What do I know?!?!

[animal chin]

Met up with a coworker this morning at J street. He fishes the bay but had only fished once before from a boat for one small shark. Launched at 6:30 and headed up to the flats on the south side of the bridge. I got 4 or 5 quick on my trusty crankbait. He had tied one on but I said I had the same one in a different color he could use. I gave him a tip or two for crankbait fishing as he hadn’t used them before. He got his first fish shortly after and was stoked.

We had a nice flurry in the first hour and had 11 or 12, then it died down. As previously discussed, there was no tide to speak of today and I was thinking that might have been it. I said let’s troll the cranks for a bit on our way down south. A few minutes in I get smacked, 1st time getting a bonefish on a crankbait, cool. My buddy had never even seen one. Here’s where it gets interesting.

We get back to it and my buddy hooks something on the crank, another bonefish! I had purchased a new net for landing these slippery things but for some reason didn’t use it for this fish. I reach over to unhook it in the water, it thrashes and sinks the second hook in my left pointer finger. Now I have a wriggling bonefish on one hook and my finger on the other! I bring the fish on board and have my buddy cut the line first. Then I had him get the fish off, ouccchhhh!
Fortunately I switch all my cranks to single hooks so at least there was only one barb to worry about. I said “ you get a good grip on the hook with the pliers and I’m yanking.” I twisted my finger to what looked to be straight down from the barb and with my other hand gave a quick jerk. Thank goodness it popped out first try, that would have sucked to keep going.

We proceeded south and I think let’s do another drift or two just south of Pepper Park. We ended up getting into them and added 20 more fish in the next 90 minutes. We finished the day with 1 corvina, 1 micro sand bass, three bonefish and 27 spotties. All spotties except for one were one the same two crankbaits. Needless to say my buddy was totally stoked.

Today was a great reminder that what may not look like a good day on the chart can turn into a memorable day on the water. And most importantly, you can’t catch them from the couch!

[JWall]

I have not been able to get much of a chase/reaction bite of late. What crankbait were you using? Maybe that helped make up for the lack of tide moving. Great decisions all around!

[Spektrum]

Switching out the treble hooks for single hooks on the cranks helps with catching less grass and hands/fingers

[DarkShadow]

Switching out the treble hooks for single hooks on the cranks helps with catching less grass and hands/fingers

IMG_1524.jpeg

And it's a good bet when riding around on a float tube, where piercing the only thing keeping you afloat is not a good proposition.

[animal chin]

I have not been able to get much of a chase/reaction bite of late. What crankbait were you using? Maybe that helped make up for the lack of tide moving. Great decisions all around!

It’s a Berkley Frittside #9. They have rattle and no rattle, I was using no rattle, not sure how much of a difference it makes. Much easier to get the fish off and back in the water. No noticeable decrease in hook up ratio.

[vito1023]

I agree with the switch to single hooks, I got a treble hook thru my thumb a few years ago and that’s when I switched all of my treble’s to single hooks and I’m convinced I will always do the Chang.
Advantages:
Less chance of getting hooked by fish movement during release
Easier to unhook the fish for release
Less grass on hooks means less loss of lures
More confidence means you can fish in areas you might not fish with trebles
Much easier to store without getting totally tangled up

I’m sure there are other reasons but these are some of mine.

[Nelson 1]

I agree with the switch to single hooks, I got a treble hook thru my thumb a few years ago and that’s when I switched all of my treble’s to single hooks and I’m convinced I will always do the Chang.
Advantages:
Less chance of getting hooked by fish movement during release
Easier to unhook the fish for release
Less grass on hooks means less loss of lures
More confidence means you can fish in areas you might not fish with trebles
Much easier to store without getting totally tangled up

I’m sure there are other reasons but these are some of mine.

What if you take off the front hook or turn it around. It would be weedless. Just thinking, because some jigs only have one hook.

[animal chin]

Turning the front hook around will catch less grass but will not be positioned for a good hook set. I did try a long time ago just the rear hook. I felt like it affected the action(wobbled differently?). I move my raft a lot. When I’m not in my golden zone for crankbaits(8-12ft) I move around till I find that again and drift. Most of my grass pick up is free floating, not off the bottom.

[Spektrum]

Switching out the treble hooks for single hooks on the cranks helps with catching less grass and hands/fingers

IMG_1524.jpeg

And it's a good bet when riding around on a float tube, where piercing the only thing keeping you afloat is not a good proposition.

No trebles allowed on my float tube!