I like to use crankbaits but have problems with front hook hooking to back hook, has anyone ever removed the front hook & just fished with a back hook & does this deminish your fish hook-ups?

Any thoughts?

this happens with most small crankbaits that have to small of a body and to big of hooks, just get one size smaller hook

I feel your pain, Roo. It's part of the game with small cranbaits and topwaters. The problem with removing the front hook is that when bream are really biting, they tend to hit the middle of the bait where the front hook is. The back hook is more like an insurance hook on smaller plugs. If they get off of the front hook the back hook will stick them if it's not in/on them already. If they are just barely nipping at the bait, the small treble isn't gonna help much and it's probably time to switch lures. A suspending or sinking bait is a difffernt story. The back treble on sinking/suspending micro plugs can be very important.

I've heard adding a split ring to either the front or back hook will cut down on the tangles. Something about the extra length making the swinging hook less likely to find the opposite hook. I haven't tried it on the micro plugs but it does work on some of my smaller bass plugs. I've had success with removing the back treble and putting on a short shank single hook. Mustad beak hooks are what I've had the most success with in this application. Even when they are nipping at the plug floating, sinking or suspending I don't seem to miss any more bites than usual. Adding a larger treble in the back makes it tail heavy and makes them stand up straight in the water (or sink/suspend tail down if it's a sinking suspending plug) as opposed to laying down mostly flat. That can be a desired effect in some situations, but it can also throw off the action of the lure. A larger front hook has less dramatic effects, but the action will still be a bit sluggish. After a while I just learned to match the micro plugs with some of my rod/line combos and casting techniques that I really cut down on the tangles with the original hardware. There were times when my wife or other fishing buddy would notice that the trebles were tangled before I made my cast. If I feather the end of my cast or give a slight pop right at the end, I noticed that I had fewer tangles also.

Hope this helps!

That makes a lot of since to switch out to a smaller hook. I personally have not had that problem fishing crank baits. I only fish em while fishing for Bass and usually in deep water.

There are a few problems with going down a size. The biggest one is finding hooks that small. A lot of those Rebel cranks we use have some very small (size 14) hooks on them. Not too many companies make a hook smaller than that. Even when you find a smaller hook, the shank is about the same size so it doesn't really solve the problem. Actually, a size larger hook on the back tends to keep the tangles at a minimum if you want to change hook sizes. Seems like the hooks have more of a chance to become untangled in mid-flight and/or after the lure hits the water. Same thing with adding an additional split ring, changes where the swinging treble ends up. The issue with a larger hook or extra split ring is that the lure tends to pick up more vegetation or other snaggy stuff.

this happens with most small crankbaits that have to small of a body and to big of hooks, just get one size smaller hook [/quote]

X2... Exactly what i was going to say..small enough where they can not get hung on each other

Well these crankbaits come with 2 hooks the same size, however I wanted to fish them alittle deeper, so I put a larger hook on back. Now both hooks get hooked together so I'm thinking of removing front hook.
Even though the bait then sits straight up instead of flat, once you start to reel the bill on the front makes the lure swim flat, so I believe it will still function properly without the front hook.

Give it a try and see what happens.. If it don't work..you got your answer

even if you dont change both change the first one, and they have tiny gold eagle claws used for brook trout and small mouthed fish

I have changed out hooks on crank baits in the past and they have worked just fine. Every now and then I will get some hooks tangled but few and far between.