Had a beast of a fish on my pencil Tate by Yamamoto the other morning. It was an amazing fight for 5 seconds and then there was the dreaded weightless feeling out of no where. Reeled in my lure to find the front treble, which is a quality Mustad triple grip, straightened. Another guy I know had his trebles straightened out on him the other day on the same lake. Any ideas for super strength trebles that still are extra sharp and high quality?
Thanks- Ben
Can't speak of them, but it is what I would buy. http://www.gamakatsu.com/fishing-hooks.php?pid=1236. I have Gamakatsu hooks that are well over 10 years old, some have been used, and they are just as sharp as my brand new ones. The only one I have ever broke, was to a giant snapping turtle, not a bass.
I am sure you can find other brands with good hooks, personally I trust them and I hope you get that catch next time!
Owner ST36 work for me.
Loosen your drag and take it easier next time you're fighting a big fish on treble hooks. You don't want to go up too big with a walking bait or you'll mess with the action. VMC Spark Points are a good, heavy duty hook that I've had success with on walking baits though.
On 7/1/2015 at 11:04 AM, Cgrinder said:Owner ST36 work for me.
X2
What tackle were you fishing the bait on?
On 7/1/2015 at 10:55 AM, BennyB said:Had a beast of a fish on my pencil Tate by Yamamoto the other morning. It was an amazing fight for 5 seconds and then there was the dreaded weightless feeling out of no where. Reeled in my lure to find the front treble, which is a quality Mustad triple grip, straightened. Another guy I know had his trebles straightened out on him the other day on the same lake. Any ideas for super strength trebles that still are extra sharp and high quality?
Thanks- Ben
You have a good treble already - loosen up that drag !
On 7/1/2015 at 1:37 PM, Bluebasser86 said:Loosen your drag and take it easier next time you're fighting a big fish on treble hooks. You don't want to go up too big with a walking bait or you'll mess with the action. VMC Spark Points are a good, heavy duty hook that I've had success with on walking baits though.
Bluebasser86 nailed it, the hooks aren't the problem. I'm seeing a lot of this, guys bending out shaky hooks because they are using line and rods that are too heavy for the type of presentation, guys using heavy line and casting gear and braid for Ned rigs, help me understand why. If you are worried about losing fish, you will be amazed at how well and how big of a fish you can land with balanced tackle. I don't mean to criticize but the hooks on that bait are fine, if you go to a 2X strong, which you will have to to get a stronger hook that what they use, it won't matter which brand, it will be too heavy and the lure action will suffer because of it. What you will have is a lure with strong hooks that gets maybe half the strikes it normally would get, and that is depending on how much action it loses and being a Yamamoto bait I'll bet it is balanced well with that hook. Lures are designed and then hokks are hung and tested and while value priced lures may use a less expensive hook, it doesn't mean the size is wrong, it means that size hook is what the lure works best with. On crankbaits there is a lot of tolerance, you can go up to a larger size or a heavier model and not affect it too much, but jerkbaits and topwaters are extremely sensitive to hook changes, I found out the hard way before the internet, Xcalibur had the rotating treble hooks on a Jim Bitter signature model rogue, those hooks were so good I decided to buy a bunch and replace all my rogue hooks, well it turns out the signature Jim Bitter model weighed a little bit more than the regular rogue and the result was unspectacular, I had a trip in which my rogue were useless because they didn't work right at all so I had to go back and redo all my rogues and use the rotating trebles on cankbaits I had that used the same hook size. Adjust your drag and use the right rod and bending perfectly fine hooks won't be a problem.
I agree with the above. It's not the trebles, its your drag.
I did have my drag tight, but not cinched way down. The fish was still ripping line off, which I was worried about fishing right above a huge lay down. I found the Owner ST-41 I believe. Anyone ever used them? I'm wondering if the double strength hooks will add too much weight to the lure. I will have to back down on the drag a little too, but then I worry about the big ones Wrapping me in trees. I guess that's the game we play.
I use the owner ST-41BC 2X for my heavier baits. No problems with them.
What line/rod were you using?On 7/1/2015 at 9:15 PM, BennyB said:I did have my drag tight, but not cinched way down. The fish was still ripping line off, which I was worried about fishing right above a huge lay down. I found the Owner ST-41 I believe. Anyone ever used them? I'm wondering if the double strength hooks will add too much weight to the lure. I will have to back down on the drag a little too, but then I worry about the big ones Wrapping me in trees. I guess that's the game we play.
Lazer Trokar are really quality trebles
X2.On 7/1/2015 at 11:04 AM, Cgrinder said:Owner ST36 work for me.
One more time for the Owners..... I replaced several old ones with the Owners and so far they have exceeded my expectations.
Buy a few sample packs of different hooks and weigh each one and use the closest to the manufacturer weight and the action should remain the same. Otherwise loosen your drag as previously stated and use your rodbasbmorwnofbabsteeringbwheel to get the fish moving in a direction away from obstructions.
I use Owner ST-46 trebles with 50# braid and a locked drag with zero issues. They don't effect the action or balance on any of the lures I've used them on. They aren't technically short shanks so I simply use the same size as stock. Super strong and super sharp, they're fantastic hooks in my opinion.
I use 20,30,and 50lb braid with ALL my treble hooked baits,and rarely use "cranking" specific gear. Of course to compensate, I use 2x strong hooks on all my hard baits. This nonsense of not using braid and using soft rods with treble hooked baits is one of the most overstated, backwards, and plain ridiculous myths in bass fishing, often times spread around by old guys who refuse to change with the times or noobs,kids, and others who just say it to say something without first hand knowledge of what they are talking about.
On 7/4/2015 at 12:25 AM, ww2farmer said:I use 20,30,and 50lb braid with ALL my treble hooked baits,and rarely use "cranking" specific gear. Of course to compensate, I use 2x strong hooks on all my hard baits. This nonsense of not using braid and using soft rods with treble hooked baits is one of the most overstated, backwards, and plain ridiculous myths in bass fishing, often times spread around by old guys who refuse to change with the times or noobs,kids, and others who just say it to say something without first hand knowledge of what they are talking about.
Based on what?
On 7/1/2015 at 7:00 PM, ChrisD46 said:You have a good treble already - loosen up that drag !
I wholeheartedly agree! The Mustad triple grip treble hook is one of the best on the market right now. But if your drag is too tight, you're asking for trouble!
On 7/4/2015 at 1:07 AM, FlipSide said:Based on what?
Based on actual experience, which I have plenty of.
On 7/4/2015 at 12:25 AM, ww2farmer said:I use 20,30,and 50lb braid with ALL my treble hooked baits,and rarely use "cranking" specific gear. Of course to compensate, I use 2x strong hooks on all my hard baits. This nonsense of not using braid and using soft rods with treble hooked baits is one of the most overstated, backwards, and plain ridiculous myths in bass fishing, often times spread around by old guys who refuse to change with the times or noobs,kids, and others who just say it to say something without first hand knowledge of what they are talking about.
I started using braid on my m and mh fast graphite rods for all treble hook lures two years ago and love it, my hookup ratio went way up.
On 7/4/2015 at 5:58 AM, ww2farmer said:Based on actual experience, which I have plenty of.
Hmm been the opposite for me. To each his own I suppose
I love good old gamakatsu round bends.
I just got some replacement/upgrade hooks based on a recommendation from another forum site - Mustad KVD 1x Strong 2x Short Triple Grip Treble Hooks. Kevin uses these on his crankbaits and if they're good enough for him, they're good enough for me! (TW reviews were also on point where I felt confident in these hooks.)
I use Owner ST-58 size 1 & 1/0, on some swimbaits/wake baits and top water lures. ST-58 are extremely strong light weight treble hooks, but pricey.
Big bass can straighten a treble hook during the fight trying to leverage the big lures out, getting a hook into it's self or snagging something, nothing to do with your drag setting.
Tom
On 7/8/2015 at 8:32 AM, blckshirt98 said:I just got some replacement/upgrade hooks based on a recommendation from another forum site - Mustad KVD 1x Strong 2x Short Triple Grip Treble Hooks. Kevin uses these on his crankbaits and if they're good enough for him, they're good enough for me! (TW reviews were also on point where I felt confident in these hooks.)
So if he jumped to Eagle Claw would they be the next best hook out on the market?
On 7/4/2015 at 12:25 AM, ww2farmer said:I use 20,30,and 50lb braid with ALL my treble hooked baits,and rarely use "cranking" specific gear. Of course to compensate, I use 2x strong hooks on all my hard baits. This nonsense of not using braid and using soft rods with treble hooked baits is one of the most overstated, backwards, and plain ridiculous myths in bass fishing, often times spread around by old guys who refuse to change with the times or noobs,kids, and others who just say it to say something without first hand knowledge of what they are talking about.
I agree 100000%. Way too many guys stick with an old school mentality. Like the home run swing hook sets that were the norm YEARS ago to compensate for the stretch mono has.
On 7/8/2015 at 11:51 AM, Shanes7614 said:So if he jumped to Eagle Claw would they be the next best hook out on the market?
If they built them to his specs I would. I didn't just buy blind because his name was attached to them, I also read up on why the Mustad's were designed the way they were (i.e. http://www.insideline.net/weeklynews/2008/08-0702.html http://www.bassmaster.com/gear/when-vandam-gets-treble others as well) - the short shank lets you upsize hooks on most cranks, the hook bend holds onto fish better even with a wider gap, the hooks are stiffer and stay sharper than a lot of standard stock hooks. Not saying there aren't other trebles that won't work just as well, nor that all stock hooks need to be replaced, just that these seem solid without any noticeable flaws if you're looking to replace or upgrade.
Your hooks are fine in my humble opinion. I've used Trokar, Gammys, Owners and Mustads. I build lures and now I buy Mustad triple grips. They are very sticky and seem to work well. But as Tom said above, big bass can straighten hooks. I understand your concern about drag and worrying about the fish getting caught up in cover. This is why big fish are so cherished by us silly anglers, they aren't easy to catch.
The most important feature of a crankbait rod is it's ability to cast the lure where you want it with ease.
If you can do that using a basic MH-fast action rod use it. My first specific crankbait rod was made from a Fenwick 7' 4", 5 power trigger stick popping rod blank back in the early '70's and the reason was to increase casting distance and have better control of bass near the boat. The key to good hook sets is using sharp hooks, not hard hook sets with crankbaits. You want a hook point to stick into the basses inside mouth tissue so you can detect the strike and set the hook by cranking faster, then use a rod sweep to fully load up the rod.
Use whatever line you can cast all day into the wind without backlashes. I use Big Game 10 or 12 lb mono, very good casting line and change it often.
Tom