Loosing Fish pulling Cranks

[2004Rhino]

Can anyone tell me why I am loosing fish when pulling cranks. They come to the top of the water and after a couple of flops they come off. What am I doing wrong?


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[CrappiePappy]

They are obviously (probably??) only mouth/lip hooked or they would have a harder time throwing the crank.

You may not be reeling them in fast enough (so that they are sliding across the water on their sides)

That's the only things I can think of.

[DRFISHDUCK]

Early spring I had the same problem when vertical jigging using a 9' Sam Heaton super sensitive rod. I switched to a rod with more backbone and it quit happening.

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[spindle]

Probably trolling too fast.

[2004Rhino]

Probably trolling too fast.

I was pulling 300’s @ 1.8 with 65’ to 85’ of line out


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[skeetbum]

What I first thought of was that the drag is too tight and when they flop they aren't able to pull line and instead tear loose. I experienced the same on some 6' rods with too much backbone. Also, are the rods straight back or out the side? I ran mine at 90* mostly so the bend of the rods could take some of the punishment. I like rods that have tips that bounce when they're at work. Look at the crank bait rods that the pro bass guys use and you'll find that they are close to parabolic. They also set the hook by just turning further sideways from where they already were. If the fish are mostly lip hooked, you might try slowing down just a little and see if they don't commit a little better. I have pulled em as slow as .9 mph on certain days but my best results, where I fished, was about 1.3 to 1.5. Sounds like you have it mostly right and just need a little fine tuning of you technique.

[Dutchman]

I would have to say our landing ratio is very good crankbaiting , compared to other methods. Let's assume your using proper rods , and correct angle . Your speed is within specs, and 300s come with plenty sharp enough hooks. We try to get the fish to the top quickly. Size determines how fast we bring them to the boat . The Bigger the fish, the slower and steady we bring him in . To slow -you may lose him , to fast- very likely to loose him. Had a buddy with me the other day who is a great, single Pole fisherman . He'd never trolled cranks. We lost several good fish , before he got the hang of it . Then he got the rhythm down and it was game on .

[bfish]

Once on the surface, waterski them in, by reeling fairly fast.

[Yak Fish]

I found that small diameter monofilament stretched more as it got saturated. I switched to braid with a fluorocarbon leader and rods with a little more backbone. Also switching from stock hooks to Gamakatsu trebles on my crankbaits helps hook up to land ratio.

Jim

[Central Minn]

Once on the surface, waterski them in, by reeling fairly fast.

This ^^^^ or try stopping the boat,keep your rod tip close to the water and reel slower so they stay down and don't surface till there by the boat.