Tip - Storing Crankbaits

Are you tired of pulling out your favorite crankbait or jerkbait out of a compartment of your tacklebox only to find that all of the crankbaits are hooked together with your favorite one and exit the box at the same time?  Then, you spend another fifteen minutes to separate and restack them back in your box because they no longer fit as the tangled mess, and you still haven't tied your favorite one on the line?

When bass like this are on the crankbaits, don't waste time separating a tangled mess while you could be fishing.  And, if you take Bass Junky's tip to heart, using quality hooks will ensure that you land rather than lose fish like this.

Well now I have a tip for you!  Remove all of the treble hooks from your crankbaits.  And, while your at it, buy quality replacement hooks, premium extra sticky sharp hooks for reasons detailed in Bass Junky's latest blog post, Switchin out your trebles..a must?.  Place the hooks in a compartment or separate box and put them on after you remove your crankbait from the box.

Now you can avoid this tangled mess and store as many crankbaits or jerkbaits as you like in one box.

 You'll need a pair of split ring pliers to remove all the hooks, and also they help to put the hooks back on.  Carry them with you in your tackle bag or box.  If you forget them, you can always use a spinnerbait blade to open the split ring in an emergency. 

Split ring pliers like these come in handy even on the boat.

The only thing that you'll have to remember if you use this tip is to not forget to bring your hooks, unless all you want to do is practice getting bites!

What advantages does this tip give you?  Well, as Bass Junky noted, premium hooks mean more hookups and less chance of losing fish.  And with this tip, you won't have to purchase two hooks for every lure.  Just keep a dozen of each size that you need in your box, and switch them out between baits as necessary.  You won't lose all of your crankbaits in one day, but you may lose a couple.  Even then, you should still have plenty of hooks.

If you're like me, you probably stuff as many crankbaits that will physically fit into your box without breaking the lid.  With this tip, even using an entire compartment for hooks, you can actually fit more crankbaits in your box than before.  And, when you take your favorite out, it's not tangled with ten other crankbaits.

Now you can stuff your box full of crankbaits and never worry about a tangled cluster of crankbait mess to separate.

You may ask, "Doesn't it take a lot of time to add the treble hooks"?  My response would be, a lot less time than untangling a mess of crankbaits and restocking them back in your box.  Once you get the hang of using the pliers, which may take all but a few minutes of working with them, then you should be able to add the hooks back to the lure in less than a minute.

Oh yeah, before I forget, leave the split rings on the lures.  They're small and can be dropped and lost easily if you separate them.  You may have to change out old rusty ones eventually, but that's an easy task especially if you've already removed the hooks.

You may ask, what if I'm shore fishing or wading and can't do this in the field?  Simply add the hooks to the lures that you want to fish with prior to your trip.  I've used medical tape on the hooks before, so when it's not practical to use this trip, that's a good alternative.

Another variation of this tip would be to leave just one of your favorites in each tackle box compartment with hooks rather than remove them all.  That way, if you're in a hurry to change baits on the water, you have your favorites already rigged up.

In summary, spend less time untangling, more time fishing, and use quality premium hooks to stick and land more big fish.