Best hook for T-rigged beavers

[Larson15]

I have been playing around with a number of hooks for texas rigged beavers trying to figure out which one will give me the best hook up ratio. I have been using 4/0 Gami G-lock, 4/0 Mihaatchi EWG, Youvella pro flip, and Gambler KO straight shank hooks. What I dont like about the EWG hooks is that after one fish the beaver is done and its hard to not have the tungsten weight ride on top of the knot. The G-lock hooks do the best job at giving the bait the best profile but my hook up ratio with them is terrible. The straight shank hooks seem to give good hook up ratio but get caught up more and dont give the bait the best looking profile.

Any opinions or experiences with this?

[mamohr686]

I've had better luck with a 3/0 gamakatsu EWG thin wire hooks on fluorocarbon. If your going to use braid then a 3/0 superline hook will work better than a 4/0. The orignal beaver baits (by reaction innovations) have a thin head and will tear easily like you describe, (but that gives them a lot of darting action). Strike king beaver baits are thicker and work better with braid when your fishing matted cover and brush piles.

[Cecil]

I use a 3/0 BMF from reaction innovations.

[Larson15]

Cecil, how to rig it, do you skin hook it or do you let the point of the hook stick out a little.

[Cecil]

Skin hook it at least. I should of been a little more specific. If, I'm pitchin it I have it on a 7-6 rod with 65# braid. I can stick the hook into the bait more and not have to worry about it not coming thru on the hookset. If I'm fishing a weedline or something were I don't need the braid, I throw it on a 3/0 wide gap gammy and barely skin hook it.

[TR21HP]

Larson 15,

Just curious, why are you using any weight with a Sweet Beaver? Are you fishing really deep water? I talked with Kim Bain Moore at the Sport show and she shared my experience in the only time she uses weight is if she is fishing 20 foot plus water. They are made for a slow fall, unless you want to get them down there in a hurry.

[Deitz Dittrich]

for the most part I use mustad.. they work for me at least.. TR21- thats craziness, Its a great flip bait.. my go to. I have never rigged it weightless unless you count carolina rig where the weight is 2 feet up the line.. 8-)

I plan on using a Hitch Series Trailer Hitch this year and hope to get a few more fish out of each bait.

[Larson15]

I always use weight with them. 95% of the people I see fishing it and the people i know use weight as well. I am not sure what Kim Moore was telling you but this is the way it is being fished. I will use anywhere from 1/8 - 1/4 oz tru tungsten weight (mostly stick with 3/16). If i am fishing it on a deep weed-line or punching heavy cover I might go up in weight.

[TR21HP]

I fished it all last year without weight and outfished my weighted fishing partners.Tried it a few times with weight and didn't catch as many. It's probably just a case of what the fish wanted at the time. Kim's main sponsor is Reaction Lures and her husband invented the bait. Her comment was, try fishing it unweighted you will be pleasantly surprised! I told her I had and she said then you know what I'm talking about. I asked her where her husband comes up with the names of the colors for the baits and she replied ,if I had a dollar for everytime someone asked me that. Try it both ways this year and see what happens.

[RK]

Hiya -

I've been using Owner straight shank wide gap 3x hooks the last couple years, tied with a snell knot. Using a snell knot will really help keep a sinker from munching up your knot, plus I kind of think you hook fish better. You can also get these soft rubber bead things (Cabelas sells them) to put between the knot and sinker. I have no idea what they're really intended for, but I got them to put above my leader while night fishing for muskies so I didn't cram the swivel into my top guide, and they work pretty well for this too as it happens.

The other thing I fish Beavers on a lot is a Northland Jungle Jig-Loc, which has a 5/0 Ultrapoint Wide Gap and a little screw lock thing on the head. They come in pretty light weights which I kind of like for pitching sometimes. Kind of an under-used jighead I think but I use them for all kinds of stuff.

Which kind of leads to the weighted or weightless discussion. I really only use these things weightless or with very light weight. I like the way they glide when they're not weighed down. The 3/32 oz Jungle Jig-Loc is great for this actually. Enough weight to get its head pointed down but still glides really well. If I'm pitching with heavier weights I usually pitch a craw or Jungle Hog type bait.

My $.02. Your mileage may vary

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

[blakjack23]

Everyone please keep using weights. They DO NOT WORK WEIGHTLESS...I repeat, THEY DO NOT WORK WEIGHTLESS.

[Cecil]

Deal

[RossT]

I just started using the Trokar 4/0 Flippin' hook this season. It is AWESOME. The bait stays put and the hooking percentages are the best I have seen. And, when you do hook them, they are hooked on the roof and you need a set of pliers to remove the hook. The hooks are awfully spendy, but in tournament time I think they are worth it.

[TonkaBass]

I wanna try the trokar too., but they seemed to roll kinda easy. but I aven't used any yet

[pascooter94]

yep me to, but when you go to rig one with the flipping hook would you rig it the same as a ewg or is there a other way.

[Larson15]

I'm not sure if I am understanding how to texas rig a beaver on a straight shank hook without the hook sticking through the other side of the bait leaving the point exposed.

I also see a lot of pros tying a snell knot to the straight shank hooks claiming a better hook up ratio. Why is it that a snell knot wouldn't be recommended for on offset hook?

[gunning]

Larson I'm going to try the straight hook this year. After reading about them and playing around rigging some just use the hook point to make a channel 3-4 time through the bait and then just pull the hook point back into the bait some.

[BigMike]

I've been fishing RI's beavers on a Trokar straight shank 5/0. So far I have had a good profile (straight) and good hookups. Plus I've been able to rerig a number of times compared to some other hooks. The heavy flipping wire was well matched with a 1/4oz tungsten weight.

At this time of year, you are not punching mats, or any vegetation for that matter... I typically use 1/8th-1/4oz this time of year for that reason: less weight the more natural look in my opinion. I don't think I would fish that bait weightless though. If you're going to go that route, I'd probably go with some other bait.

[Craigums]

Big Mike, Do you peg that weight?

[Slob_Samurai]

I peg them with a little piece of a rubber band. Tie a simple knot on the line and snip the ends off. I like that way alot better than the toothpick method I used to use.