Cowgirl repair question... Any info would help.

[urban cowboy]

After hooking into a few fish and getting my cowgirls wraped in the net. I had to cut the back hooks to to unhook the fish.

In order to replace the hooks I had to cut off the black collar on the spit ring that holds the hook straight.

QUESTION, I hear you can buy replacements but are there any other ways to quick fix or replace them. I was thinking of using electical tape and then melting it to stay.

Thanks

[FishGUY]

It is just heat shrink tubing, it is cheap and you can get it at most hardwear stores. You can also get replacements form MM.

[ole matty]

Get shrink tube from hardware store, menards also have them.. Wayy cheaper than mm from tbros..

[JRedig]

Or use electrical tape and just leave it, no melting necessary. I think I have at least 5 showgirls and 5-10 dcg's/super model's fixed this way...not to mention homemade one's.

[S.D. Ice Angular]

I have just used "Heat Shrink" also.

[bronzeback]

I'm thinking about removing the middle hook on my Willo Beast and taping up the back hook. Would this be a bad idea? I feel like if a fish t-bones that bait hard enough to get the middle hook, i'd get it on the back hook anyway. Should I not tamper with the original design, or have any of you done this on your DCG's?

[urban cowboy]

Thanks guys, This should be good enough to UN Retire a few of my girls.

[urban cowboy]

Bronz,

I think they do it that way so that the hooks commpliment each other.

Big Thick treble in front and a Thinner wire in the back. Kind of makes sence. But I dont think it would hurt anything to change it out.

[dudeness]

I thought I would add a few comments. The shrink tubing is like $6 for eight feet of it at the hardware store. It's like $4 at the bait shops for two little 3" pieces.

If you are going to use this you might have trouble unless you cut the wire and bend a new one. Without doing this you would have to take the hook off the split ring and slide the tubing up as far as possible, then put the hook back on and pull the tubing back down over the split ring and hook. You don't have room to slide everything up that far on most cowgirls.

Maybe there is another trick with the shrink tubing, but I just thought I would add that before you grab shrink tube and are having fits with it.

[JRedig]

If you are going to use this you might have trouble unless you cut the wire and bend a new one. Without doing this you would have to take the hook off the split ring and slide the tubing up as far as possible, then put the hook back on and pull the tubing back down over the split ring and hook. You don't have room to slide everything up that far on most cowgirls.

Taking the hook off is exactly how i've done it on mine, no problems...you don't need much more than and inch or inch and a half of tubing...electrical tape is cheaper and easier though...

Bronz, based on the number of fish i've gotten this year on the front/middle hook on baits (9 of the last 10 in august), i'd leave that hook on there...they like to head shoot stuff!

[bronzeback]

thanks for the reply, and I'm really only thinking of takign that middle hook off because the skirt on the Willo Beast is a rubber skirt and a lot the skirting gets tangled up in that middle treble and it ends up just gobbing up, it might not matter to the fish, but it could look a lot better in the water, and also I'm losing pieces of the skirt due to it getting tangled in the hook and I've only had the bait out for two days.

[poutpro]

you don't need to move stuff up on the shaft of the lure, you can instead bunch up the heat-shrink on the shaft of the treble hook which has quite a bit of room.

[urban cowboy]

bronz

you are thinking of totally taking the middle hook off.. Just my oppinion.. I would say that over half the fish I have caught on CG's are on the front hook. Like redig said its almost like they head shoot it or t-bone it. Plus that will bring down you hooking percentage by 50%.. two hooks, double the odds.

[dudeness]

I haven't used many silicone skirts on my bucktails but if it's gettin caught in the hook you can try to fill the back side of the hook. I am talking about the junction of the 3 shafts. I know that the smaller flashabou likes to get stuck in there. I have seen guys melt stuff in there or sauter (sp?) that space. - Maybe that helps?