Trailer hook tricks of the pros

[MainBassMan]

NOT MY STORY - Just a good article.... demon

 

 

A second hook can give you a second chance at short strikes

 

Scott Rook, professional angler from Arkansas, recalls numerous examples of how trailer hooks have helped improve his catch rate, but none are as memorable as what he and other pros call the "buzzbait tournament" held on Lake of the Ozarks in 1998. It was the second year Rook fished BASS tournaments, and it turned out to be a major turning point in his career.

 

"Dan Morehead won it on a buzzbait and I placed third by catching all my fish on a buzzbait. It was an awesome tournament, but I would have never done as well as I did if I didn't rig a trailer hook on all my lures," recalls Rook.

 

During the practice period, Rook was getting strike after strike on buzzbaits, but few were actually converting to hooked bass. The fish were just slapping at it, he recalls.

 

"I tried downsizing, upsizing, slower retrieves, faster retrieves and every color I had, and I still kept getting short-striked," he remembers. "I finally added a trailer hook and, man, what a difference that made. The first day of the tournament, I caught three over 6 pounds and had almost 24 pounds for the day. I caught at least one 6-pounder every day. Most of them were hooked on the trailer."

 

That event not only solidified his belief in his ability to make it as a professional bass angler, it helped cement his belief in trailer hooks. Now, he uses them just about every time he throws a buzzbait or spinnerbait.

 

When to trailer

 

Rook sums up in one word the situations where he uses trailer hooks: always. In fact, he can only think of one general instance when a trailer hook is inappropriate.

 

"I use them in grass, heavy wood — just about anywhere I would use a buzzbait or spinnerbait otherwise. The only time I won't use one is when I get hung up on every cast or I bring back a wad of grass or scum on every cast," he says.

 

Trailer hooks will certainly grab more branches and cling to more grass if they are used in those situations, but Rook insists the trade-off is a fair one, and it's something he's willing to risk. Big bass tend to lurk in that heavy cover, and while he spends more time going in to free his lures, he also has seen the average weights of his catch increase — thanks to trailers.

 

"Even if the bass are really crushing my spinnerbait and buzzbait and they've got it way down in their mouths, I'm still going to use one for that extra insurance. It's crazy not to use one. It doesn't affect the action of the lure one bit," says Rook.

 

Virginia tournament angler Michael Hall often won't use a trailer when he's either fishing for the sake of fishing or when he is practicing for a tournament. He's less concerned about losing fish, or even hooking them in the first place, when he isn't chasing a check.

"Trailer hooks can go pretty deep down a fish's throat and cause serious damage if the fish are real aggressive. When I'm pre-fishing for a tournament, I'm less interested in actually hooking fish than just locating them anyway, so I often would rather not actually hook them," he says.

But he agrees with Rook and so many other pros: There really is no bad time to use one. Like Rook, Hall will add a trailer hook under virtually every condition he encounters during tournaments, forsaking them only in the heaviest cover.

 

 

Slide the trailer hook over the shank of the main hook, followed by the stopper, to allow the trailer to swing freely

 

How to trailer

 

Adding a trailer hook can be as simple or as complicated as you want it to be, but Rook insists you'll have much better bass-in-boat ratios if you allow your trailer hook to move freely on the lure's hook. Some anglers use a system that keeps the trailer hook firmly in place, but Rook explains that such a technique not only offers a fighting fish more leverage, it is much more prone to snag branches and other cover.

Hall is one of those anglers that prefers to have his trailers held firmly in place. In fact, he's convinced that he loses fewer bass as a result of a tightly attached trailer. In other words, how you attach your trailer hooks should be nothing more than a matter of personal preference and confidence. Hall slides the trailer hook eye into a piece of surgical tubing (usually supplied with the trailer hooks) and runs the point of the lure's hook through the rubber hose and the eye of the trailer hook. ghost

 

 

Slide the eye of the trailer hook into the stopper, then onto the shank of the main hook, to keep the trailer rigid.

 

While Rook typically uses a single-point Daiichi trailer hook, Hall often attaches a two-point hook designed by friend Bobby Williams, a die-hard bass angler from upstate New York. Williams is actually in the process of protecting his trailer hook design with a United States patent. It's basically a long-shank treble hook with one of the points cut off. The two remaining points ride up.

 

Advanced trailer tips

 

When Hall uses a trailer hook, he usually attaches a soft plastic grub or worm for a dual purpose: It gives the lure extra eye appeal and it helps camouflage the trailer hook itself. He's not convinced it's vital to hide the second hook, he just figures it can't hurt. Hall recalls a tournament on Kerr Reservoir where he attached a pink Zoom trick worm to his spinnerbait and ended up finishing second as a result.

 

"I rolled in on this one point as another guy in the tournament was leaving, and started catching one fish after another on a spinnerbait equipped with a trailer hook and a trailer. The first fish was over 5 pounds," he recalls. "During the weigh-in, the guy who left told me he worked that point for 30 minutes before I got there and never got a bite. He may have gotten strikes, but if he wasn't using a trailer hook, he probably just missed them."

 

 

When using a worm or grub for added attraction, make sure to attach it below the trailer hook.

 

Hall doesn't put the soft plastic on the trailer hook itself. Instead, he puts it on the spinnerbait's hook prior to attaching the trailer hook. He admits that it takes more work to change the plastic when it needs to be changed, but the confidence factor keeps him doing it.

 

Rook will sometimes attach a trailer hook to his trailer hook, adding insurance on top of insurance for catching bass that have no intention of actually hitting his lure. ghost

 

"During one tournament on Lake Champlain, I had four trailer hooks on the back of my spinnerbait. During the practice, the smallmouth were coming up out of these submerged grassbeds and just kind of flashing on it. They weren't really interested in eating it, because they were missing it by a good distance," recalls Rook. "I ended up catching numerous fish over 3 pounds on the third or fourth trailer. I would have never placed in the money if I didn't add so many trailers."

 

Rook attaches the extra hooks with the point opposite the one in front of it to create an up-down, up-down chain that hooks bass no matter how they take a whack at his lure. ghost

 

"Some guys will add a treble hook as their trailer hook. I tried that but didn't really see an increase in hookups," says Rook. "I've been experimenting with Daiichi's red trailer hook and seem to be having pretty good success with that, but I haven't used it enough to know if it's the hook or the color of the hook."

 

One thing he does know, however, is exactly how important trailer hooks are to his fishing career. His livelihood depends on putting bass in his boat, which is exactly why Rook uses trailer hooks all the time. ghost

[Newt]

They can certainly increase your hookup rate. Just a matter of getting the trailer with an eye large enough to fit over the main hook /w barb.

 

Standard way to rig them

 

[Newt]

LOL - MainBassMan, can you say "Luddites"?

 

Not that I would ever imply that your fellow UK anglers are tradition bound you understand, and that they look at 'new' tactics as suspect because if they were good, folks would already be using them.

 

Or meybe it's just that anglers who are already using trailers want to keep quiet so their less adventuresome brethren won't twig to a great way to up their catch rate, leaving more uncaught fish for said 'anglers who are already ...'

[Jaffa]

Newt, this luddite wants to know about the tube and worm rig: need something to tow behind those trolling vanes you sent me. You heard anything about that rig?

[Newt]

Jaffa - the Tube baits I'm familiar with are not designed for trolling. The 'tube' is a hollow soft plastic and usually rigged with a jig inserted and only the hook eye pushed out the front. Toss out, let settle to the bottom, twitch it up off the bottom and let it settle.

 

Not sure how well you could work it in the ocean since it pretty well relies on line watching or setting the hook when the tube 'feels' funny as in goes soft or doesn't sink quite as quickly as need be.

 

Some of the soft plastic 'worm' ones with a decent action should do fine. Since the trolling vane takes care of keeping things at the proper depth, probably just rig the worm on a hook with a small bit of lead at the front to keep things stable and if using an inline weight, a piece of toothpick in the opening to 'peg' it tight to the front of the lure.

 

I'd be more inclined to use a spoon although almost any non-floating lure with no diving lip could work.

 

If I'm missing your point, tell me more.

[Jaffa]

I'll give the usual spoons a go but I keep seeing the TnW mentioned on kayak sites; supposed to be the killer rig for trolling for stripers in the NE:

 

http://www.kayakfishingstuff.com/articles_...yak_Articles=24

 

Looks a bit strange though, a 1ft to 4ft tube, baited with sandworm (ragworm in the uk i think ) that spins as its trolled.

 

Time you wrote a book on US techniques for luddites Newt!

[Jaffa]

If a Sandworm is our Ragworm, is your Bloodworm similar to lug?

[Newt]

Jaffa - thanks for that link. I do mostly fresh water and had never heard of that tube-worm lure before. Interesting. If the 'trolling vanes' you use are like the ones pictured, the gadget should control depth nicely so you can troll the lure at whatever depth suits you. Any speed over 2mph and the will hold the depth rock steady from 5 feet to 80 feet, depending on how you have the diving vane rigged.

 

 

These are one way I'll be trying Snatcher's lures. Unweighted fly on a leader about 6 feet behind the 'fish seeker' diving plane.

 

I have no idea what your lugworm is but bloodworm (Glycera dibranchiata) has a nasty mouth on it like this one and can take a painful bite out of your finger.

 

 

[ 07. February 2005, 10:00 AM: Message edited by: Newt ]

[A Norfolk Boy]

This technique with the hooks is called 'ganging' in Australia and is used when presenting long baits. It's used for hooking, rather than presentation.

[Salar]

Bloodworm = Ragworm. And if you think UK ragworm are expensive try US ones. So expensive they only use them in 1" segments.....