news. The good news is they swim, and don't hang up, and catch less grass than cranks with trebles. The bad news is the single hook doesn't catch them like trebles. I was throwing to some busting fish yesterday so I felt the bass hit the lure multiple times but no hookup. I'm sure the same lure with trebles would have been successful. The hits on the single hook were serious hits, but no hookups. Grrrr.... Now I have a bunch of single hook cranks that I'm going to add belly treble to, to see if that helps. Otherwise, they're just pretty paper weights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musky Glenn Posted July 1, 2012 Report Share Posted July 1, 2012 Don't take it so hard. Just think of all the effort you have saved me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted July 1, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2012 Hahaha!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluetickhound Posted July 1, 2012 Report Share Posted July 1, 2012 Don't take it so hard. Just think of all the effort you have saved me. Post of the year IMO!! Well played, sir!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted July 1, 2012 Report Share Posted July 1, 2012 Thanks for taking one for the team Mark. Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathan Posted July 1, 2012 Report Share Posted July 1, 2012 Hey Mark, Have you considerd adding a double hook to the belly instead of a treble?And face the hook towards the bait instead of out...you will still have a snag resistant bait with a better hook up ratio..Nathan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saltshaker Posted July 2, 2012 Report Share Posted July 2, 2012 This is why I never tried this approach for topwater baits for speckled trout and redfish. It just didn't make sense to me that the hookup ratio would not suffer. Guys along the Tejas coast use it, but, I don't think they are being fully honest with their findings. With the positioning of their mouth, a redfish has a hard time with a topwater bait to begin with. Taking away 2/3 of the hooks cannot improve hookups....not on that species. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted July 2, 2012 Report Share Posted July 2, 2012 I have no way of knowing for sure, but I doubt this type of bait was meant to take the place of all previous crankbaits outfitted with trebles. As specialized as fishing has become in the last few years it's my opinion that this is just another "tool" to be used under specific fishing conditions such as fishing along the edges of deep grass beds. Given the location of the hook it should be much more weedless than a conventional crankbait, and if a lure is digging bottom a fish sure isn't going to come at it in the same way they would a top water. Not unless somebody started giving fish shovels and taught them how to dig holes in the bottom of the lake. Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassrecord Posted July 2, 2012 Report Share Posted July 2, 2012 Mark.don't know if it will help but my Dad used to add a trailer hook on his single hook cranks. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted July 2, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2012 Well, I bit the bullet and removed the single hook from three of the cranks, and installed belly and tail trebles. But I'm keeping the others for just what Ben talked about, fishing deep next to weed lines. They are more weedless that cranks with trebles, and I'm hoping the fish will eat them differently than the shallow busting fish, which seem to swipe at cranks to stun them a lot of the time. Nathan, I have actually thought of doing something like that, but haven't tried it. Yet... I have a small frog hook on my workbench, and I've been trying to think of how to incorporate into a crank. Cutting the bottom hook off a treble would do the same thing. Hmmm..... I never thought of using a trailer hook on them, Bassrecord. I'll give it some consideration. My first thought is it would make them less weedless, and throw off the balance. But it's not hard to do, so I'll definitely give it a try. Thanks for the idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musky Glenn Posted July 2, 2012 Report Share Posted July 2, 2012 Mark, if you cut off the treble hook leave it long, drill a hole in the lure for the long end you cut off and use a small screw through the eye of the treble. At least it won't be swinging down as low and will limit side movement. Musky Glenn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted July 3, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 (edited) Glenn, I was thinking of installing the trebles with the single hook facing down, and cutting that one off, so the double hook that was left would kind of cradle the belly of the bait. I already do something similar with the tail hook on shallow running cranks. I "T" them, so two of the hooks are splayed out to the side flat, and the third is at 90 degrees from them. I install them so the single hook is facing up. That has cut down on snags a lot, but doesn't seem to affect the hookup ratio. Here's a picture of a "T"d treble: http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/gallery/image/5692-t-ing-trebles/ Edited July 3, 2012 by mark poulson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musky Glenn Posted July 3, 2012 Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 Thats a good idea Mark. We tee our musky hooks for a different reason. To save the paint wear on the belly of the lure. So our flat is to the body and the other point is straight down. Musky Glenn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Bass Man Posted July 3, 2012 Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 Nice report Mark, Thanks for sharing!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted July 3, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 Glenn, That's why I started T'ing my hooks, too, to cut down on hook rash on my jointed swim baits. Someone here at TU suggested it years ago. They said they did it with their walleye cranks, or else the hooks would wear right through the plastic after a day of trolling. I was just playing around with my hooks on my 1.5 and 2.5 cranks to try and make them snag less, since I throw them into flooded brush in the spring, when I figured out that a T'd hook with the single hook up on the tail would cut down on snags. If I cut off the down facing hook on the belly treble, like Nathan suggests, it would probably help a lot, too. That;s my next project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathan Posted July 3, 2012 Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 Mark, You'll be surprised how snag less the bait will become and how good your hook up ratio will be ...besides even if I do miss a couple fish the increased amount of strikes because of where I 'm able to fish my baits more than makes up for it..Nathan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted July 3, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 Nathan, I think you're right. I'll find out Saturday. Fingers crossed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musky Glenn Posted July 4, 2012 Report Share Posted July 4, 2012 Good luck Mark. Musky Glenn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReelAppealLures Posted July 4, 2012 Report Share Posted July 4, 2012 I run what is called a "baker rig" on some of my baits... I like to fish single hooks. This gives a little more hook exposure with all the benefits of a single hook...They are taped together and will pull apart when hooked up. Granted I don't fish for bass etc mostly large pelagics... Maybe you could try a larger hook? I like them big so when they inhale a lure you have a good chance of a hook finding home. These are R2S Shoguns but you should be able to get small in-line hooks for bass? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted July 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 4, 2012 ReelAppeal, I don't think your setup will help me, but I appreciate your input. I started this single hook crank project to see if I could duplicate, or at least come close, to the Sebile single hook crank. My thinking was that the design would be much less snag and weed prone while fishing for bass in heavier cover, and that was what I wanted to achieve. I was able to make the lures, and get them to swim just fine. My problem was I was feeling what felt like bumps on the retrieve, but no hookups. When I threw a more shallow model onto fish busting bait, I got hit multiple times, but no hookups. It was as though I had no hook on my crank. I think the bass were slapping the lure, trying to stun it, instead of eating it, so they never got the hook into their mouth. That's why we've been discussing what is the best way to revert to a more conventional crank bait treble hook setup and still remain relatively weed and snag free. I've never fished in New Zealand, so I don't really know anything about your fishery, but I have fished the salt here in SoCal for most of my life. The hardware we put on freshwater cranks here wouldn't last too long in the salt. Ocean fish are stronger, have harder mouths, and stronger jaws. A barricuda or bonita here would bite one of my bass cranks in half, I'm afraid. The lure in you picture would work for the ocean fish here, or for freshwater fish in open water, but I'm afraid it would foul and snag if fished in the kind of brush and weeds I fish my cranks in, looking for largemouth bass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IamSpartacus Posted July 4, 2012 Report Share Posted July 4, 2012 Im sorry if I missed this, but where and how did you have the single hook attached to the crank? Ive done it with a swedish pimple dropper single hook on the belly of smaller cranks for crappie with some success. I'm going to see if I can scrounge up some pictures or find one of those baits, its been a couple years Im sorry if I missed this, but where and how did you have the single hook attached to the crank? Ive done it with a swedish pimple dropper single hook on the belly of smaller cranks for crappie with some success. I'm going to see if I can scrounge up some pictures or find one of those baits, its been a couple years Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted July 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 4, 2012 Here's the link to the gallery page they are posted on. There are four pictures down toward the bottom; http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/gallery/album/8-hard-baits/page__sortby__idate__sortorder__DESC__st__50 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBlaze Posted July 5, 2012 Report Share Posted July 5, 2012 Hi Mark, good and honest report. Thanks for sharing. Don't be too disappointed and don't give up on the idea either, they were/are awesome looking baits and a good idea. You may wake up in the middle of the night with the solution to the hook-up problem in your mind. This has happened to me a couple of times. Good luck with this one. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted July 5, 2012 Report Share Posted July 5, 2012 Have you considered changing the pin location for the hook Mark? That might be something you could play around with to increase the hookup ratio. Just a thought. Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodieb8 Posted July 5, 2012 Report Share Posted July 5, 2012 we have been using mustad double hooks on musky cranks. no split ring on belly hooks. rash is non existent now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
