Hank unknowingly buys crack cocaine as bait for fishing, but he has to clear his good name when he gets in legal trouble.
Tropes in the episode:
- The Alleged Car: Hank gets his truck back after the authorities were holding it for evidence after the carjacking, but they tore it apart to search for drugs and when he gets it back, it wasn't put back together and ends up in his lawn with its pieces spread around.
- Boring, but Practical: Hank prefers using hand-dug earthworms for fishing, as opposed to what the other guys use, like Dale's garlic bait, which Hank dismisses as cheating. For a long time, the worms get Hank by. But then this gets deconstructed when he runs out of success with his worms and goes for more alternatives, leading for him to inadvertently use crack as his bait with great success until the fish adapt it to their ecosystem, resulting in them no longer taking the bait. And it becomes reconstructed in the end, where he ends up having to clear his name, he goes back to the worm, with which he finally succeeds in making a catch, saving him a trip to prison.
- Cassandra Truth: Peggy doesn't believe Hank didn't know that he was using crack for fishing bait and the judge is initially skeptical but gives him a chance to prove his innocence.
- Cool and Unusual Punishment: The judge who punishes the carjacker who tried to take Hank's truck by making him live in a pick-up truck for three months as sending him to prison will end up teaching him how to be a better thief. Hank respects this, seeing him as a judge with common sense. When he finds out about Hank using cocaine as fish bait, however, he instead sentences both him and Dale, who happened to be with Hank at the time of arrest, to 2 years in state prison should they fail to produce results. It nearly gets doubled to 4 years after Dale buys a frozen bass and tries to pass it off as a fish from the lake.
- Did Not Think This Through: Dale attempts to make it look like he was able to catch a fish, only for the judge to immediately figure out it's a frozen one bought at a grocery store.Hank: Dale, you giblet-head! If you were gonna cheat, why the hell did you buy a frozen bass?Dale: I had a coupon.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: Despite not using them for illegal purposes, Hank does indeed act like a druggie when it comes to his desire to go fishing. First hiding it from the guys, then passing it along, then lying about not having any left when he wants it all to himself. Not to mention, finding little excuses just to go to the lake, just like an addict.
- Failed a Spot Check: Hank somehow does this twice in the span of 5 minutes.
- At Ray's, despite not seeing the gasoline Ray is pouring all over, Hank should have been able to smell it, especially with how close he is to where Ray dosed it.
- Hank fails to realize that the "Jack" he's talking to doesn't dress or act anything remotely close to someone who fishes or Ray's description, fails to notice "Jack" does not have a truck, or that there's actually is a truck further from them with someone in it. The fact that the "bait" Hank bought requires him to tie it to the hook also doesn't clue him in that he bought something completely different.
- Fishing Episode: Hank's obsession with being able to catch fish after they ignore his worms drives him to try a different bait, unknowingly buying drugs in the process.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: After a while fishing with the cocaine, the fish end up developing a tolerance, which not only inconveniences Hank when fishing but ends up proving problematic when he has to prove to the judge that he was indeed using it for fishing.
- I Take Offense to That Last One: With the judge sentencing the carjacker to live in a truck, he's not too ecstatic about it, but it's him telling him he's going to live in an import is what causes Hank and the crowd to react in horror.
- Idiot Ball: Hank goes to a seedy neighborhood and buys from who is obviously a drug dealer and his way of speaking goes over his head, and ends up buying crack cocaine. Even more so, he unknowingly drives by the Jack Ray was referring him to.
- Insurance Fraud: Ray ends up going out of business due to Mega-Lo-Mart, so he blows up his business for this reason. Later on, after Hank's court date, Ray is taken in, showing he was arrested.
- Mistaken for Junkie: While trying to buy "bait", Hank gets caught by the police, meaning he has to clear his name and show he's not a druggie.
- Mundane Made Awesome: The entire sequence where Hank and his friends use his new "bait" to catch fish with, as the Bass are all lively and jumping around whenever their lines are cast out.
- Parental Hypocrisy: Hank makes a citizen's arrest on the carjacker, with him protesting, with Hank saying "The hell I can't", with Bobby repeating the phrase, after which Hank scolds him for the language.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: While the crack dealer is arrested with Hank and Dale, we never see him get his sentencing.
