Wedding Ring or Worm Harness? Hook Setting Tips?

[WeekendWarrior]

I trolled a wedding ring behind a RMT Dodger up at East Canyon this past weekend. Another member of this board suggested using a worm harness (I am guessing with a double hook?), but I just used what I had. I started out by hooking a full worm just on the tip behind the wedding ring. This rig had a lot of action, but we seemed to miss as many as we landed. The worms were pretty long, so we started using half a worm to see if that would help, but it didn't seem to make a difference.

My question is whether anyone has had better success with a worm harness (with two hooks) as compared to the single hook wedding ring?

We also ran Jakes Lures and seemed to have the same problem (about 50/50 bite to boat ratio). I have never missed this many fish in my life. We were trolling pretty slow (~1.5 mph) whereas I usually fish later in the year and troll 2.2-3.0 mph (depending on what I am fishing for).

Could the speed difference be the problem (i.e., trolling at faster sppeds the fish strike harder/quicker and hook themselves better)? Should I be more/less aggressive setting the hook (I usually don't make a big deal about setting the hook when trolling). Any thoughts are much appreciated.
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[liketrolling]

I haven't fished East Canyon in a long time
but I do troll for trout a lot
You must be doing something right if you are getting bites.
sometimes I think fish just hit and run.
for trout I like a green or light green dodger 4" but I do use a 5 1/2"
I like to start with a leader about 18" then change if that does not work
I like a worm harness (with two hooks) the single hook wedding ring? should work.
I like size 2 hooks
next time you go fishing buy some Mustad Slow Death Hooks you need about 4 or 5 beads and a Spinner Blade it works good for trout
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmuOKMmCuj4
see how they put the worm on that is what I do on most kinds of hooks.

sometimes the colors also the spinner color can make a difference.
I think your speed was good. keep changing speeds.

I think a good trolling rod helps in the hook up. I use downriggers and a good rod is a must.
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[lifeshort]

I was using homemade Wedding Ring type lures with two hooks last weekend. It looked to me like the fish were swatting at the lures with their heads several we hooked were hooked in the side of their head. We had several hits on a small Rapalas that did not hook up also.
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[Anglinarcher]

[#000000][#000080]Sometimes it is just that way[/#000080].[/#000000] Trout are nasty about swatting or testing something without actually taking it at times. They can easily knock a worm or other bait off a hook and never actually take the bait in the mouth.

I remember a super clear spring one time that was stuffed with about a hundred trout. They appeared hungry and with a group like that the competition was fierce. I and my son were tossing hooks with worms into the school and we saw the fish taking the worms but we could not hook them to save our souls. It was frustrating. In desperation I dug out some "true-turn" hooks and it actually worked. I am not a fan of true-turn hooks for several reasons, but it did work just because of the way the bows were taking the bait that day.

Yes, double hooks can help if they are tail nipping, but, if they are head slapping, well that is when we changed over to flatfish because that swinging set of treble hooks would snag the snouts. LOL

Like I said, sometimes it is just that way.
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[a_bow_nut]

I had the same thing going on at Deer Creek this weekend. All of the fishing was done with lures and no bait. Had a lot of smacks and gone.

Caught maybe a little more that half of the hits and some of the fish were hooked on the side of the head. Maybe being on the tail end of the cold front had them a little off.
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[SBennett]

Try sharpening your hooks, even if they are new.
Hooks that have been in the water once get dull fast due to the point being attacked by microscopic rust.
Good luck.
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[Anglinarcher]

[quote SBennett]Try sharpening your hooks, even if they are new.
Hooks that have been in the water once get dull fast due to the point being attacked by microscopic rust.
Good luck.[/quote]

Excellent advice. I sometimes forget to tell people that I don't put a hook in the water till after I have checked it on the fingernail to see if it is stick sharp.

Thanks for the reminder.