Trailer Hooks

[HugoBox]

Do you use trailer hooks? We landed 1 fish yesterday on a spinnerbait. The lure came with a trailer hook, but the fish was hooked by the main hook and the only thing the trailer accomplished in this case was foul the net and make it tougher to get at the hook that was in the fish's mouth. the Knipex made quick work of that hook though!! The fish swam away with a ton of energy, but got me to thinking that I could prolly do without trailers unless I'm getting a bunch of short strikes. What do you think?

thanks - erik

[fishorgolf]

Trailer hooks to me are a LAST resort and only used when no matter what I change in hookset, presentation etc. will not work. I have some in my box but I honestly have no idea when the last time I used one was.

[JRedig]

I fish with them yes. All i've caught on spinnerbaits have come on the trailer.

EDIT: by trailer you mean having a big second hook on the spinner bait?

[HugoBox]

Jeff -

Yep - I'm talking about the second hook. I can't say they're a bad idead, I was just wondering if they're necessary. I have also noticed that with several spinnerbaits, depending on the angle of the arm, in many cases all the fish would get would be a mouthful of spinner instead of a hook.

thanks - erik

[cRaPpiEMaN8265]

For me that trailer hook is a necessity and I wont use a spinnerbait that doesn't have one. I really like the rad dog because that last hook is really far behind the blades and it allows you to put a twistertail on without it being totally concealed by the skirt. While fishing in Canada I had caught so many fish on my Rad Dog that the barb on the first hook got pinched down and I lost a nice pike because that trailer slid right off.

Long story short now I wont fish without them.

Im headed over to thorne bros within the hour to pick up a new rad dog for tomorrows musky hunt...

Good Fishin'

[cjac]

I just looked, all my muskie spinnerbaits have the trailer, but I should say most mine are Rad Dogs.

Crappieman is right on here, the Rad Dog baits are one of the best values for the dollar out there. Both ofr big pike and muskies. Very versatile, trolled, slow rolled or over the cabbage/milfoil tops.

Hugo: I see your point but two hooks are a lot easier to deal with than triple trebles! You'll catch far more with the trailer left on. Like Crappieman said, a plastic on there can be a BIG trigger. Nice job on the fish by the way!