"Bait a Hook" is a song co-written and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

artist

Justin Moore Justin Cole Moore (born March 30, 1984) is an American country music singer and songwriter, signed to Big Machine Records imprint Valory Music Group. For that label, he has released six studio albums: his Justin Moore (album), self titled debut ...

. It was released in August 2011 as the second single from his 2011 album '' Outlaws Like Me''. The song became Moore's fifth top 20 hit on the ''

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Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

chart, with a peak at number 17. It also reached number 63 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. The song was

certified Gold Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA), denoting sales of over 500,000 units in the United States. Reviews for the track were generally mixed, with critics divided over the premise and its lyrical content.

Content

The song talks about the male narrator's former lover choosing another man, who he expresses dislike for and is more sophisticated than he is as well as how he cannot do the things that the narrator himself can ("He can't bait a hook, he can't even skin a buck"). He criticizes that man for driving a

Toyota Prius The is a car built by Toyota which has a Hybrid vehicle drivetrain, hybrid drivetrain, combining an internal combustion engine with an electric motor. Initially offered as a four-door Sedan (automobile), sedan, it has been produced only as ...

and eating

sushi is a Japanese cuisine, Japanese dish of prepared , usually with some sugar and salt, accompanied by a variety of , such as seafood, often raw, and vegetables. Styles of sushi and its presentation vary widely, but the one key ingredient is " ...

and tells her in the chorus that "I ain't even worried, you'll come running back." By the end of the song, he recalls his former love’s temper and realizes it’s better her new lover has to deal with that now instead of him. Moore co-wrote this song with

Rhett Akins Thomas Rhett Akins Sr. (born October 13, 1969) is an American singer and songwriter. Signed to Decca Records between 1994 and 1997, he released two albums for that label (1995's '' A Thousand Memories'' and 1996's '' Somebody New''), followed by ...

and

Jeremy Stover Jeremy Stover (born August 20, 1972) is an American country music songwriter and record producer. Stover is an alumnus of Belmont University. Stover has written singles for Tim McGraw, Jon Pardi, Wynonna, Martina McBride, and others. His first ...

. He told ''Taste of Country'' that the idea came to him after he thought that "everybody hates their ex-boyfriend or ex-girlfriend, and it’d be pretty funny if maybe she went with somebody completely opposite of you."

Critical reception

"Bait a Hook" was generally received mixed reviews from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

. Some praised the song for its witty premise, while others commented on its content negatively. Billy Dukes of ''

Taste of Country Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wi ...

'' gave the song four stars out of five, saying that "Moore and his songwriting partners pieced this one together with precision, leaving no rough edges for listeners to get snagged." Kevin John Coyne of ''Country Universe'' gave the song a failing grade, calling it "drivel" and finding it to be poorly done and just in bad taste. Some people even criticized the lyrics in the song. In 2017, ''

'' contributor

Chuck Dauphin Charles Frederick Dauphin III (February 17, 1974 – September 18, 2019) was an American sports and country music journalist. He was a radio broadcaster for WDKN in Dickson, Tennessee Dickson is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. Located in ...

put "Bait a Hook" at number four on his top 10 list of Moore's best songs.

Music video

The music video was directed by

Shane Drake Shane C. Drake is an American music video director and producer originally from Redding, California. He has directed videos for many artists, including Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Avril Lavigne, Trivium, Paramore, Fall Out Boy, Panic! at the ...

and premiered on October 15, 2011 during the

Bank of America 500 The Bank of America Roval 400 is a NASCAR Cup Series race that is held annually at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, United States, with the other one being the Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend, the race. As of the 201 ...

. The video features a woman — Justin Moore's ex-partner — and her new boyfriend played by

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...

driver

Carl Edwards Carl Michael Edwards II (born August 15, 1979) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He last competed in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, driving the No. 19 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing. Prior to that, he drove the No. 9 ...

opposite Moore. It shows both men and contrasts their ways of life like the song entails. This video was later made to be available for purchase through

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

on November 8, 2011.

Chart and sales performance

"Bait a Hook" debuted at number 50 on the ''

chart for the week of August 13, 2011. It also debuted at number 100 on the U.S. ''Billboard''

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

chart for the week of November 12, 2011. Later, it reached number 63 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 (becoming Moore's fourth song to enter the Top 100) and peaked at number 17 on

. That became his fifth to break the top 20 on that chart.

Charts and certifications

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 2011 singles 2011 songs Justin Moore songs Big Machine Records singles Songs written by Rhett Akins Music videos directed by Shane Drake Songs written by Justin Moore Songs written by Jeremy Stover Song recordings produced by Jeremy Stover