Crank Bait Heartbreak...

[Luna2406]

I fish out of a kayak and these last few trips have hurt my little fishing heart lol I keep getting bites but they all come off. I see the fish, they don't even jump, and they make a quick turn and boom, they are gone. I sweep to the side when I get a bite, I don't set the hook super hard because the few times I've tried I've lost the fish. Thinking it might be my rod being to stiff, what are the best types of rods for crank baits? I lost a good size Walleye this morning. Any advice would help, thanks!

[scaleface]

When I lose a lot of fish on crankbaits I go   rattleless and lures without a lot of action . 

[Montanaro]

Don't need to set the hook. You may be ripping holes in the fish and when he head shakes the lure pops out.

I use mod/modfast for cranks and loose drag.

[NathanW]

Although its extremely exhausting to fish a fiberglass rod all day, they land more fish. They offer both power and forgiveness where graphite will only get you one or the other. You also may need a longer rod than what you are using now for a better hook set, especially considering that you fishing from a kayak. When you set the hook just lean into them until you feel the weight of the fish, then give them one more good lean to drive the hook home. 

 

You may also need to make hook adjustments to the bait. Bigger hooks are always better. I have found that you can go up in size on the body hook for just about every bait on the market but you will need to experience with the tail hook because many baits wont function well with a larger hook than come stock.

 

Crankbait fishing will cause some heartache but the landing percentage should be well above 50% if you are doing it right. Dull hooks are probably the number one cause of misses so always check that first and pack a sharpening stone. 

[BobP]

First, make sure your trebles are truly sticky sharp. Then consider your rod and line.  A rod with a stiff tip section + braided line = good hook sets but some lost fish if you're throwing crankbaits.  A softer rod and/or stretchy nylon line might work better.  But some days, the fish will just nip at the bait instead of fully taking it and that will result in lightly hooked fish that pull off easily.  Maybe a change in bait color or size might help.  But maybe they're in a very negative mood and you're throwing such an enticing crankbait that they just can't resist giving it a swat.  We don't know.  All you can do is try to deduce an answer by experimenting over several trips/several days.     

[bigbill]

I just seen the hookset video with Hank Parker on Facebook. He said that they had a hookset tester setup and all of them couldn't get past the lower end of the scale. Mr. LEWS stopped by with his speed stick and using his wrist only scored the highest near the top of the scale.

I'm thinking use your wrist lightly.

I love fishing history and using my new LEWS SPEED STICK rods now. I understand the words speed stick now.

[poisonokie]

Maybe a change in bait color or size might help.  But maybe they're in a very negative mood and you're throwing such an enticing crankbait that they just can't resist giving it a swat.  We don't know.  All you can do is try to deduce an answer by experimenting over several trips/several days.     

 

That's why it's important to use snaps, so you can try several baits until you find the one that is going to produce. Plus they are more secure than split rings and provide action comparable to a loop knot.

[MarkH024]

upgrade your trebles. I use a Dobyns 705cb glass and very seldom do I lose a fish. it happens from time to time but proper equipment will go a long way. if you don't prefer glass rods then try a moderate action cranking stick of your brand preference.

[papajoe222]

What BobP said about the fish nipping or just swiping at the bait. Sometimes the fish will change their mind and turn away or not attempt to inhale it after making a commitment. A color change or speeding up your retrieve can make the difference. If this were your first outing with your cranking gear, I would suspect either it or your hook set. It sounds like this is not a common occurrence, so I woulndt recommend any drastic changes maybe upgrade your hooks if it'll make you feel better.

[JETSWU87]

Changing to a crank bait rod like the affordable bps crankin stick has drastically improved my landing ratio to I rarely lose fish once hooked. I caught a lot of fish this year on just a rear treble, even pickerel that surge hard near the boat...whippy rod and moderate drag.

I fish mostly strike king lures with stock hooks. Having the drag not set tight will help too, don't try to horse the fish...sometimes just put some pressure on them and they don't even know they are hooked until they see the boat.

[scaleface]

If the bass take the  bait deep you will not lose many . If you're barely hooking them or face hooking them then you are close to having them figured out. Try to make changes so the bass will take it deeper . You may get it right maybe not. Different colors ,size, action ,retrieves... theres a lot of changes that can be made .

[Luna2406]

Thanks for all this info, it is all super super helpful! I will go buy some new hooks tomorrow and maybe upgrade the body hook a size larger. I am looking into a new rod now too, researching the difference between fiberglass and graphite. So far it looks like a composite of glass and graphite, or full glass is the way to go. Any advice on this??

 

Also, i've heard about changing speeds of the cranks and maybe cranking faster to force a reaction bite and give the fish less time to look at the bait. Is there such thing as too fast?? Thanks again for all the help. 

[Montanaro]

I've cranked balsa to the point of nearly spinning out to catch bass in clear water. Cool to see how they followed on normal retrieve but went balls to the wall to eat the crank when it was flying by.

[Last_Cast]

I would replace the hooks before anything!

[Bluebasser86]

Glass rods and good trebles, and you'll still lose fish, just part of the game when it comes to cranking unfortunately. 

[smalljaw67]

Everybody is going to give you good advise but I'm going to tell you something that is true, but it may seem like an excuse. We all lose fish hooked on trebles and crankbait specific rods really helped my fishing, but when you have times when you are losing just about every fish, it isn't the equipment or the hook set but instead it is the fish. Go read the latest blog entry from KVD on Bass Masters, he talks about this very thing and I've had it happen as most of have, you're reeling your crank and you feel a good hit and you hook the fish for 5 seconds and he is gone or he jumps and the bait just comes out, sometimes it is us, but when it happens with just about every fish then you know something is up. I had a guide explain this to me a long time ago, he said what happens is the fish aren't feeding, instead they are angry or frustrated or something and they hit the cranks with a closed mouth in order to push it away or stun it or they get try to squeeze the prey item just with the front of their mouth and he didn't know if it was tasting it or trying to injure it but it is basically a quick chomp and we barely get a hook in to the fish. They will also swim up and turn to tail slap it and that results either in a foul hooked fish that you land or your bait comes back with a scale on the hook, but it isn't always us. A local pro from my area is Pete Gluszek , he was at a seminar at a local tackle shop and he described a way the bass were hitting his signature crankbait so that he would only hook like 1 out of every 4 or 5 bites, and he could see some of the bites in the shallow, clear water and that is how he found out why he was missing so many, what the bass were doing he said, was they sort of trapped the bait between their mouth and the bottom and the part of the crank they had was the back. So it may not be be you but doing everything you were told will help with getting some of those to the boat.

[DaleGribble]

Lower your drag. Keep tension but let them have enough line so that when they jump or turn they won't get leverage on you

[papajoe222]

Thanks for all this info, it is all super super helpful! I will go buy some new hooks tomorrow and maybe upgrade the body hook a size larger. I am looking into a new rod now too, researching the difference between fiberglass and graphite. So far it looks like a composite of glass and graphite, or full glass is the way to go. Any advice on this??

 

Also, i've heard about changing speeds of the cranks and maybe cranking faster to force a reaction bite and give the fish less time to look at the bait. Is there such thing as too fast?? Thanks again for all the help. 

As far as glass, graphite, or composite is concerned, you need to decide what you want from your cranking rod and base that on the type of cover you crank most frequently. I prefer a rod that transmits a lot of information back to me. I don't bottom bounce cranks much, so it's important to me to be able to feel the line going over a tree limb, or a hook catching the first weed top. A glass rod won't do that as well as a graphite one does and even a composite rod can loose a lot of sensitivity depending on the formulation of the blank. 

Yes, there is such a thing as too fast when cranking. You'll know when you've reached that speed as the lure will 'kick out' or spin and you'll feel the loss of vibration when it does.  Some baits don't handle fast retrieves well and for others, there isn't a reel fast enough.

[Lendiesel22]

I just got a glass rod from sktbassin...i am going to try it Saturday with a variety of cranks. Never used glass before but i hear it keeps em pinned

[Montanaro]

Caught a couple dinks last night burning my cranks. I noticed bass following and not committing. Burning and pausing or smacking limbs caused the bass to strike.

[WRB]

Instead guessing what the problem may be, what rod, line and lures are you now using?

Tom