Clearing Hooks On Lipless Cranks Every Cast

[Texas Hawg Hunter]

I haven't really used lipless cranks much so I'm trying to use them more.  Tonight it seemed like every cast I was pulling vegetation out of the hooks.  Is this normal or should I not be throwing the lure in this area?

[Catch and Grease]

Lol you should see the pictures I post of the places I fish lipless cranks... I have to pull slop off my crank all the time but that's the name of the game, sometimes you gotta fish lipless cranks in the thick weeds to catch anything! You could try fishing it faster and keeping it closer to the top or switch to a lighter bait though, but lipless cranks aren't weedless so don't expect them to magically come through grass every cast, while they are great at ripping out of grass they will need cleaned off every now and again...

[Weld's Largemouth]

Play with reeling speeds, might have to go faster to keep it above the weeds. If there is surface muck, surface weeds or pads, i wouldnt be throwing it there

[Catch and Grease]

Both of these fish were caught on lipless, look at the grass in these picture. You can fish them in some seriously thick stuff if you can put up with cleaning junk off them

[Texas Hawg Hunter]

nice fish!  Thanks, that clears it up for me. 

[Catch and Grease]

nice fish!  Thanks, that clears it up for me.

I mean if your lure is getting fouled up with weeds literally every cast then you may need to change something up but don't be afraid to throw lipless in the really thick junk!

[Texas Hawg Hunter]

It was pretty much every cast there for a while in one location.  I usually throw spinnerbaits, t-rigs, and jigs which are all pretty weedless.  Out of curiosity, how many lipless cranks do you typically lose?

[fishballer06]

You should never lose a lipless crank when fishing in weeds. If you are, it's your line or knots fault.

 

Perhaps try using a lighter lure (ex. use 1/4oz. instead of a 1/2oz) or, I know Bill Lewis makes a floating Rat-L-Trap. Those don't run as deep as the standard, sinking traps. 

[Catch and Grease]

Only time I lose lipless baits is if something toothy cuts it off or it's thrown in the trees... Very seldom do I get snagged to the point I can't retrieve it because I fish a shallow lake that's 8ft in the deeper places so it's easy to get my baits back, if your bank fishing I could understand losing some fishing around rock or timber but you shouldn't lose any fishing grass, like said above if you did then it's something to do with your knot, line, or maybe a toothy critter bit it off and you didn't realize...

[Jolly Green]

1/2 oz. Cotton Cordell Super Spots cast as well as any 1/2 oz. lipless crank but they don't sink very fast compared to Rat-L-Traps, Red Eye Shad, etc. of the same weight, so you can stall them for a second or two on the retrieve without immediately diving into the salad. They are only $3, nice for bank fishing situations where you're unsure about the likelihood of getting your bait back. I would sharpen or change out the stock hooks, though.

[rchiuz]

You would be surprised at what things you may dredge up with a lipless. I pull up one of those plastic hand baskets that people use in the grocery store.

[Bluebasser86]

I know I'm in the right area when I start catching grass with my lipless bait during the retrieve. As long as it isn't completely burying in them to the point you can't rip it out, you should be able to catch some fish with it. 

[Catt]

You can control depth by speeding up or holding your rod tip higher!

[smalljaw67]

You want to reel that bait just high enough that you feel it tick the weeds and then give it a good rip to clear the bait of the weeds. A high speed reel makes this a much easier task but if you have grass you got the right bait. Once you start catching them when ripping it off the weeds it becomes hard to put down, there is something very addicting about ripping that bait free from weeds and then feeling the line jolt as a bass hammers it.

[HoosierHawgs]

I usually get my lipless baits fouled up pretty good. I'm not a fan of cleaning it off, but boy is it worth it! I do lose quite a bit of lures, but usually not in the salad. I've lost countless lipless baits on rocks and downed trees though.

[J Francho]

A fast action rod works better for traps in grass than a typical cranking stick.

[Catt]

A fast action rod works better for traps in grass than a typical cranking stick.

BOOYAH!

Rod tip up, medium fast retrieve, when I feel grass I snap my reel to my chest, almost like a hook set.

[J Francho]

Exactly, Catt!  That gets the bait to snap up, and out of weeds.  You're not trying to rip it through the weeds, though I've had that work too, but it's more hassle, less fish.

[Senko lover]

You have to exchange fouled hooks for a better hookup.

[hatrix]

Use braided line and rip it clear with a semi slack line. Throwing a half second of slack in your line really lets you rip them clean pretty easily.

[Jtrout]

All summer my lake is thick with salad ripping them out n let it fall is when I got a lot of hits. I use 10lb suffix braid on my spinning rods and it did really good cutting thru some thick stuff. Sometimes even when u toss it back out will free the lure of weeds when not wanting to clean it off every cast.