factory hook replacement

[CrappieJohn]

This bass stuff is actually new to me. While I have no trouble getting the to hit when I am crappie fishing, I guess I can't say that , until recently, I have bought tackle or targeted the specie directly. What has prompted this is the explosive hits on topwaters. They are absolutely unreal.

I have found a real liking for the Rapala Skitterpop, #9 in size. A couple colors are doing me well. I have noticed however that some hits were not hooking up like I thought they should, so I began to look at the factory hooks. I purchased some black and red Mustad Ultras. The red hooks were gotten one size over and have been put in place of the front hook. The black was put on the rear and is 2 sizes over.

Fishing yesterday the lure has performed very well in it's modified form and the lack of the frilly rear treble certainly hasn't hampered the bite. The larger hooks have apparently cured the non-hooking hit on these baits. Whether the red hook matters I don't know.

I have several other hard baits, sticks actually, and wonder if removing the front hook completely and upping the size of the remaining two will give me similar performance?

That front hook is a real pain when twitching these baits, but I am concerned that the increased hook size might hamper the action. They are not used as a cast/retrieve bait....just cast/ twitch for ten feet/retrieve. Any thoughts or suggestions here?

[delmuts]

i would suggest that you just make one up and try it . i have to do this alot to check not only the balance, but have noticed at times my hooking percentage went down when i went to larger hooks.( i'm still trying to figure that one out!) i have changed most of my lures to a red hook up front. we talked about this alot earlier. some thought it was a big advantage and others didn't think it made much difference. i haven't decided if they help or not, but want every advantage i can get!!

[river rat316]

Ohhhhh ohhhhhh sounds like Crappie Tom might be coming over to the darkside!

[CrappieJohn]

RR....You can tug your pantaloons out of your crack now.....I am just fishing these green things while I wait for the fall pannies to really fire up.

As with an fish, I like to up my hooking percentages as much as possible. I have it down pat on the waldo/sauger jig bite during the cold months and pretty much in check with the pannie/crappies. But grass carp have been pretty far from my hit list until I stumbled across a topwater bite that was incredible. The pannies and pikies were slow, so I used these to bide my time. Not a major trade here at all.

[Duffman]

Crappie Tom.....

That topwater action sure can be a blast when it's going down. That said, in todays crowded water ways I think lure modification can be a key thing to greater sucess. I never changed hooks on a topwater lure, cause I figured some days the fish would impale themselves on the lure where as-same lake-same lure a couple days later, I could never get a hookup. Just one of those things I guess.

Fish get conditioned on popular lures, and I think anything you can do to make the lures stand out from the crowd has to give you an advantage. I like your style Tom, a thinking mans fisherman. Keep it up.

[CrappieJohn]

Duffman....

What I really love about the topwater presentation is the boil at the hit. AndI have had northerns simply come clear of the water by 4 feet!...not dink northerns either. I am talking 7-8 pound fish that just go airborne when they hit.

[Duffman]

CrappieTom.....

Is that when your missing the hookup? I've had a few of those nights when decent pike are just exploding on the topwaters. It's great to see um do that, but I usually don't get a lot of hookups on strikes like that, I usually just giggle like a little girl and make sure the ol ticker is still ticking.

It usually comes down to being one of those nights where you see a lot of action but you really don't get a lot of action. I know exactly what your talking about, seen a 7-8 lber try and smack a spook jr once, came completely out of the water and did two back flips like a pinwheel and landed six feet from the lure. If that doesn't bring a smile to your face, it's time to park the boat and take up golfing.

Let me guess, you're getting this type of action on the backwaters or some sort of slough type flats where the water is generallly 4-6ft deep?????

[Deitz Dittrich]

Tom ole friend- As you well know, any change you make to a lure will effect its action. Yet as stated by many here already, not all change is bad. Expieriment with it, you will know when you have it right. I myself seem to do best with a larger hook in front and the smaller in back. And another thing you can do is go with the smaller hook and just open the gap of the hook slightly and twist it some, like the excalibur hooks.

I will also say that pike do have poor aim, I often think they are just there to hurt thier prey and then clean up on the second shot. Many missed fish may be pike. yet topwater is the hardest for hookups!

[CrappieJohn]

I tend to be really reactionary and set when I first sense the hit. By waiting until the fish has actually tightened the line has helped in the hookset department. If I get a boil and a miss, I stop the motion altogether and wait a sec for the water to settle and then just twitch the bait. As Dietz has suggested, I too think the northerns attack very savagely to hurt their prey, move off a few feet and wait for a shimmy before they return. Lots of my toothies are being taken that way.

Ive been playing with topwaters primarily, but I have taken a bunch of bass and northerns now on plastics, mainly creature baits such as the Exude Salatube. They sure like the dark blue. Thing is, those plastics for bass have a definite time to be used where the topwaters seem to pull them right out of a deep sleep.

This basing activity will be coming to a sudden halt really quick here for me as the backwaters get more agreeable to the pannies. I tripped over this bassing stuff while checking some sites for pannies that were not cooperating and they have provided me with a lot of entertainment.

One other important thing that comes from thisfishing is that we all can apply what we know from specializing in one specie to another in many instances. On the river itself, people flock to the wingdams at this time of year looking for the walleye bite and find themselves doing battle with smallies. The fishing, for all practical purposes , is the same for both when these structures are targeted. On Monday we started from shore hunting the bass and an hour and a half later we were working the same exact spots looking for pannies and doing real well at it.

Catching fish for me is not always the high point of the trip. Often times it is the recognition of parallels between a couple different species that trips my trigger. Now next year, when this time of summer rolls around you can be certain that the crappie rod will not be far from that rod I am using for bass. I'd be willing to bet that when the bass move into this specific area, the pannies are not very far away. This is the kind of stuff I like to dig into.

When the doldrums come to town, I'll fish about anything to stay in the fish and to say that I have been fishing. Going after bass has taught me a lot and afforded me some great moments. It has cost me some tackle and even some blood and pain. At least I am fishing. And learning. And getting fresh air. And acting like I know what I am doing when I don't know squat. And learning the proper lingo and terminology. And how to properly say "Son". And how to keep up to date on cuss words. I think I fit right in with most of this siet's bassing crowd. And here I thought I was alone!

[delmuts]

ALONE! NEVER!! i consider myself the type that fishes for what ever is biting. i'm mainly a bass and pan fisherman, but do love those toothy critters too.( when avaliable!) i always carry two rods. one for panfish and the other for what ever. i'm getting the fall bite itch very badly! it's coming!!!