Hard Bait Treble Hook Banding ~

[A-Jay]

Couple of winters ago I decided to band together all the treble hooks in my arsenal using small rubber bands.

I initially got the idea from an ice fishing video where the angler needed a compact way to store lippless baits. 

He banded the trebles and stored about 30 Baits in a peanut butter jar.

Worked so well, he was able to just dump them into his hand and pick out the one he wanted - no tangled mess.  

After seeing that, I'd contemplated it before a few times, I just never took the leap. 

I wasn’t certain first, that if it would even work on every treble hook bait and second, and perhaps more importantly, that I’d be willing to take the time while I was fishing to remove and then replace them as needed.

   Picked up a couple of bags of white & multi-colored rubber bands from the hobby section at the local Wal-Mart and got down to business. 

 

   Initially it took some time to apply the bands to all the baits, and I needed to come up with a repeatable, effective & most time efficient technique, if you will, of removing & replace the bands while I fished.  I did so in short order, not exactly rocket science; just wrap them around a couple of times.

  Bands are on topwater baits, all square, crank, rattle & jerk baits.  As well as Spy baits, and even blade baits.

 

So, after going on two seasons of doing it, this is what I can tell you. 

Once done, it virtually eliminates, the tangled mess I used to get when attempting to pull out one, lipless or jerkbait for example, out of a compartment containing several; I get one and NOT NINE !   Banding reduces each baits foot print a little, which enabled me to store more baits in each box.  This effectively did two things; reduced the number of 3700 boxes needed for the same number of baits AND freed up space for more boxes & baits – Win Win !   Not exactly a game changer in my rig, it has plenty of storage, but when I’m fishing from the Old Town Canoe – it’s a help for sure.  And if I were a shore angler, this could be a valuable deal as well.  Additionally, and as sort of minor but still beneficial factors, there is some reduction of rattle/sound from the lure boxes, as well as perhaps reduce long term hook rash as the trebles are no longer loose & free to rattle & bang around in the boxes as I rocket across the lake.  

Once I made this my ‘routine’ it has become second nature and takes seemingly no extra time at all.

 I’ll never not use them again. 

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

A-Jay

[smithy97]

Good stuff A-Jay, I've started doing this for glide baits and will for sure be doing it to jerkbaits and cranks. Hats off for how organized all those boxes are!

[fin]

I would warn you to watch out for chemical reaction, but if you haven't seen any after 2 seasons, I guess you're okay.

 

I bought some tiny rubberbands for an experiment with toads. Those two plastics didn't play well together. Those rubberbands were made for hair care, not sure exactly what they do with them, but they were like 1/2" long.

[A-Jay]

1 hour ago, fin said:

I would warn you to watch out for chemical reaction, but if you haven't seen any after 2 seasons, I guess you're okay.

 

I bought some tiny rubberbands for an experiment with toads. Those two plastics didn't play well together. Those rubberbands were made for hair care, not sure exactly what they do with them, but they were like 1/2" long.

Thanks for the heads up but so far so good.

A-Jay

[Deleted account]

I use those for wacky rigging. My nieces hide them when I come over....  

As far as trebles go, I just grab and shake. Having all those lures sitting there just playing nice would freak me out a bit. But I've always had trouble with organization, I think its a rebellious thing, and at this point, too late to change.

But I guess if I lived where i couldn't fish for 3.4 of the year, I'd find something to do too...

[Harold Scoggins]

20 hours ago, A-Jay said:

Couple of winters ago I decided to band together all the treble hooks in my arsenal using small rubber bands.

I initially got the idea from an ice fishing video where the angler needed a compact way to store lippless baits. 

He banded the trebles and stored about 30 Baits in a peanut butter jar.

Worked so well, he was able to just dump them into his hand and pick out the one he wanted - no tangled mess.  

After seeing that, I'd contemplated it before a few times, I just never took the leap. 

I wasn’t certain first, that if it would even work on every treble hook bait and second, and perhaps more importantly, that I’d be willing to take the time while I was fishing to remove and then replace than as needed.

   Picked up a couple of bags white & multi-colored rubber bands from the hobby section at the local Wal-Mart and got down to business. 

 

   Initially it took some time to apply the bands to all the baits, and I needed to come up with a repeatable & most time efficient technique, if you will, of removing & replace the bands while I fished.  I did so in short order, not exactly rocket science; just wrap them around a couple of times.

  Bands are on topwater baits, all square, crank, rattle & jerk baits.  As well as Spy baits, and even blade baits.

 

So, after going on two seasons of doing it, this is what I can tell you. 

Once done, it virtually eliminates, the tangled mess I used to get when attempting to pull out one, lipless or jerkbait for example, out of a compartment containing several; I get one and NOT NINE !   Banding reduces each baits foot print a little, which enabled me to store more baits in each box.  This effectively did two things; reduced the number of 3700 boxes needed for the same number of baits AND freed up space for more boxes & baits – Win Win !   Not exactly a game changer in my rig, it has plenty of storage, but when I’m fishing from the Old Town Canoe – it’s a help for sure.  And if I were a shore angler, this could be a valuable deal as well.  Additionally, and as sort of minor but still beneficial factors, there is some reduction of rattle/sound for the lure boxes, as well as perhaps long term hook rash as the trebles are no longer loose & free to rattle & bang around in the boxes as I rocket across the lake.  

Once I made this my ‘routine’ it has become second nature and takes seemingly no extra time at all.

 I’ll never not use them again. 

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

A-Jay

You know I purchased the Bass Mafia Bait Coffin 3700 Deep box this past winter, well, it's not working for me in the kayak. It's too heavy, too big, and I'm always worried I'll drop it when reaching behind the seat. I'll continue to use it to carry extra baits in the truck, but I'm going back to the Plano 3700 and use your tip with the bands.

[A-Jay]

28 minutes ago, Harold Scoggins said:

You know I purchased the Bass Mafia Bait Coffin 3700 Deep box this past winter, well, it's not working for me in the kayak. It's too heavy, too big, and I'm always worried I'll drop it when reaching behind the seat. I'll continue to use it to carry extra baits in the truck, but I'm going back to the Plano 3700 and use your tip with the bands.

OK ~ Hope it helps you out.

A-Jay

[Dirtyeggroll]

Any secrets to removing the bands?

[snake95]

@A-Jay as always, another awesome and educational post.  Thank you for taking the time to pull all that together.

 

Pretty sure that ice fisherman was Alex Keszler.

 

I have to admit, I tried in back then and the bands all deteriorated and got sticky on me, so I stopped doing it.  I think I used an inferior quality band, and will "upgrade" from Dollar store bands to those top shelf Walmart bands. ?

[A-Jay]

1 hour ago, snake95 said:

@A-Jay as always, another awesome and educational post.  Thank you for taking the time to pull all that together.

 

Pretty sure that ice fisherman was Alex Keszler.

 

I have to admit, I tried in back then and the bands all deteriorated and got sticky on me, so I stopped doing it.  I think I used an inferior quality band, and will "upgrade" from Dollar store bands to those top shelf Walmart bands. ?

Thanks ~ 

 Not sure if these are from or even near the top shelve but if they start jacking up my baits I'll replace them.

Thanks for the heads up.

A-Jay

[Glaucus]

I'm going to try this. My wife's father passed away in January and we inherited a bunch of fishing stuff. He had a bunch of those treble hook covers/guards. I tried them but they were a pain to insert and I've been poked more than once trying to get them back out, so I gave up on them.

 

With a wife and 3 daughters I don't even need to go shopping. There's a ton of these things laying around here. Well, I won't need to go shopping, but after I'm done they probably will.

[A-Jay]

7 hours ago, Dirtyeggroll said:

Any secrets to removing the bands?

Secret ?

I use my fingers - if you're not, try that.

 

A-Jay

[Derek1]

That’s definitely worth trying out. Great post. 

[riverbasser]

Dang A-jay. Whoever inherits your tackle could open a shop. If this is what you carry I couldnt imagine what's in storage and the amount of plastics lol

[A-Jay]

1 minute ago, riverbasser said:

Dang A-jay. Whoever inherits your tackle could open a shop. If this is what you carry I couldnt imagine what's in storage and the amount of plastics lol

Skilled tradesman need tools ~ 

A-Jay

 

[Dirtyeggroll]

3 hours ago, A-Jay said:

Secret ?

I use my fingers - if you're not, try that.

 

A-Jay

Maybe I put the bands on too tight (too long and wrapped around) or don’t have surgical dexterity. I found myself with hooks in my fingers or gloves when I tried this for a bit. Abandoned it because I found myself just cutting the bands off after attending just as much time trying to get them off as I would have spent untangling hooks.

[A-Jay]

3 minutes ago, Dirtyeggroll said:

Maybe I put the bands on too tight (too long and wrapped around) or don’t have surgical dexterity. I found myself with hooks in my fingers or gloves when I tried this for a bit. Abandoned it because I found myself just cutting the bands off after attending just as much time trying to get them off as I would have spent untangling hooks.

Yea - I'm not going for major band torque - just want to secure them.

A-Jay

[Jigfishn10]

Great idea...love the post!

[A-Jay]

This subject matter recent surfaced again elsewhere which reminded me to do sort of a

'follow up' or 'up date'.

So after three season of doing this  - I still like it and will continue to do it. 

The update aspect revolves around the bands 'life span', if you will.

In my rig, it's just about two full season.

Meaning the baits that were secured in this manner and then sat unused for the duration, the bands eventually deteriorated & failed.  There was NO rubber melting or damaging of baits, the bands simply fell off.  

As a result, some of the baits were re-banded and others were re-homed.

Apparently not used much.

So there ya go.

A-Jay

 

[Columbia Craw]

I’m going to try this and plan on listening to The Rubber Band Man by the Spinners during the installs.

[Johnbt]

I'm a bit surprised. I would have guessed any kind of rubber band would last at least 4 or 5 years. Not that I ever timed one. 

[Shimano_1]

I've started using hook bonnets this year and so far so good.  It does take up a little more space and can be a pain if your hands are cold etc. I may give this a try if I decide the bonnets are more trouble than they're worth. Definitely looks more organized! Like that the bonnets protect the baits from any hook rash. Either one definitely helps keep from having a tangled mess. Used to pull out a jerkbait and have to untangle 4 or 5 more to be able to free it.

[MN Fisher]

I use the bonnets exclusively. Yes, it restricts the room a little bit, but as @Shimano_1 says, no hook rash. It also protects my hands as I tie on/remove lures...tie them on, remove the bonnets: put the bonnets on, clip the line to remove the lure.

[Bluebasser86]

Seems like a lot of initial work but with the fact that I use so few cranks, it would probably save me a lot of untangling getting one of the 3 baits I fish out from all the rest that just ride around in my boat.

[Choporoz]

I have tried this, but without an @A-Jay commitment to getting a routine.   It always seemed a bit of a PITA.  And then I ran into brittle and/or sticky bands. (I keep my a good deal of my lures in the truck year-round, though,  so mine are subjected to temp extremes....a lot.)  Maybe I should revisit with better bands and a better mindset.  I don't care about hook rash, but the tangled mess can certainly be frustrating