What are the chances?

[NickMcD63]

I was grinding my crankbait on some rocks and I believe my line was weakened, which led to me losing a huge bass...

My question is, what are the chances the bass spits the crankbait? She jumped 5-6 times without success...Does this generally lead to fatality?

[UofMBASS]

Bass have a real knack for finding ways to spit-out a double trebled crankbait. Sometimes there's just nothing you can do but that's fishing for ya.

As far as mortality rates in relation to jumping during the fight: I'm not entirely sure, but I really don't think the jumping affects mortality as much as handling and hook removal.

[Raider4ever]

63,

Chances are IF it was hooked in the mouth and NOT further down the throat, that crankbait is long gone. It probably spit it on the last jump. After a fish breaks the line, the hook hole just keeps getting bigger until it falls out because of the mass of an untied lure and no pressure to keep the lure buried. More than once I have had Northerns bite off a Zara Spook on the initial strike, jump once or twice and the Spook just comes to the top, usually within 1-2 minutes. All bets are off if it was hooked deeper in the throat.

[NickMcD63]

Bass have a real knack for finding ways to spit-out a double trebled crankbait. Sometimes there's just nothing you can do but that's fishing for ya.

As far as mortality rates in relation to jumping during the fight: I'm not entirely sure, but I really don't think the jumping affects mortality as much as handling and hook removal.

I should have been more specific with my question. If a bass cannot dislodge the crank, does this stress them out to the point where they do not eat? This just got me thinking about how bass react to things like this...

[NickMcD63]

63,

Chances are IF it was hooked in the mouth and NOT further down the throat, that crankbait is long gone. It probably spit it on the last jump. After a fish breaks the line, the hook hole just keeps getting bigger until it falls out because of the mass of an untied lure and no pressure to keep the lure buried. More than once I have had Northerns bite off a Zara Spook on the initial strike, jump once or twice and the Spook just comes to the top, usually within 1-2 minutes. All bets are off if it was hooked deeper in the throat.

Thanks for the insight! Let's hope it wasn't deep because she was a football!

[serpent]

I've had the same thing happen. Felt awful for the fish until 2 minutes later when the crankbait came floating back up. Now when I'm fishing rock I check my line all the time.

[TurnUpTheFishing]

Hard to say Im sure some fish die as a result but some are able to free themselves. Example, I got broke off fishing a crank years ago, continue fishing the same area and a minute later heard a fish jump/boil near the surface and saw the bait I had lost floating on the surface.

[Presco]

This spring, I set the hook on what felt like a really good fish. Line snapped instantly, figured it was a pike. Anyway, as I'm sitting there checking my line, I see a toad smallie come swimming up to the surface about 10 feet off the end of the boat with my tube stuck in the side of its mouth. It gently broke the surface, shook its head violently a few times, and I watched as my tube popped out of its mouth and gently float back down into the rocks. Then it just slowly swam back to the rock pile it'd just been on. I think I saw him wink at me and if it had fingers, I'm sure would've flicked me off.

[mnxs54]

I should have been more specific with my question. If a bass cannot dislodge the crank, does this stress them out to the point where they do not eat? This just got me thinking about how bass react to things like this...

You probably know this already but fish don't have to eat every day like, say deer do either. If she gets rid of your crank bait she'll be fine. I doubt she'd eat with the thing still in her mouth though but I really have no idea. We've all caught fish with lures in their jaws I'm sure.

[Igor Drackenwolf]

My son lost a Skitter Prop to weak line and a huge Smallie. We assumed the lure was gone, and kept working our way down the rock face. For the next several minutes, we'd see a big bass jumping back in the spot where we lost the lure, and figured it was the Smallie trying to shake the hooks.

After a bit, we worked back along our previous path, came upon the spot, and there was the Skitter-Prop, floating there for us to grab.

[Nick Kuhn]

Once when I was a kid I was teasing a bedding bass under my dock with a spoon of some sort. After about 3 minutes it finally hit it. Then proceeded to wrap my line around a dock post and break it. Took the fish less than an hour to find a weed patch, hook it into the weeds and rip it out. I actually got that spoon back as the weed clump was torn off and floated back to the dock.

[Stick in Mud]

Interesting question...I've wondered it myself a couple of times. I guess I've always assumed that eventually they get rid of it, but I can't say I have much evidence to support that hypothesis. I figure that, if they quite jumping after a few attempts, they must have got rid of it.

How long can a bass go without eating?

[RK]

Hiya -

Impossible to say for sure, but I think a crankbait is probably about as easy to throw as anything. Lot of water resistance for them to lever against. I know they can be pretty good at throwing them when the DON'T break the line.

I had a real "What the...?" moment this summer because of a deal that started like this. I bombed a long cast with Series 5 (7'11" composite rod, so it was a *long* cast) and got hit almost immediately. Rod loaded up, fish came up and boiled on the surface, then nothing...reeled in an empty line. Must have been nicked by a pike or a hook point, and I didn't notice.

Anyhow, went on fishing, and hoped the fish would throw it. Get to the end of the day, and when I bent over to pull the plug on the boat, there, stuck in the screen over my livewell intake, was the crankbait I'd lost. So somehow, the fish threw it, I drove over it, and managed to hit it just right to get it to snag in the screen.

Anyone want to calculate the odds of randomly hitting a 2-3/4" crankbait bobbing around in a 500 acre lake with a 2" screen on the back of a boat? Shoulda bought a lottery ticket.

[Stick in Mud]

That's crazy....maybe the fish mistook your plus for a spro frog?!?!?

[jalberg]

One of my biggest largemouth had a DT6 stuck in it's mouth.

[TonkaBass]

If that crankbait was still in her, normally they keep jumping after they break off...

[jalberg]

This fish must not have been able to throw it and just decided to live with it for a while. It was bunched up with other fish and ready to eat.

[NickMcD63]

If that crankbait was still in her, normally they keep jumping after they break off...

Is that you Adam?

I heard her jumping all day, which makes me think she got it good.

[tolle141]

If you crush the barbs down it'll make it easier for the fish to spit it out should she break the line. That and it makes unhooking a lot easier, especially with deep hooked fish.

Also, I've found I lose a lot less fish and have fewer bite offs if I stick with single hook lures. Not only is your entire hook set transfered to one point (ALOT of pressure), but it's also a lot less damaging to the fish in most cases IMO.