Hey,

 

So we all know crankbaits come standard with treble hooks. It is said that you should use a nice moderate action rod so the fish stay pinned and you don't lose them. I swapped a lot of my treble hooks with singles on my crankbaits.

 

Is a moderate action rod still important to use when fishing crankbaits even if they are now equipped with single hooks? Or would a fast action rod be more effective now that there are single hooks? I'm curious on your opinions of this

I fish all my treble hooked lipless crankbaits on a 7'3" MH fast rod, lost a few bass doing it when i started. Loosened the drag to where i can pull some line out of the reel and havent lost a bass on them yet, including some big ones.

I also fish my smaller crankbaits on the Fast action rods too since my actual cranking rods lure ratings are a bit on the higher side and wouldnt throw them very well. Same thing, just loosen my drag and it does great.

 

Single hooks a Fast or Moderate would both work, if you use a Fast action rod and start losing fish just try to back the drag off a bit.

 

If you are using mono or a stretchy fluoro line you shouldnt have to loosen the drag that much either.

I use my Ml drop shot rod to fish 3/8 and under cranks on spinning gear. Yields great results. Only time I fish a medium heavy rod is when I'm ripping a lip less out of grass or throwing a chatterbait. Nine times out of ten I'm throwing lipless if I'm cranking though.  I almost never change my hooks unless I think they are dull.  I prefer treble baits because that's what I'm confident in. You probably could get away with a heavier action with single hooks but I do not see the advantage with what I have. 

Edited May 5, 20242 yr by Justin Collier

I've put inline singles on all my cranks as well. I think a mod or mod fast still works for them. I'd use whatever action rod you have found works best for your other single hook moving baits

I would still fish a moderate action rod. And a composite or fiberglass rod. Kinda the same reason you fish one of those with a chatterbait as so you have a slightly slower response and allow the fish to eat it without pulling it away to fast and let's them load the rod before setting the hook. Sometimes fast action rods cause you to move the bait or pull it out of their mouths when they bite. I would go moderate or mod fast. But to each their own. You have to find what works for you.