Hey guys,

 

Just getting into customizing, or upgrading the hooks on my crainkbaits — both square bill and lipless.  

 

What do you guys do as far as choosing a size for the replacement hooks,  EWG vs. Round (From what I understand EWG gets through grass a little better?) and short shank vs. regular etc.  

 

And for the size, I want to use as small of a size as I can get away with, and also I don't want to negatively affect the action of the lure, so I'm thinking I want to stay around size 6, but this may be too small.  I notice, depending on the crank, some cranks have different size hooks for the front and back.

 

I guess, how do you determine the size of the stock hooks that are in the lures, in order to change them out with the right sizes?  I'm lost LOL!

 

 

Hook size is going to vary a lot depending on the size of bait. I've got everything from #8 up to 2/0 trebles in my boat. I've also got an assortment of round bends and EWG hooks. The round bends I like to put on baits that fish tend to slap at, like topwaters and jerkbaits, the EWGs go on cranks and traps, although I'll occasionally put an EWG on the belly and a round bend on the tail of my cranks. 

 

With the short shank hooks, you can actually upsize your hook because there's less material there to weigh the bait down. This is a common practice among lots of anglers and professional fishermen, removing say a #4 round bend off a bait and replacing them with #2 short shank EWGs. 

 

Some baits will say right up front what size hooks they're running, sometimes you can find out with a little research. After you change a bunch you get to be pretty good at eyeballing them. 

 

A few of my favorite replacement trebles in no particular order;

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Gamakatsu_Treble_Round_Bend_Hooks_Black/descpage-BLICK.html

 

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Berkley_Fusion19_Treble_1x_Hooks/descpage-FNT.html

 

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Gamakatsu_Aaron_Martens_TGW_Nano_G-Finesse_Treble_Hook/descpage-NFH.html

 

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Gamakatsu_EWG_Treble_Short_Shank_Magic_Eye_6pk/descpage-GET.html

 

On sale right now!

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Mustad_KVD_1x_Strong_2x_Short_Triple_Grip_Treble_Hook/descpage-MKVDEST.html

 

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Owner_Stinger_Treble_Hook_Black_Chrome_ST-36/descpage-OST36BC.html

 

 

13 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Hook size is going to vary a lot depending on the size of bait. I've got everything from #8 up to 2/0 trebles in my boat. I've also got an assortment of round bends and EWG hooks. The round bends I like to put on baits that fish tend to slap at, like topwaters and jerkbaits, the EWGs go on cranks and traps, although I'll occasionally put an EWG on the belly and a round bend on the tail of my cranks. 

 

With the short shank hooks, you can actually upsize your hook because there's less material there to weigh the bait down. This is a common practice among lots of anglers and professional fishermen, removing say a #4 round bend off a bait and replacing them with #2 short shank EWGs. 

 

Some baits will say right up front what size hooks they're running, sometimes you can find out with a little research. After you change a bunch you get to be pretty good at eyeballing them.

I like keeping to original size-type myself. If the lure came equipped with a #4 round-bend, that's what I replace it with.

 

13 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

A few of my favorite replacement trebles in no particular order;

 

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Owner_Stinger_Treble_Hook_Black_Chrome_ST-36/descpage-OST36BC.html

 

These are my preferred hooks - but they can get expensive if you do a mass replace. In that instance I get these.

https://www.fishusa.com/VMC-9650-Round-Bend-Treble-Hooks

Thanks @Bluebasser86, that's really helpful.  Didn't realize that with the short shanks, so awesome info. 

 

I know changing the hooks up a size can affect the action of the lure, but what about changing down a size?  Do you feel like there's an advantage to using as small a hook as you can get away with, or do the cranks just typically move so fast that it doesn't matter and you'd rather have the increased hook-up ratio with larger hooks?  Also, I like to yo-yo my deeper, heavier cranks so I wonder if having smaller hooks might be better...

 

 

31 minutes ago, Smallies said:

I guess, how do you determine the size of the stock hooks that are in the lures, in order to change them out with the right sizes?  I'm lost LOL!

You can download and/or print this chart and match you hook up to it.

https://www.jannsnetcraft.com/Content/downloads/sizing_chart.pdf

Dude @Jigfishn10 this chart is MONEY!  Thanks, man!

4 minutes ago, Jigfishn10 said:

You can download and/or print this chart and match you hook up to it.

https://www.jannsnetcraft.com/Content/downloads/sizing_chart.pdf

 

1 minute ago, Smallies said:

Dude @Jigfishn10 this chart is MONEY!  Thanks, man!

I keep a copy of that in the box that I keep my spare trebles in.

I watched a video recently about this from elite series angler Kyle welcher. I didn’t realize you could install a treble incorrectly until watching that 

@TnRiver46 are you referring to like the positioning of the hook shank against the belly of the lure, or just the sizes?  I'd love to watch that video ... gonna try and find it now

1 minute ago, Smallies said:

@TnRiver46 are you referring to like the positioning of the hook shank against the belly of the lure, or just the sizes?  I'd love to watch that video ... gonna try and find it now

Yes, the way it lays against the belly (and back hook also)

 

fair warning / spoiler alert: he doesn’t use EWG

Just now, Smallies said:

@TnRiver46 are you referring to like the positioning of the hook shank against the belly of the lure, or just the sizes?  I'd love to watch that video ... gonna try and find it now

Positioning - you want the two points to 'nestle' against the body when the lure is in motion...put the treble on backwards and the single hook will bang against the body and mar it.

Got it, yeah that's what I thought you were referring to ... really good point.  

13 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

Positioning - you want the two points to 'nestle' against the body when the lure is in motion...put the treble on backwards and the single hook will bang against the body and mar it.

And speaking of 'nestled' - 

The Owner ST-35 is The Deal when it comes to hanging up close to the body of the bait.

Been using these for a while now - Big Fan.

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Owner_Short_Shank_Treble_Hook_ST-35/descpage-OSSF.html

(watch the videos to get a better idea of the actual difference it makes)

A-Jay

12 hours ago, A-Jay said:

The Owner ST-35 is The Deal when it comes to hanging up close to the body of the bait.

Been using these for a while now - Big Fan.

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Owner_Short_Shank_Treble_Hook_ST-35/descpage-OSSF.html

One of these years I'll be able to afford to upgrade all my cranks/jerks to Owners...but when I can get a 25 count of 9650s for just over $5 - and they've been good to me - it's gonna be a bit.

35 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

I like keeping to original size-type myself. If the lure came equipped with a #4 round-bend, that's what I replace it with.

 

These are my preferred hooks - but they can get expensive if you do a mass replace. In that instance I get these.

https://www.fishusa.com/VMC-9650-Round-Bend-Treble-Hooks

I don’t mass replace either. Not many crankbaits I use that I despise the factory hooks. Some Strike King stuff but not much. That’s the replacement I use as well as some of the KVD’s Mustads. 

5 minutes ago, Spankey said:

I don’t mass replace either. Not many crankbaits I use that I despise the factory hooks. Some Strike King stuff but not much. That’s the replacement I use as well as some of the KVD’s Mustads. 

I did one mass replace - got a box filled with cranks and jerks. Many were missing hooks, most of the others the hooks were in bad shape.

I got in a stretch this summer where I was loosing fish on multiple outing on a few of my XD’s. Ticked me off big time they were quality fish. Nice fish, bring a tear to your dang eye. Not immediate lost fish. They were on. I blamed myself, rods, reels, hooks, the boat, line and everything going. 
 

Changed out my hooks and touched up a lot of my hooks. Even replaced some of the crankbaits. I don’t know why it happened. It was not meant to happen or to land those fish. I’m not a real super religious guy but the man upstairs did not want me to lip those fish. I tried to reason with that situation 7 way to Sunday and I have no idea what the problem was. Just was not meant to be. 

2 minutes ago, Spankey said:

I got in a stretch this summer where I was loosing fish on multiple outing on a few of my XD’s. Ticked me off big time they were quality fish. Nice fish, bring a tear to your dang eye. Not immediate lost fish. They were on. I blamed myself, rods, reels, hooks, the boat, line and everything going. 
 

Changed out my hooks and touched up a lot of my hooks. Even replaced some of the crankbaits. I don’t know why it happened. It was not meant to happen or to land those fish. I’m not a real super religious guy but the man upstairs did not want me to lip those fish. I tried to reason with that situation 7 way to Sunday and I have no idea what the problem was. Just was not meant to be. 

Clearly you weren’t holding your mouth right 

1 hour ago, Smallies said:

I know changing the hooks up a size can affect the action of the lure, but what about changing down a size?  Do you feel like there's an advantage to using as small a hook as you can get away with, or do the cranks just typically move so fast that it doesn't matter and you'd rather have the increased hook-up ratio with larger hooks?  Also, I like to yo-yo my deeper, heavier cranks so I wonder if having smaller hooks might be better...

You're in the minority of down sizing hooks. I mostly fish lipless cranks waaaaay more than their lipped cousins. I typically use as large a hook I can get away with on the belly and possibly downsize the tail hook. The only time I would downsize the belly hook is if I'm constantly snagging vegetation. 

 

The lipped cranks with the way they swim - nose down, with a wider body tends to snag at the lip far more often than the belly hook. Again, maybe a down size to the tail hook to avoid snags.

About every third time one of these threads come around, I go to swap hooks out a few baits.   I rarely get through more than one at a sitting.  My fumble-fingers are NOT meant to be messing with split rings.  I had to change a blade on a spinnerbait a few weeks ago......took me 3 split rings and about 35 minutes.   I have amassed a small pile of NIP Owner Stingers....but I am still mostly using OEM trebles.

If I want to change out a crankbait's hooks, I usually just swap the crank hooks with a Rat L Trap. They have quality EWG hooks and I don't use Traps anymore. I use the CC Super Spot and others. If I want to use one of the Traps, at least it has newer hooks from the crank on it. ?

Majority I keep around are #4 & #6 trebles for my crankbaits/lipless. I usually buy mine in a 50 pack. I have a few sets of both sizes stored in my tackle bag so I always have them around.

Don't forget to get a pair of Texas Tackle Split Ring pliers if you don't have them already.

1st determine the treble size that came with the lure.

Deep divers and all 2 hook crank baits I go up 1 size on the front treble and same as original size on the rear.

Jerk Baits same size and all 3 treble hooks.

Change the split ring when upgrading the treble hooks.

I prefer using both Owner hooks and split rings. Get a good split ring plier to save sticking your self.

Tom

 

 

5 hours ago, swhit140 said:

Majority I keep around are #4 & #6 trebles for my crankbaits/lipless. I usually buy mine in a 50 pack. I have a few sets of both sizes stored in my tackle bag so I always have them around.

Don't forget to get a pair of Texas Tackle Split Ring pliers if you don't have them already.

yes the texas tackle pliers have been the best ive found. not saying their arent better ones but theyre the best ive tried.

8 hours ago, the reel ess said:

If I want to change out a crankbait's hooks, I usually just swap the crank hooks with a Rat L Trap. They have quality EWG hooks and I don't use Traps anymore. I use the CC Super Spot and others. If I want to use one of the Traps, at least it has newer hooks from the crank on it. ?

So you like the Cotton Cordell's better than the Rat, eh?  Well, one thing is for sure, you definitely gotta replace the hooks on those cotton's...they are pretty terrible!  But I hear the lure itself is REALLY good (for shallow weed crankin', that is)

6 hours ago, WRB said:

1st determine the treble size that came with the lure.

Deep divers and all 2 hook crank baits I go up 1 size on the front treble and same as original size on the rear.

Jerk Baits same size and all 3 treble hooks.

Change the split ring when upgrading the treble hooks.

I prefer using both Owner hooks and split rings. Get a good split ring plier to save sticking your self.

Tom

 

 

Sounds good, Tom, but can you go into changing the split rings a bit?  Is this for durability? The way the hooks hang?  Larger, smaller, oval?  Thank you sir...