Does anyone here share my dilemma of treble hook lures?

[Kenny Yi]

As an angler who grew up fishing ponds in Virginia, I find that I never use lures with treble hooks.  I will throw chatterbaits, spinnerbaits, jigs (especially swim jigs), t-rigs of all kinds, buzzbaits, frogs, and finesse rigs around weed edges and brush all the time with confidence, but not treble hooks.  If I were to use a lipless or squarebill in some of my ponds, it would seem like I was decorating all the weeds like it was Christmas.  It gets more confusing when I see these videos and hear people say, "... I was bumping a crankbait down there off trees and rocks" and I go "Huh, ok i guess." then I try it and last two casts.  Only times I caught fish on a treble hook bait is when I caught two on a Mike Bucca's Bull Shad, which doesn't sink or dive.  I do sometimes want to throw poppers, spooks, and whopper ploppers, but I don't really feel motivated to tie them on over frogs and buzzbaits.

 

I don't really intend on changing my ways (as I have pretty good success with single hooks), just trying to see if anyone shares my confusion.

[jbsoonerfan]

When I was tethered to the bank, I had the same thought. Now that I can be on the water, I throw them every trip.

[Mobasser]

I throw treble hook baits from the bank and the boat.

[DitchPanda]

37 minutes ago, Mobasser said:

I throw treble hook baits from the bank and the boat.

Ditto...nothing to be afraid of if you aren't careless.

[diehardbassfishing]

 

As mentioned in a thread recently - remove (some/most) of them. A lure works quite well with one. I keep the mid-section active.

 

And, I don't have a hook-up problem!

Yes, really...

 

Karl

[soflabasser]

If you fish long enough you will eventually get hooked with treble hooks. It happens to the best of us so there is no reason to fear treble hooks. Make sure to learn how to remove a hook and teach someone you trust if case you need help removing the hook. Also invest in a good fish gripper since it will make removing lures with treble hooks much easier.

[jbsoonerfan]

6 minutes ago, DitchPanda said:

Ditto...nothing to be afraid of if you aren't careless.

Nothing to be afraid of if you strictly fish open water. I could take you to a couple places were you would have a hard time throwing a lipless, squarebill, jerkbait, etc.

2 minutes ago, soflabasser said:

If you fish long enough you will eventually get hooked with treble hooks. It happens to the best of us so there is no reason to fear treble hooks. Make sure to learn how to remove a hook and teach someone you trust if case you need help removing the hook. Also invest in a good fish gripper since it will make removing lures with treble hooks much easier.

I think he's more afraid of hanging up as opposed to hooking himself. At least that's how I read it.

[soflabasser]

2 minutes ago, jbsoonerfan said:

I think he's more afraid of hanging up as opposed to hooking himself. At least that's how I read it.

No need to be afraid of losing a lure either since you can always buy a new one. I catch lots of nice fish in places most people are afraid to cast in so it pays off to fish in these areas.

[Kenny Yi]

1 minute ago, soflabasser said:

No need to be afraid of losing a lure either since you can always buy a new one. I catch lots of nice fish in places most people are afraid to cast in so it pays off to fish in these areas.

The irony for me is that I throw jigs, spinnerbaits, and t-rigs with this mindset ("throw it like you already lost it"), but just can't cross that threshold for treble hooks.

[huZZah]

Lipless crank from the bank is how I’ve caught most of my bass this winter. Usually right after I get hung up on a rock and work it loose. 
 

But I buy the little $2 ones from Walmart so I’ll be fearless with it. 

[jbsoonerfan]

3 minutes ago, Kenneth Yi said:

The irony for me is that I throw jigs, spinnerbaits, and t-rigs with this mindset ("throw it like you already lost it"), but just can't cross that threshold for treble hooks.

Big difference in a $10 crank and a $2 jig, and I agree with you. Some guys on here fish in ponds with fountains and the pond gets mowed around and they have a little bit of grass to deal with, so it's no big deal for them. I have fished places that you would get a trap hung up 7 out of 10 times. I understand what you are saying.

[TriStateBassin106]

Not really, you know what I do fear? These. Especially when they stick your fingers deep. 

[Kenny Yi]

2 minutes ago, huZZah said:

Lipless crank from the bank is how I’ve caught most of my bass this winter. Usually right after I get hung up on a rock and work it loose. 
 

But I buy the little $2 ones from Walmart so I’ll be fearless with it. 

This was the first winter i tried fishing ever and was the reason why I was intrigued with trebles.  I've heard many stories of rattletraps and jerkbaits in the winter.

 

Walmart deceives me with all of their $2-$3 baits, causing me to spend more on those than I would buying one spinnerbait per trip. XD

2 minutes ago, huZZah said:

Lipless crank from the bank is how I’ve caught most of my bass this winter. Usually right after I get hung up on a rock and work it loose. 
 

But I buy the little $2 ones from Walmart so I’ll be fearless with it. 

This was the first winter i tried fishing ever and was the reason why I was intrigued with trebles.  I've heard many stories of rattletraps and jerkbaits in the winter.

 

Walmart deceives me with all of their $2-$3 baits, causing me to spend more on those than I would buying one spinnerbait per trip. XD

[huZZah]

The point of the lipless is to bang it on the rocks to attract the fish. If you keep it moving at an angle the nose of the bait leads and you actually bounce off pretty well. But if I get hooked and start working it loose I generally end up with a fish of some kind. 

At least that’s how I use it

You can also change out the trebles for double hooks and they won’t catch on rocks. 

[Bluebasser86]

I fish treble hooked baits, but I prefer single hooked baits. It's not the fear of getting snagged, or hooking myself, I just like fishing with the single hooked baits more.

 

On that hooking yourself part, you don't even have to be fishing for that to happen. Last time it happened to me, I was rigging up in my shop the day before a trip.

[MIbassyaker]

There is a distinct art to cranking weeds.  As you crank, it will dive, and the bill will tend begin to catch first. If you pause when you start feeling it get heavy, it will float up a bit and then you can continue working it through, and give it a little rip as you get over the top.  Changing speeds like that will also trigger strikes.  Working it this way, if you're careful, you can get a crankbait to follow the tops of weeds (which is, itself, a sort of edge bass relate to) all the way back without getting bogged down. You'll bring a little vegetation in, but you'll also catch some.

[Kenny Yi]

5 minutes ago, MIbassyaker said:

Working it this way, if you're careful, you can get a crankbait to follow the tops of weeds (which is, itself, a sort of edge bass relate to) without getting bogged down.

That's the sort of technique that I always saw in those YT videos that amazed me.  And I can only imagine its productivity, since the fish would not only angry at the crank, but would feel more confident and aggressive in the cover as opposed to being suspended in open water.

[GreenPig]

I fish all my baits like they were free. Memories of catching fish are priceless.

[MIbassyaker]

6 minutes ago, Kenneth Yi said:

That's the sort of technique that I always saw in those YT videos that amazed me.  And I can only imagine its productivity, since the fish would not only angry at the crank, but would feel more confident and aggressive in the cover as opposed to being suspended in open water.

 

Just requires some concentration and a little practice.

[islandbass]

If you’re afraid of them, replace them with single hooks, lol. Those baits should still work. 

[Emiliano]

@Kenneth Yi

If you are afraid to use baits with treble just don't use them, seriously, if you are fishing with fear to lose lures you'll fish in a bad mood and you won't enjoy the fishing.

But you can try with high floating shallow water baits, upsize your line and in case pulling the bait that got snagged will bend the hook and you can save it. 

You can also change treble with double hooks and make them weedless by tying nylon guard, I made that to some squarebill that I throw in very shallow water with lot of grass when I'm bed fishing.

Or....don't use hard baits and go to flukes (Zoom for ex) or soft swimbait if you want a shad or minnow profile.

Losing baits I know it's frustrating, when you lose a crankbait or a jerk that you paid a lot of $$$ or it's your favourite one but that's part of fishing as well. 

[Hammer 4]

Some years ago, I use to throw cranks, squarebills, and the like in grassy ponds. I'd lose a few and it was never a big deal, back when those lure were cheaper, and yup, I hauled up my share of not grass, ect. And I've been stuck with treble hooks more than once.

Nowadays,  don't throw those any longer, what I do throw are slow sink glide baits, that have good sized treble hooks. Very seldom do I get snagged with these, and if I do, I can always rip em free. These work great for just fishing them over the tops of grass, ect.

On con side, these baits weigh a bit more than cranks, so a heavy rod, and heavier line is needed. These days, I'm targeting the big girls 95% of the time.

Do whatever feels comfy to You, the idea for fishing is to have Fun. 

[Fishes in trees]

To original poster:   Once you get to the point in your fishing that you're fishing  "on the water" rather  than being bank bound and "throwing into water"  your perspective on throwing trebles into/around vegetation will change.   The whole thing about how you approach vegetation changes.

 

If you're bank bound, there are still some steps you can make.   Get some knee high or hip boots or waders.   Fishing 4 or 5 feet into the pond gives you alot more angles to work, don't matter if you're using single hook baits or experimenting with different cranks with trebles.

 

Side note to Bluebasser 86 - I've done that - except that I didn't do it rigging gear.  I'm normally a pretty careful person, but one afternoon, a long while back when I was doing BFL's - I stuck a treble hook in my hand as I was storing gear in my fishing truck - after a tournament was winding up - 40 or 50 guys were also storing stuff, so I was instantly "helped" by multiple guys who " knew what to do."    Turned out one guy did know what to do and the hook was removed with just a modest amount of pain.   That picture brought back memories.  X out the bait and substitute a shad colored Timber Tiger and that would be a picture of me. 

 

Back to the original poster - Kenneth Yi -  . . . Son , face your fears.   You're into fishing and you play/mess around with tiny, sharp stuff.   Sooner or later you're going to stick yourself good.   In some ways it is a rite of passage, in other ways there is something Darwinian going on here,  i.e. when your stick yourself you will KNOW you've messed up and you'll be really happy with yourself.    Natural selection at work.

 

Anyway, there is some stuff you can do to help face your fears.   For example,  when I stuck a treble in my hand I had some gear in my fishing truck to deal with this stuff.

I had a can of cold stuff, which I could spray around the area and kind of numb it.  Then, hook probably got a barb and it isn't smart to try to back it out.  Have a thin pair of needle nose pliers to push the barb of the hook on through the skin to expose the barb.   Now have a set of snips that will cut through any hook you own.

Cut the barb - barbless rest of the wire backs out easily.    Nothing to fear about really.    Carry the right gear and the right safety gear.   I've lost count of how many times I've bounced a crank bait off my hat or sunglasses.

 

Hope this gives the original poster something to think about.   Hope everyone else at least gets a snicker out of the story.  

 

[Biglittle8]

3 hours ago, jbsoonerfan said:

Big difference in a $10 crank and a $2 jig, and I agree with you. Some guys on here fish in ponds with fountains and the pond gets mowed around and they have a little bit of grass to deal with, so it's no big deal for them. I have fished places that you would get a trap hung up 7 out of 10 times. I understand what you are saying.

I fish my lipless traps in the boat and at fountain adorned ponds, what you say is correct. I have a lot more issues fishing stump filled lakes and I'm a lot more careful with cast selections when casting to the bank. I prefer other lures at times. Even when pond fishing, I bet I pull plant matter off my trebles 8 out of 10 casts... That's where the fish are. That being said, I go by the moto" Don't use it, if you're afraid to lose it"

[Biglittle8]

3 hours ago, MIbassyaker said:

There is a distinct art to cranking weeds.  As you crank, it will dive, and the bill will tend begin to catch first. If you pause when you start feeling it get heavy, it will float up a bit and then you can continue working it through, and give it a little rip as you get over the top.  Changing speeds like that will also trigger strikes.  Working it this way, if you're careful, you can get a crankbait to follow the tops of weeds (which is, itself, a sort of edge bass relate to) all the way back without getting bogged down. You'll bring a little vegetation in, but you'll also catch some.

+1, this works. Or...I fish 1/2 oz Rat'l - Traps all the time in the weeds,( wood is a different story) I rip it through and I'm constantly cleaning my hooks off. But, that's where you're gonna find fish. A lot of times the fish will strike when the lure breaks free from the weeds. It gets old cleaning crap of your hooks every cast especially when your hands are cold, but I've caught a lot of nice fish using that technic. In my opinion, with a lipless you can control depth easier using your rod tip and still maintain retrieval speed. That being said, I do use the technic you're describing a lot when I need to slow down or vary my retrieve.