I'm loosing a good number of fish on cranks, mostly when they hit at the beginning of my retrieve. I bomb my casts when cranking and I think it's due to the lack of force I can generate due to line stretch. I use 10lb. Fluoro for most cranking under 10ft. and 12lb for anything deeper.

I just picked up a replacement Wiggle Wart and noticed the hooks are short shank, thin wire.

Does anyone know what brand they are, or if there is a Gammy or Mustad like them?

not sure what's on them, but if you want a really thin wire but incredibly strong hook, the gamakatsu G-finesse are fantastic. I swap them onto the front hooks of my topwaters to keep them front light and on any cranks that I want a light wire hook.

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Gamakatsu_Aaron_Martens_TGW_G-Finesse_Treble_Hook_MH/descpage-NFMH.html

I have the original AM finesse trebles and those are great. I imagine the heavier finesse ones would be great as well.

38 minutes ago, casts_by_fly said:

not sure what's on them, but if you want a really thin wire but incredibly strong hook, the gamakatsu G-finesse are fantastic. I swap them onto the front hooks of my topwaters to keep them front light and on any cranks that I want a light wire hook.

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Gamakatsu_Aaron_Martens_TGW_G-Finesse_Treble_Hook_MH/descpage-NFMH.html

These are my go-to replacements on jerkbaits. Scary sharp.

2 hours ago, papajoe222 said:

I'm loosing a good number of fish on cranks, mostly when they hit at the beginning of my retrieve. I bomb my casts when cranking and I think it's due to the lack of force I can generate due to line stretch. I use 10lb. Fluoro for most cranking under 10ft. and 12lb for anything deeper.

I just picked up a replacement Wiggle Wart and noticed the hooks are short shank, thin wire.

Does anyone know what brand they are, or if there is a Gammy or Mustad like them?

I use short-shank EWG's on most all treble hook applications.

I have also had to come to terms with the idea that I can 'outcast' my hook-setting ability.

Had to come up with a solution to 3 separate challenges as far as the treble hook selection.

1- Wire size, which can actually be two separate deals. First, if it's too thick, I can't sink it.

Too Light—it can flex on the hookset, and that's no good either.

2- Hook point, barb size, and positioning.

A sharp hook is obvious. But having an unnecessarily large barb, especially one that is way far away from the point, can be a problem. Took me a while to figure this one out.

3- Treble hook size & length. Short shanks reduce hook tangles, and a larger size offers a better bite.

So in the perfect world of A-Jay treble hook production, I prefer a short-shank, thin but strong treble with a sharp point that has a beneficially sized barb, positioned pretty close to the hook point.

These, I can work with.

In the end, after making a few concessions, the Gamakatsu EWG Treble Short Shank Magic Eye is my choice, but I ALWAYS pump up the hook size one more than stock—at least on the front but often all of them.

A-Jay

Take a look at the BKK 21 SS. I use these on some of my BFS cranks. Sharp, strong hook.

Another is the Ryugi Pierce or the Dagger. The Pierce is heavier but is still thin. The Dagger is pretty thin but still strong. I like the Pierce for everyday cranks and the Dagger for trout baits that I use for bass.

If you want super strong, the Ryugi Brutal is on the extreme end of things. A size 3, I think, is the smallest. It'salso a short shank. I use them on 6XDs.

Storm/Wiggle Wart is Rapala owned now, so most likely VMC.

I’ve put the VMC “finesse” trebles on a couple of baits, and I really like them.

Daiichi death traps are what I use for jerkbaits.

Allen

Owner ST 36’s go on all my warts and rock crawlers.

I really like BKK 71s, Am G finesse TGWs and Ichi RC Kamakiri for JBs, but not to fond of them on cranks.

I like a few different light(er) wire short shank trebles for cranks. The size of the bait, time of year and outfit im using dictate what trebles Im using.

My absolute favorites are the Ichikawa short shank Kamakiris. Its like a compromise between a JB hook and typical SS EWG. The points are super sharp, and the wire is very strong for being 1x. They work very well throughout the entire year. Unlike most short shanks, the points arent facing in, they actually flare out a tiny bit. The slight outward bend is a big advantage in the winter or when the fish don't commit. If they aren't committing o the crank and just slapping at it, there's a good change that fish gets hooked. If a fish hit the crank on a pause and you don't feel it, the hooks are sharp enough hang up if the fish tries to blow the crank out of its mouth. I was impressed with the strength of the hooks, especially them being a 1x.

The BKK EWG 71 is one I just started using last year. Sticky sharp points and very strong 1x wire. Theyre kind of similar to Mustad triple grips, but the wire is superior on the BKK. The beaked points are sharp and stay sharp. The only issue is that beaked points are a little more challenging to sharpen. I like the BKK EWG once the water beings to warm and fish them until late Nov or early Dec.

This one surprised me. VMC and I have a love/hate thing going. I don't care for a good deal of their produces, but the designs I do like are outstanding. The VMC hybrid short shank really surprised me after strongly disliking a few different trebles from VMC. The alloy is of great quality, resulting a strong and sharp hook. Unlike a bunch of hooks ive used from VMC, this SS EWG has the ability to flex a little without compromising the strength of the wire. Being a 1x, it has good penetration at distance and with lighter tackle. This hook also snags many of the fish that just slap at it. Like the BKK, the points of this hook are beaked. The hooks stay sharp and resist rolling, but again if that point does roll, reshaping that beak takes some time to do well.