Swimbaits for trout

[TubeDude]

[cool]A friend from Santa Barbara, where I lived a few years, just posted this on the California Board of BFT. He is the major rep for the Hammer Lures, and is a bit "prejudiced", but he offers some good info.

One of the things I liked was his use of single hook trap hooks in the swimming tails of his lures. Trout are notorious for nipping at the tails of flies and lures, and this evidently helped hang a few of them.

By the way, Lake Cachuma is a lot like Deer Creek, in size and fishability. It has a number of different species, but the big steelhead strain rainbows are a blast to catch.

[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?post=38466;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread"]http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?post=38466;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread[/url]
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[Curtisfish]

Thank you once again TD. I have been using swim baits at the Gorge the last year and have been short struck more than I care to count. I had not even considered a small salmon hook as a trap. All of my stingers have traditionally been trebles, and trout see them. Another example of what makes this site so great. I wonder if he has considered using a minnow threader to put the trap line inside the bait? You know, the less visible, the more fish.
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[Xman]

in response to that issue we have been thinking of putting a stinger type hook on our jigs tube. i think that will help on more hook ups. any ideas on how to put one on without ruining the presentation?
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[TubeDude]

[cool]A stinger hook on your biggest and bushiest jigs might help on those days when the fish are just nipping at the tail and not getting the main hook. That's more common with smaller rainbows than with big browns, but it can be frustrating...especially when strikes are few and far between.

Most serious bass chasers keep a supply of stinger hooks in their tackle boxes to add on to jigs, spinner baits and buzz baits for the days when the bass are being tentative. They will all tell you of times when every fish they brought in was hooked only on the trailer hook. I've seen it work the same for trout and other species too.

If you pinch the barb down on your regular jig hook, you can put it through the eye of almost any of the "ring eye" type hooks. You will need to follow it up with a small bit of rubber band...or piece of a plastic worm or something to keep the stinger hook from easily coming off...especially during a fishy confrontation.

Hook manufacturers have responded to the occasional need for an add-on stinger hook, by making some with a larger ring eye. One of these is the Mustad 3366A. Many full-line tackle suppliers carry them, but I buy mine in several sizes from Janns Netcraft [url "http://www.jannsnetcraft.com"]http://www.jannsnetcraft.com[/url].

The example in the picture shows a hook similar in size to the main jig hook. Sometimes you can use a larger one. Other times only a smaller one is necessary to get the job done. It should extend only far enough to hook the fish, and not so far as to interfere with the appearance or action of the jig.

The good thing about these hooks is that there is no complicated tieing of connecting line or leader between main hook and stinger hook. But, even if you do not pinch down the barb on your hook, you should add a small piece of rubber band or plastic worm to anchor the stinger in place. A bit of bright red or chartreuse plastic...or even one the same color as the jig fibres...can sometimes add extra attraction.

Since the hook swivels freely on the shaft of the Jig hook, it does not impede action. In fact, I have strung several successively smaller hooks, in a "daisy chain", to fish large strip baits or big crawlers. How 'bout dat?

[url "http://www.jannsnetcraft.com"][/url]
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[Xman]

im giong to try that. stragenly enough all the big browns we have had on for quite awhile have been short striking or just stopping and spitting quickly. i think with a extra length like that it would hook with my reaction time to the stop. ill give that a try on the river hopefully it doesnt change the swim of the jig. but maybe it would give it a different presentation for the better too. thanks for the idea i had bee nthinking of the same thing and thought no thats too simple and stupid looking it wont work haha.
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[TubeDude]

[cool]Hey, Mr. X, thereis one other thing I forgot to mention on those stinger hooks. Some guys actually dress them with more feathers, and make a jointed jig out of them. It swings freely on the main jig hook and can add extra size and action. That is a popular type of jig for some salt water fishing and I suspect it might have some appeal to big fresh water fish too...like browns and bass...even walleyes and wipers.

I know you do quite a hit of stuff with two-color jigs. You could wrap the main jig with one color and the swinger/stinger hook with another color. The old black and chartreuse combo has worked well for me on regular jigs. I bet the chartreuse tail on a black main jig would be a killer.

And, for the benefit of anyone who has not already checked out the ringed hooks I suggested in the previous post...they are not expensive. A box of 100 is less than $3. They are decent quality though. The only thing I would recommend is to sharpen the heck out of them if they are meant to catch the short strikers. That's good advice for almost all hooks.
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