Thread: Crickets

Run the hook through the thorax from side to side. It's pretty hard to kill an insect that easily. Heck, during the big cicada hatch a few years ago, the fish would bite off the head or the abdomen and the thing would still kick around. Sometimes we caught three fish on the same cicada (or piece of same). I have trouble keeping crickets on the hook with the way gills can suck your bait right off a hook - Roberta

It also helps to use a very thin wire hook. Some are made especially for crickets or redworms.http://www.truturnhooks.com/products/hooks_868.html

I use a #8 cricket hook. Stick the point of the hook in right behind the head and in front of the thorax on the back of cricket. Thread the hook through the body coming out the end of cricket, kinda like puting a worm on. Harder for gills to suck the cricket off but they will try until they do or you catch them. lol

Another thing you can try.....I read this somewhere and I am definitely going to try it as soon as the bream and shellcrackers get ready to do something. Use a 1/32 or 1/64 oz lead head. Instead of using a tube body, put the cricket on it. You can experiment with different color heads, but black should be good. Supposed to catch as many crappie as bream. Also, bream love crappie nibbles. Give 'em a try with a cricket on a #8 cricket hook, or very small circle hook.

The lady at the bait shop told me years ago how to hook them to keep em alive longer, but after i thought about it they cant breathe underwater so i start at the hind end and put the point of the hood in the head.

LOL at Crappisaurusrex... I like that answer

I hook mine thru the head and out of the body

have increased my catch to about 90%.even the two finger kind.fish may flies and will go thru 200 crickets easy but catch 4 ywo fingers to 1 keeper. but there is a trick to the hook too.it kinda looks like a tru turn but there is another twist.take needle nose pliers look at the hook from point to shank and bend tip to the side offset from parallel.then bend shank opposite from point close to bottom come up slightly bend back tru turn style.there is no way in a small mouth the point comes out without hitting with the twist and offset.the cricket start the hook thru the top of the back out the and then poke the point into the tail section but not out like aworm on a bass hook.try and let me know.comes from a lot of years of experience and a lot of fish.

If you dont hook them in the head, but rather through the body starting behind the head and through to the rear end they will live a few minutes under water. They like them a lot better when they are still wiggling their legs. If they drown before I get a bite (which doesn't usually happen when the fish are on the bed) I change crickets.