Northwest Fishing Reports

I've been using Rat-L-Traps lately (real ones, and Cabela's versions) on Lake Sammamish, but i've noticed a few things about them. I've missed a lot of bites, and ones after about half the fight, and i'm sure they were 90% perch, but some feel like they've been smallies.
But anyway, does any one think switching to smaller trebles would help me out at all? And also, would smaller trebles help me from getting hung up? Ive snagged and lost a few.

Thanks for any help, i have 23 on the way from Cabelas, and need to know if i should buy some trebles too!!

Thanks again, JT.


Oh wait...one more thing...I dont want to start a new thread, so ill ask here. Any recommendations for deep diving crank baits? I've been using ones Ive had for ever, but never used till this year, and have lost most of them!

Single hooks should help out with snags.....

fishnislife wrote:I wouldn't decrease the size. If anything increase them. Definitely switch your trebles and split rings out on any crank and rattletraps. You will find that a lot of expense goes into production of the baits and they will go cheap on us with the hardware. I always switch out my trebles with a size 3 split ring and a size 4 Gamakatsu Treble EWG. Play with it a little bit tell you find the combination that you like but always switch those hooks out.





fishnislife

Thanks fishnislife, can i ask you why i would increase them though? Not trying to challenge you or anything, I'm just not sure what that helps with.
And yup, i already switch 'em out. I've never experienced them breaking or anything, but I've read a lot of storys about it happening.

And A9, have you ever fished like that before? I could see switching to single hooks helping with snags, but not helping with hooking fish...

JT26 wrote:

fishnislife wrote:I wouldn't decrease the size. If anything increase them. Definitely switch your trebles and split rings out on any crank and rattletraps. You will find that a lot of expense goes into production of the baits and they will go cheap on us with the hardware. I always switch out my trebles with a size 3 split ring and a size 4 Gamakatsu Treble EWG. Play with it a little bit tell you find the combination that you like but always switch those hooks out.





fishnislife

Thanks fishnislife, can i ask you why i would increase them though? Not trying to challenge you or anything, I'm just not sure what that helps with.
And yup, i already switch 'em out. I've never experienced them breaking or anything, but I've read a lot of storys about it happening.

And A9, have you ever fished like that before? I could see switching to single hooks helping with snags, but not helping with hooking fish...

I switch all my plugs/hotshots/flatfish for trout out to single siwash hooks, hookup ratio and hook/landed ratio has gone up significantly with single hooks over trebles....Haven't messed with bass plugs much, mostly cause I don't fish cranks much at all, nor bass.....

never ever ever ever ever trust oem hardware [hooks and snaps]

choose owners - period

you will kick yourself when you bend out a hook

ps - never ever ever ever ever... hope you get the point

T Dot wrote:never ever ever ever ever trust oem hardware [hooks and snaps]

choose owners - period

you will kick yourself when you bend out a hook

ps - never ever ever ever ever... hope you get the point

Haha i got the point! Thanks T Dot.

Always increase the size of the hooks. I would stay with trebles.

You're rod and the way you set the hook on cranks can loose fish. You want a slower action rod, I have two rods for cranking one a fiberglass and the other is a moderate action graphite rod. When I get a strike, I just sweep back side ways and have the fish hook it's self. If you set the hook like a spinnerbait then it can rip the trebles out of their mouths.

Also if you're snagging the weeds, that can be a good thing. When you feel that you're hitting the weeds, just rip it out of the weeds then let it flutter a little bit, then proceed reeling. That will produce more reaction strikes, especially if you're fishing a weedline.

Just my two cents.

Changing the hooks definitely help me out because the factory hooks after awhile would bend on me causing me to miss allot of fish so change the hooks out and save yourself some headache later on.

kzoo wrote:Always increase the size of the hooks. I would stay with trebles.

You're rod and the way you set the hook on cranks can loose fish. You want a slower action rod, I have two rods for cranking one a fiberglass and the other is a moderate action graphite rod. When I get a strike, I just sweep back side ways and have the fish hook it's self. If you set the hook like a spinnerbait then it can rip the trebles out of their mouths.

Also if you're snagging the weeds, that can be a good thing. When you feel that you're hitting the weeds, just rip it out of the weeds then let it flutter a little bit, then proceed reeling. That will produce more reaction strikes, especially if you're fishing a weedline.

Just my two cents.

A very good two cents for me any ways. I am just starting using crankbaits and felt like I was just blinding doing it so your tips will help. Thanks!

When upsizing hooks, you will need to keep in mind that on some lures, doing so can negatively affect its action. If and when that happens, go down in size until the action is to your liking. If the lure already comes with quality hooks, I will use them. An example are Rapalas. They come stock with VMCs and those are great hooks.

OWNERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just curious, but if you switch to a single hook, which way to you angle the hook? Point up? down? side? Just curious, because I would think the treble gives you the ability to hook up no matter which direction the fish strikes from.

I have been tending to fish with curly-tailed jigs more lately, and been tinkering with a side-mount vs. up and down to see what kind of tail action it produces. Wondering if hook placement does the same.

Lastly, just my .02 worth but when I switch out hooks I go red. In my unofficial, mildly-tested opinion, the red color gets more action.

TroutCowboy wrote:Just curious, but if you switch to a single hook, which way to you angle the hook? Point up? down? side? Just curious, because I would think the treble gives you the ability to hook up no matter which direction the fish strikes from.

I have been tending to fish with curly-tailed jigs more lately, and been tinkering with a side-mount vs. up and down to see what kind of tail action it produces. Wondering if hook placement does the same.

Lastly, just my .02 worth but when I switch out hooks I go red. In my unofficial, mildly-tested opinion, the red color gets more action.

Cowboy iv been doing the red hooks swap for over 8 years now , and yes it does make a difference ..I believe it gives the fish a better target area on the bait and you want that fish to bite the middle hook anyway .. BBD

TroutCowboy wrote:Just curious, but if you switch to a single hook, which way to you angle the hook? Point up? down? side? Just curious, because I would think the treble gives you the ability to hook up no matter which direction the fish strikes from.

........

Single hook rigs work on the back hook, but if the hook can just lay against the body they won't work. So, on flat fish, or similar, the hook does not ride along the body. But, on a rattle trap, the front hook does not work well as a single hook.

Still, I like single hooks on the right kind of bait, and if it makes any difference at all, I have the point up so it catches snags less often.

Does a single hook reduce snags? Sure, you have 1/3 the chances per hook. Does it hook up better? Yes, if the hook gap is increased, but not if you stay with the smaller hook gap. This is why a lot of people loose fish on a trebble hook. The hook gap is too small and the fish levers it out.

Call me crazy, but at the risk of fewer hooks to catch a lip with, I remove the forward treble on some rattlebaits. The shorter-bodied ones with a wide lip seem to tumble end over end more in flight and land foul-hooked. Nothing more frustrating.

Good point about the gaps on single vs. treble hooks. I guess you have offsetting qualities with a treble -- more hooks to hook a lip with but smaller gaps to get a quality hook-up with.

Perhaps tipping the scales for me in favor of the single hook might be that those smaller trebles can sometimes catch the upper and lower lips at the same time and be a real bugger to release.

I would say increase size of the trbel as well.
Just think the bigger the hook the better chance it has of getting the fish when it bites.
Also make sure the hook is really sharp
so i would say Owner hooks all the way
they do cost more but u dont want to lose a nice bass beacuse of a dull hook

As for recommendations on deep diving cranks. This year ive had real good luck w/ 1/4 oz hot lips, the casting series...T.A. i think. On 8lb test they will run 15'+ on the crank and pushing near 30' on the troll. Ill be out again tomorrow on lk WA and ill be putting them to good use, hopefully.

Keep in mind that when fishing traps or cranks in general, you're going to have some fish pull off. It's the nature of the baits, so kind of prepare for it mentally when you're getting ready to spend a day trapping or cranking. It helps with the frustration.