A weedless crankbait...

[XcoM274]

Wouldn't that be a dream. But how to go about it?

One of my thoughts is to cut the bottom prong of the treble off, so the remaining hooks hold tight to the body. You could remove the front hook altogether. Maybe you could construct a weed guard and clamp it to the bill and your main line. Thoughts on this?

[mainebasser]

You know, it's probaly not real easy to do, but I use Worden's Timber Tigers quite often and they do a better job of keeping of weeds than any other crank that I use.

[Cajun1977]

why would you wanna do that  if you aint getting weeds on your hooks you aint fishing where the fish are.....if the weeds are 5 feet from the top of the water then throw a crank that goes 2-4 feet.just an idea

[David P]

I think the closes you'll come to weedless is a trebble hook with the little wire covering each hook..

I have tons of them, but never use them, they won't get caught on branches or wood, but still weeds will wrap around the entire hook..

[Cephkiller]

When you say "weedless" I assume you are talking about weeds (as in vegetation - not wood), right?  In that case, it ain't gonna happen.  Weeds will still wrap around the line and the lip is like a big ol' weed shovel.  Also, what Brokejew said.

[flyphisher #]

Few months ago , Lure Designer Lee Sisson Let bassmaster do an article on some cranks he has started making, dont know if they are on the market yet. These things are amazing. Weedless trebles and a guide/guard wire hooked to the nose. He took a writer out to test it at Guntersville, and it sounds like the real deal...Google lee sisson lures maybe, he might be selling them by now.

[broncoboxer]

Well, I know this is not technically a crankbait, but do you think you could T-Rig a big-bodied curly tail grub and fish it like a crankbait?  I read about such a technique in the book "Best Bass Tips."

[Lucky Craft Man]

Few months ago , Lure Designer Lee Sisson Let bassmaster do an article on some cranks he has started making, dont know if they are on the market yet. These things are amazing. Weedless trebles and a guide/guard wire hooked to the nose. He took a writer out to test it at Guntersville, and it sounds like the real deal...Google lee sisson lures maybe, he might be selling them by now.

http://www.leesissonlures.com/Home.htm

[Avoiddanoid]

Well, here it is, 15 years after this topic was initially opened, but I do want to share my experience. I am an older fella, been fishing for 66 years. Along the creeks, rivers, and ponds I have enjoyed, I never heard of Lee Sisson nor seen any of his products. A few years ago, I found a small box at an estate sale containing 22 NIB lures. The word "Weedless" caught my eye, and the lures themselves appeared well-finished and assembled. So, I bought them all for $20, and went my merry way. 20 are still in their very plain boxes. I put 2 in my bass tackle box, but didn't think to use either until a year ago, when I fished a farm pond with a lot of blowdowns along the southern bank. It was Fall, I'm a bank fisherman, and was facing a dilemma. I tried all manner of softbaits and jigs to get to the bass. From what I could tell, the bank along that side was cut in when the pond was made, and the trees fell in from the bank top due to winds and erosion. I guessed the bottom was around 8 to 12 feet deep. It was 5pm and 58 degrees. Then, I remembered the Sisson lures, and thought "Maybe?" My outfit was a 6' 6" MHF hi-modulus graphite rod, a 7.1:1 baitcaster, with 50lb berkeley braid and a 2 ft. 40lb Stren leader. The lure did its job very well, with a little judicious tugging and short side trips along the bank to change angles. Moving it at a slow pace, with little burst of speed in openings. If I had it to do again, I would use fluorocarbon leader to sink the lure a little faster, but I pulled, and pulling is the right word, 4 fat largemouths (3 lbs up to 5 lbs 7 oz) before sunset. Due to health concerns, I haven't had the opportunity to try again, but maybe I'll give a shot along a certain rip-rap bank later this year.

[WRB]

They are available today, Chatter baits and Scrounger.

Tom

[ajschn06]

1 hour ago, WRB said:

They are available today, Chatter baits and Scrounger.

Tom

Sure except neither of those are crankbaits.  I think anything you’d need to do to an actual crankbait to make it weedless would affect the action too much…

[Sphynx]

On 1/28/2022 at 8:17 PM, ajschn06 said:

Sure except neither of those are crankbaits.  I think anything you’d need to do to an actual crankbait to make it weedless would affect the action too much…

That's my theory, and I think that a chatterbait pretty much offers a similar enough option to fish that the same fish that would bite a crank would likely bite a chatterbait. 

[Deleted account]

On 1/28/2022 at 9:58 PM, Avoiddanoid said:

 with 50lb berkeley braid and a 2 ft. 40lb Stren leader. 

Nice. You Honorary Meat Man certificate is in the mail.

[ajschn06]

1 hour ago, Sphynx said:

That's my theory, and I think that a chatterbait pretty much offers a similar enough option to fish that the same fish that would bite a crank would likely bite a chatterbait. 

I feel the same way, and as a result I don’t think I’ve tied on a crankbait once the last two seasons despite having a wide array of custom painted beauties that I feel guilty for not using.

[WRB]

On 1/28/2022 at 8:17 PM, ajschn06 said:

Sure except neither of those are crankbaits.  I think anything you’d need to do to an actual crankbait to make it weedless would affect the action too much…

Define a “crank bait”.

Cast it out and crank it back to retrieve it. Back in the day they were called plugs, surface plugs and diving plugs.

If you want a eye opener look at antique lure books, dozens of patents awarded for weedless plugs, all kinds of contraptions.

Tom

[Sphynx]

2 hours ago, ajschn06 said:

I feel the same way, and as a result I don’t think I’ve tied on a crankbait once the last two seasons despite having a wide array of custom painted beauties that I feel guilty for not using.

I'm like your mirror image, I almost never tie on a chatterbait lol, got a bunch of them too, only time I ever really use them is when I go to Alabama to go fishing with my buddy. 

[ajschn06]

On 1/30/2022 at 3:39 PM, WRB said:

Define a “crank bait”.

Cast it out and crank it back to retrieve it. Back in the day they were called plugs, surface plugs and diving plugs.

If you want a eye opener look at antique lure books, dozens of patents awarded for weedless plugs, all kinds of contraptions.

Tom

 

When I go on tackle warehouse and select "crankbaits", scroungers and chatterbaits don't show up anywhere.  It would show you exactly what you would think a crankbait would be, lipped diving crankbaits and lipless crankbaits. 

[WRB]

If feel my suggestion is gotcha bs, we are done.

Tom

[smalljaw67]

In the 80's there was a weedless crank and I can't remember who made it. I believe it was called the X1 or something like that.

 

EDIT: I found it, the Fishin' Delite lipless weedless crankbait - DISCONTINUED FISHIN' DELITE Weedless Lipless Crankbait 3/4 OUNCE FISHING LURE | eBay

[steve-pierce]

There was a series of cranks called back stabber that had the front treble on top. Changing the rear hook to a single turned upward would make those pretty weedless

[Big Rick]

On 1/28/2022 at 8:58 PM, Avoiddanoid said:

Well, here it is, 15 years after this topic was initially opened, but I do want to share my experience. I am an older fella, been fishing for 66 years. Along the creeks, rivers, and ponds I have enjoyed, I never heard of Lee Sisson nor seen any of his products. A few years ago, I found a small box at an estate sale containing 22 NIB lures. The word "Weedless" caught my eye, and the lures themselves appeared well-finished and assembled. So, I bought them all for $20, and went my merry way. 20 are still in their very plain boxes. I put 2 in my bass tackle box, but didn't think to use either until a year ago, when I fished a farm pond with a lot of blowdowns along the southern bank. It was Fall, I'm a bank fisherman, and was facing a dilemma. I tried all manner of softbaits and jigs to get to the bass. From what I could tell, the bank along that side was cut in when the pond was made, and the trees fell in from the bank top due to winds and erosion. I guessed the bottom was around 8 to 12 feet deep. It was 5pm and 58 degrees. Then, I remembered the Sisson lures, and thought "Maybe?" My outfit was a 6' 6" MHF hi-modulus graphite rod, a 7.1:1 baitcaster, with 50lb berkeley braid and a 2 ft. 40lb Stren leader. The lure did its job very well, with a little judicious tugging and short side trips along the bank to change angles. Moving it at a slow pace, with little burst of speed in openings. If I had it to do again, I would use fluorocarbon leader to sink the lure a little faster, but I pulled, and pulling is the right word, 4 fat largemouths (3 lbs up to 5 lbs 7 oz) before sunset. Due to health concerns, I haven't had the opportunity to try again, but maybe I'll give a shot along a certain rip-rap bank later this year.

Nice write up. Any chance of seeing a picture of these lures you're referring to?