any other "cranky" FMers seeing "red" this year?

[dfv87]

I noticed some of the new Cranks out now are using Red treble hooks. I went out and bought new trebles for my cranks to replace the old ones that may have been bent or dulled last year and I went with red trebles this time. Actually ended up changing about 20 cranks to red. OK OK but I had to do something to keep myself busy watching all this basketball on TV.

Anyway the question is ... does anyone else use the red trebles? I use red hooks alot for rigging and slipbobbers but never thought to try them on my cranks. Do you think they will help?

[delmuts]

we had a disscussion about this earlier. deitz said he had changed some on his along with some of the other guys. i plan to switch alteast one of the hooks on each of my lures as i go this sumner. do they make a difference? maybe! can it give you a little more confidence in your lure ! you bet!

[kpj5br]

I suppose it could make a difference. But, to me, it's one of things that you better have all your important things done first: finding fish locations, presentation and casting techniques down pat, boat control, bait selection, etc, etc. Those are much more important than the color of hooks, if you don't have those down pat, it doesn't matter what color hooks you are using. I find that most of us, including myself, would be well served to practice and spend our time and resources concentrating on mastering the basics first...once those are mastered, the question of red hooks will answer itself. But I guess that wouldn't make fishing as fun

[walleyefisher0990]

I believe that the color red on the hooks has to do with blood. I think they help to immitate a wounded baitfish.

Not a hundred percent sure though.

[Ed Carlson]

I think the quality and design of the hook is the first consideration, then a color option. Adding a bit of flash like Red is a nifty option and can make a difference some days. I also have found adding a feathered sparkle tail hook to a crank can be a hot deal. The Gamakatsu feathered hooks are very high quality as are the Mustad version of the same deal. They do wonders on large Shad Rap style cranks and some larger minnow bait style cranks.

First, decide if the hook has the attributes needed for the application, and then consider the whistles and bells.

[Wayne Ek]

Even with todays quality cranks, some just need better hooks. I change out all my trap hooks, I go with a red front hook on the change out. On reaction baits, I don't know if it makes that much of a differance. I do use red worm hooks now, I think that makes a differance. Also on live bait rig's I,m convinced that the color of hook makes a differance. I've had to many days when one client was wacking fish and his/her partner was not... only differance, one had a colored hook. I would not change out the hooks on my cranks if I did not believe it makes a big differance... changing hooks with short,fat,stubby fingers and bad eyes is a real pain in the....

[Deitz Dittrich]

I just bought another 50 red trebs when I was at cabelas this last weekend. I usually will switch out the front hook, but sometimes will do both.. I tend to switch them off more so on the shallow divers where I know that the hooks are going to stay red..

Will the red hooks catch more fish?.. Maybe? maybe-not... but I doubt they will make you catch less fish!

[Gus]

Does anyone think the reason some cranks are coming with red hooks is the same reason that some people swear by that Cajun red line? It's the first color to dissappear under water? I'm not sure but the thought came to my mind.

[delmuts]

hey deitz! i'm with you! i just picked up two 20 pks today of 4 and 6's. i'm going to replace the front hooks like you said. i got to give them a try!

[Cooter]

I will guarantee hook color matters in situations such as live bait slip bobbin for walleyes - and many other species. I think red is gonna stick around for a long time. I've got most of one lake in northern WI using orange Gamas after I consistenly outfished them.

[Deitz Dittrich]

Del-Let us know if the fish in Iowa are smart enough to eat red will yah...

I'm sure I'll pay for that comment! he he he

[Bushwacker]

Quote:

---

Does anyone think the reason some cranks are coming with red hooks is the same reason that some people swear by that Cajun red line? It's the first color to dissappear under water? I'm not sure but the thought came to my mind.

---

Gus,

That's the same thing that I always think about when it comes to red hooks. One company markets red line because it is invisible in water, when other companies market red hooks because the fish will associate it with blood and a wounded baitfish Maybe it has to do with diameter and the refraction index of the line and both sides are correct. Maybe fish see red and it is a deterant for both situations. Who knows? I have an order in to Jann's netcraft for 50 red trebles so I guess I will experiment for myself.

[Deitz Dittrich]

I have seen the red line in water.. it is NOT invisable... I'll stick to florocarbon if I want invisable line.

[Mike Walerak]

I agree with Dietz. Red hooks on shallow running lures is more important. Red is one of the first colors of the spectrum to dissapear under water. I believe it is less than 10 feet. This is the thought proccess behind the red line.

When going with red hooks on deeper running lures, what does blood look like in deeper water? I'm sure red looks different from black 30 feet below the surface.

Just an FYI: Blue and chartruce are colors that maintain themselves fairly well in deeper water.

mw

[LocalGuide]

After reading this thread I was also starting to think that red hooks are good b/c they disappear quicker in the water.

And if the fish cant see red then it just might make the bait look a little more natural underwater. Who knows, I dont have the same eyes as a walleye?

I think I am going to switch out some of my cranks here once I figure out what size hooks I need.

On all of my spinner rigs I use red hooks or some kind of color on them. Once your red hook turns to gold then its normally time to tie another up.

[delmuts]

Oooch !

[Jim Hudson]

I know from experience, that by switching up the belly treble to red mustads on some of my cranks for trolling 'eyes the fish were hitting the bait more and more from the side and getting hooked up on the red treble... so I do believe it makes a bit of a difference... just as different colored beads on a harness.... The biggest thing though is to get all the essentials down pat first.... such as your lure running true and the speed of your boat... do a test, if your catching some fish on normal trebles, switch out to red and see if it increases your catch... I always try to experiment with my lures.... and like Ed talked about.. I have been hearing good things about feathered hooks run on the rear of your cranks...

[Deitz Dittrich]

To be honest... I do a lot of featherd trebs...

[Deitz Dittrich]

I think the thing people are missunderstanding most on this red issue is this... RED does not dissapear underwater.. it meerly turns to a grey color sooner than most other colors, so red will turn to grey and eventually black as you go deeper into the water columb as light is less available.. invisiable?... deffinatly not...

[LocalGuide]

The April-May In-fisherman magazine had a really interesting article on what colors walleyes see and things like that. It really went into some detail about how colors appear to walleyes under different conditions.

If your interested I tore some of this info from that article:

"Walleyes contain 2 sets of cone cells in their retinas: twin and single...The twin cells are the most dominate and contain a pigment that is most sensitive to light at a wavelenght of 605 nanometers (we see as a orange-red). The single cones contain a pigment most sensitive to 530 nanometers (we see as green)....They lack a pigment most sensitive to blue in their eyes. So they concluded that walleyes have the best discrimination between the colors red and green.

These cone cells are used during the day and responsible for color and high-acuity vision. At night they use another set of receptors called rod cells. These cells are very sensitive and just become triggered at night. They have many more rod cells than cone cells and these rod cells can only see shades of grey."

I goes on to talk about different colored water had how walleyes view lures. "In clear water the background to walleyes is a dark color. So, as long as theres enough light available, red, orange, and green reflecting lures appear brighter and colored. This contrary to our long time belief that red dissapears with depth. It does to our eyes but not to a walleye's. " Then it goes into more detail about clear, green and red colored water and how walleyes see which color better.

[dfv87]

I guess I started this conversation just to find out if anybody else is changing over to red, but I am quite impressed with how many guys are using colored hooks (red or others) I guess that "secret" is really out there. I hope to have luck with my red hooks and will report my findings here. Thanks for the input. By the way I also agree that properly tuned, sized cranks/line and speed are also very important in crank fishing but I was posing the question that "assuming" all other things are equal, would the red hooks make a noticeable difference? I hope they get me that one or two extra strikes. I know the difference will be subtle but I am interested to find out.

[delmuts]

dfv. you'll be like alot of us trying the red hooks for the first time. as fisherman we are always looking for that little extra edge. guess we'll see this summer. good fishing! del