Squarebills And Lost Fish

[CRANKENSTIEN]

Great advice Primetime. If you aren't afraid of them burying in the weeds or cover you could loosen your drag. I do agree with the not a good hook set theory, If you have your drag looser make sure you have your thumb on the spool when you sweep your rod to help with the set. It is worrisome when you see you have a 3+ pound fish on one back treble, you then know there is no room for error on your landing and the right equipment makes that much easier.

[cddan]

Very good advice from you guys thank you! My current setup up is a curado I 6:1,15 lb mono 6'6 ugly stick lite pro. I like the outfit for squarebills. What outfits may perform better?

[jtharris3]

I use a lightning rod medium action with 12lb. Trilene XT for my cranks. If I'm fishing heavier cover I'll step up to 14lb. XT. This setup works well for me.

[HoosierHawgs]

I use a lightning rod medium action with 12lb. Trilene XT for my cranks. If I'm fishing heavier cover I'll step up to 14lb. XT. This setup works well for me.

Same here but I use XL because I like its softness

[CRANKENSTIEN]

I use a wright mcgill 7' rick clunn glass mh with a slower tip  10 lb pline cxx for my squares.  I have a medium 7' duckett micro rod I use for smaller cranks / squares  same line.  

[Cgolf]

I use multiple rods for cranks, current river rod is an old pinnacle medium 6' with a fast tip, and the reel has 50 lb power pro. No issues even with the med fast tip, drag pretty tight, but I do take my time bringing fish in, and don't over pressure them. I will say this rod is much stiffer overall compared to the rods below, not sure if the medium is a mislabel or not.

 

Lake rods are the wright mcgill clunn glass square bill rod and 6' 6" Cabelas medium action slow tip prodigy rods. I can put a bit more pressure on fish with this setup vs the river setup. I run a mix of 50 lb power pro and 30 lb suffx 832 on the reels. Eventually will end up with all 832 when the power pro wears out.

 

Love braid and cranks, especially when dragging the bottom.

[primetime]

I use a 6'6" Medium action Okuma EVX cranking rod, or the S-Glass blue medium action rod that I found a deal on for 2 for $29....Whippy, but I really like to use Triple Fish Camo Nylon Mono which is Armor tough, similar to XT but has the 3 colors which seems to get me more bites and that line in 10lb test is super strong, if I am fishing heavy weeds I go 16lb or 20lb Trilene Big Game, or Suffix Siege...I will use braid but adjust rod and hooks accordingly, for instance I buy saltwater Wake baits for baitcasting rods for braid, and the Offshore ANgler BPS version of the Egg and Express Saltwater wakes are very good and cheap...

 

No matter how good you are and even with all the right equipment, you are still going to lose fish, just part of the game, it just always seems to happen at the worst times....I try my best to always check for abrasions, I have lost fish for being lazy and when it is your fault it hurts more....Barbless trebles help with hook sets on thicker treble hooks.