TOPIC:

Many spoons come with trebles and all come on rings, split or welded. Anyone add a ball bearing swivel between the rings and the hook? Anyone replace the trebles with single points? Anyone try stinger hooks on short hit days?

Lotsa questions, thanks for sharing your experience. I used the bearing swivels when I used to make my own inline muskie spinners. They stayed hooked!

Over the years had lots of debates on single vs treble, so here's my thought, treble hook a little better, singles tangle less in the tackle box and net, snag less bottom or bait fish, never thought about a swivel, bottom line I lost fish on both

On small fish/cohos, I like the treble/ring right out of the package. Had a captain in Sturgeon Bay, years ago, tell me he felt a treble on a ring allowed big kings to get too much leverage. The swivel allows me to keep the treble and eliminate the leverage advantage.

I just use quality ball bearing swivel snaps to connect spoons to my line. I also try to use the smallest size I can find in 50# rating to try and minimize any impact on the spoons action. Not sure if putting a barrel swivel between the spoon and the hook would make a difference. If anything it may impact the spoons action.

Only one way to find out, run it both ways and see what it looks like in the water and see if your hookup / landing ratio improves compared to using the spoon rigged out of the package.

I don’t necessarily make a point to change out treble hooks to single hooks, especially if it’s good quality one. But I do like single hooks burying deep into those kings jaw bones.

This debate (single vs treble) is as old as a 50 pound lake trout. The best "sensible" response I ever heard to the question was, you hook fewer fish with a single hook, but once hooked, you are less likely to lose the fish since the hook will be farther in the mouth. Sounds sensible, but I'm not sure that's correct. The funniest answer was at least funny to me as I worked on a lot of farms growing up. The answer, "You can't pitchl much hay with a single tine on a pitch fork." Most of you won't get that one.

In the mid-summer when "deep" fishing for lakers and there's a lot of filamentous green algae on the lake bed, I switch to big single hooks for the same reason you can't pitch much hay with a single-tined fork - less green goop on the hook. That gives me more bites, but with the single hook, when that big ol' trout burps and starts struggling three feet beyond reach of the landing net, I lose many more of them. The one's which are boated often have one big hole in their mouth and you don' t need pliers to unhook the barb.

I know what you mean. Keeping the line tight is crucial. I’ve seen just as many treble hooks fall out in the net when slack is created. I’ve had fish hooked with all 3 barbs of the treble and said to myself, “you weren’t gna get away!”. But the I’ve had the big single hook buried in deep and found myself repeating the same words. The big powerful runs create these holes either way. My ol time friend, Coho Harry told me he would put tape around his thumb and set it to free spool when the fish ran, applying only light pressure with his thumb to reduce the tension, thus reducing this black hole”. It’s all interesting discussion!

I can see my catch rate plummet when I start taping the fingers on my customers and telling them, "here's the drag." That being said - I've often employed that technique on salt water trips as a way to add additional drag (when possible) when hooked to tuna, marlin, tarpon and others which can make powerful runs.

Andy Reeker Spoons by Grizzly were a common spoon in the old days. I like the single hook better especially during steelhead season.

I think the fight is better too. Often times that treble gets stuck in both lower and upper jaws limiting water flow in mouth and movement. That single hook stuck in a corner makes for some exciting action!