Quote Originally Posted by 91tiger View Post
Thanks for the kind words. It was really good to meet you today as well. I saw you a couple times last year and wanted to come over and speak but fishing got in the way. We ended up with the exact same number. We headed up to where you mentioned as you were leaving but never made it up that far. As we were easing that way we marked a big school of herring and a ball of fish beside them and stopped and picked up two more and missed a few more before the heat ran us off.

Did you have trouble with your hooks turning back into the head of the bait on the strike today? I bet we missed another 20 really solid hits and the hook would be buried in the herring's head where there was no way for it to hook up. I've been using the same 2/0 Mutu Circle hook now after switching from Kale hooks 7 years ago and never had a day where that was happening on 50% of the hits. I don't know if they were mouthing the bait more or what. I use a little piece of clear tubing on the shank of my hooks to keep the hooks from turning back into the baits like that. I've had the same hooks on now for about 5 or 6 trips and it's possible the tubing is getting worn out and slipping on the shank easier on the strike. Just curious if you were having the same issue and if not, what hook you were using? Kale hooks worked great for me for years but they seem to swallow them so much more than the circles and I like to release mostly.
For years, I had the same issue with baits getting hooked in the side of the head and causing you to miss on hook ups. I've done some research and trials and most things I tried were little help. The one thing that has significantly helped is using Trapper hooks.

These keep the nose hooked baits locked in at the correct place and that makes a significant difference in how many get side hooked. The design of the "box" also significantly decreases the number of fish that shake the hook. Next time you see me, come over and i'll gift you a few to try. You'll be hooked! (see what i did there???)

Dawg, if you'll make a trip to Clarks Hill in the next few weeks, I'll save a seat for you!


Chris