Hi, new to the forum and just wanted to talk about crank baits to start off. I seem to be having trouble with hooking bass in the sides and eyes lately. When I go out on the lake (Sacheen lake) I usually go to the same bay to fish and it always puts up good numbers but In between those decent fish that happen every several casts I get a few dinks that are far too small to eat the bait in the first place and I always seem to be hooking them in bad places like the eye, the back, behind the fins, ect. Just today I got a 6 inch bass that was hooked in the eye and so I removed it as carefully as I could but when I put it in the water it swam in circles. I guess my question is why are there so many small fish taking the bait and does anyone else have experience with treble hooks getting into the wrong places on the fish. Should I find a place with bigger fish or debarb my treble hooks?

It just happens, small fish will strike big cranks out of pure instinct.

Using barbless trebles is up to you, it would make it easier on the fishs eyeballs if your worried about it.

I hook bigger bass outside the mouth and foul hook them a lot too.

Foul hooks on cranks can either mean the fish missed it, or didn't really intend to get it, (just struck at it because you ticked it off). Part of fishing.

Everyone foul hooks them from time to time. It's just part of the deal. If the ones big enough to eat it are consistanly missing your bait, that's different. A lot of times if you change to a slightly different color or change your retrieve (pauses, faster, slower, etc.) they'll eat it better. It sounds more like you just found some smaller ones that were protecting their territory. Bass are territorial by nature. Even little ones.

In most cases, the fish will only get one set of treble's in their mouth, and throughout the fighting process, the lure will get thrashed around and the other hooks can get stuck in the fish anywhere. It just happens. 

you might could switch to smaller treble hooks

In most cases, the fish will only get one set of treble's in their mouth, and throughout the fighting process, the lure will get thrashed around and the other hooks can get stuck in the fish anywhere. It just happens. 

Yep.^ Just the other day, I caught a small ( around 2 lbs.) smallmouth with the rear treble in the corner of it's mouth and the front treble buried in it's back, just in front of the dorsal fin. 

 

you might could switch to smaller treble hooks

 

I've found that short shank treble hooks can help too.

 

Tom

It happens. Just take it easy pulling the hook out, and if the fish is bleeding bad be sure to get it back in the water soon, the fishes blood clots better in the water. Ive caught bass that are half blind, and even though you shouldn't try to hook them that way, just know that its not a absolute death sentence.