FishPA Posted January 29, 2008 Report Share Posted January 29, 2008 I've been trying to figure out how to do this for a while now and haven't been able to find a convenient way to do it. I was wondering how you guys (that make more baits than me) do it?? I'm just trying to save myself from the rash... Thanks for your help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted January 29, 2008 Report Share Posted January 29, 2008 Not really sure what "T"ing your hooks really is. Could you give some more info? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishPA Posted January 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2008 If you were to hold a treble hook so you're looking at it from the bottom, you notice that it looks like a 'Y'. A hook that is 'T'd looks like a T from below, and when put on a lure the correct way it minimizes the rub from the hooks on the clear coat aka hook rash. I'm using 3X strong hooks on the musky plugs I'm making and want to minimize the wear on the clearcoat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
senkoman85 Posted January 29, 2008 Report Share Posted January 29, 2008 Just an idea...but could you coat with an extra coat of D2T where the hooks are going to rub on the bait? Maybe build up a layer or two and give some extra protection against hook rash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishPA Posted January 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2008 thanks for your interest guys. I thought about that as well senkoman, which I'm going to give a try, these plugs are for muskies anyway and could use it. I started to notice that alot of the handmade lures I buy from guys here in PA all have 2 of three hooks bent this way, and it seems to make a big difference in the wear on a lure after a day of trolling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackjack Posted January 29, 2008 Report Share Posted January 29, 2008 ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjbass Posted January 29, 2008 Report Share Posted January 29, 2008 You can buy in line hooks that are already t'd size 1, 2, 4 and 6 from cabela's. VMC makes them..... http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp?_DARGS=/cabelas/en/common/catalog/item-link.jsp_A&_DAV=MainCatcat20166-cat20291_TGP&id=0030866119539a&navCount=2&podId=0030866&parentId=cat20291&masterpathid=&navAction=push&catalogCode=IJ&rid=&parentType=index&indexId=cat20291&hasJS=true These are awesome hooks....for bigger baits I do my own, Pm me if you would like to know how. Rod Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishPA Posted January 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2008 From VMC's frequently asked questions: "INLINE treble hooks have a rotated eye that allows your treble hooks to sit perfectly symmetrically on your crank baits. The rotated eye will almost turn the front hook into a quill which will make your lure track perfectly in any conditions. When using traditional treble hooks, most trolling lures will lose their action above 5 knots trolling speed. With the INLINE treble, you are able to troll up to 11 knots without losing the action of your lure. Also, you improve your hooking rate by being able to orientate your points the right way on your lures. The front hook will have one point facing down which always stays far from the lure body and will therefore set more easily. The rear hook will have one point facing up perfectly in-line with the attack of the fish drastically reducing short bite." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishThanks Posted January 29, 2008 Report Share Posted January 29, 2008 fishpa, I am a muskie fisherman (troller) on Lake St. Clair. I have at least 400 baits and they are all bent to the t shape or many use split double hooks. I attached a couple of pictures. I would always bend them on a trolling bait, I have seen them get fouled by a weed and darn near saw a bait in half in just a short period of time. On a bait with a treble through a screw eye ( no split ring) I take two flat jaw pliers (linesman) grab the two bends of the hook and bend them in towards center. A little past 90 degrees is best app. 85 degrees. Then take one pair of pliers and grab the hook in line with the point outside of the bend with out touching the point or barb and bend them up so the points are higher than the hook shank. On a treble using a split ring you must look how the hook lays on the body. There are not any hook bends in line with the eye of a treble. Grab the hook eye with a good pair of needle nose and bend what will be the center hook in line with the hook eye. Then you can bend the other two hooks like mentioned above. If you study the hook a little you will see it. Quality pliers help a lot .The split double hooks are essentialy a treble without the third hook attached. They are nice for through wired baits or when you do not need a split ring. They are fast and easy to change on a screw eye if you have to cut one un hooking a fish. The hook ups do not decrease at all since the third hook on a treble mostly point up towards the body any way. The doubles are some times called a frog hook used on some of the floating frog Bass baits. The nicest strongest I have found are the Mustad and VMC. When you do it a few times you will get pretty fast at bending them. I hope this is helpful for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishPA Posted January 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2008 Wow fishthanks I really appreciate the help, I knew that someone around here would have a good idea. Like I said earlier, being from Pittsburgh there are alot of luremakers pretty close by. I know that on pretty much all of my Wiley, Leo, Newman, Rozzo and Legend Lures the hooks are T'd already. I just recently started messing around making some trolling lures and it started to become an issue for me after a while. There's a local fishing show that is coming up next weekend in Butler that is being put on by Howard Wagner that is going to feature all of the local luremakers. Everyone I mentioned above plus Amma Bamma, Crane, Grandma, Muskie Train, Brunner Runner, Willey Bucktails, and more... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobP Posted January 29, 2008 Report Share Posted January 29, 2008 I think it depends on the hook brand. VMC makes some "Rapala Inline Trebles" that lay perfectly symetrical when on the bait's belly. They're sold by Cabelas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishThanks Posted January 29, 2008 Report Share Posted January 29, 2008 The show sounds like fun enjoy the day. We do not have any Muskie only fishing shows here. I have heard of the new hooks Bob is talking about but have not used them, I would still bend them, one of the reasons we bend the hooks that way for trolling is not as much for the belly as you might think. Going 4.5 miles per hour the baits really go. If the hook get fouled by the weeds so common for us the hooks roll around to the side of the bait and the hook point will tear up the side of a bait like you took a saw to it. Sometimes the floating weeds are so bad we pull in 3 to 6 baits on one side of the boat then back to the other side after you do that for 12 to 14 hours during a Tournament with the flies eating your ankles and gnats in your beer you are truely a Muskie nut! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishThanks Posted January 29, 2008 Report Share Posted January 29, 2008 I forgot to mention the hooks Bob talked about I think are a great design change by the manufacturers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackjack Posted January 30, 2008 Report Share Posted January 30, 2008 Couldn't you just rotate your hook hangers/bellyweights to accomplish the same thing?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodieb8 Posted January 30, 2008 Report Share Posted January 30, 2008 we t all of our hooks before packaging. like its been stated hooks eat lures. split rings actually make matters worse. i fish st clair also. pulling baits at 4mph for hours is truly tuff on lures. then them toothy critters have teeth like razors. anyone that fishes musky can attest to bleeding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishThanks Posted January 30, 2008 Report Share Posted January 30, 2008 woodieb8 i have read many of your posts here but never made the connection to St. Clair and your baits until now. Nice baits! I build the live well/reviving tanks some of the guys are running. Two legal rods this year Yahoo! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted January 30, 2008 Report Share Posted January 30, 2008 If you use the rubberband method in Fishthanks photos, you won't need to bend the hooks because they won't swing when you troll them anyway. Hook rash is a fact of life on cast baits, because the dangling, clanging hooks are part of the lure's attraction. An extra coat of clear is a good idea. I carry a bottle of sparkle nail polish in the boat, both to touch up hook rash, and to keep up my sharp personal appearance! ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishThanks Posted January 31, 2008 Report Share Posted January 31, 2008 I have attached a photo of the same manufacturers new bait with the rubber band method with out the hooks bent. as you can see it leaves you with only one bend of a treble working you might as well have a single hook. We are not talking about hook rash we are talking about lures working so hard the hooks will saw them nearly in half. A pro builder like Woodie bends them before he sells them why do you suppose that is ? I bet it is not more profitable. I always have three to four hundred baits on my boat and sometimes a crew of six and everybody bringing baits there are a lot on board. I guarantee they are all double hooks or bent. Bending them also puts more hook points in the right spot to hook a fish even with out bands. I have more lost fish with the bands and only run them on the front now if the conditions are weedy and only on the ten inch Nils we run in the fall. The bands do not always break and sometimes on a certain angle in the fishes mouth they pull back on the hook making it easier for the hook to pull free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodieb8 Posted January 31, 2008 Report Share Posted January 31, 2008 we do try to create a lure ready to fish.. baits get the crap run outa them. running a jointed bait for 6 hours at 4 mph is a lot of run time. also using cedar or softer woods for action and staying higher in the water column. . some guys will bullhornthe hooks. i just t them. its just a little extra time.. .. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smirkplug Posted January 31, 2008 Report Share Posted January 31, 2008 For reference, i remember the Cordell Pencil Poppers came with 't' style hooks and they were probably V.M.C. 4x strong and about 3/0 -5/0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted January 31, 2008 Report Share Posted January 31, 2008 I can see that for trolling lures Ting the hooks makes sense. I've never trolled for bass or stripers, so it never occured to me. I am now more edumacated. Thanks. I stand corrected. I use 3/0 hooks on my swimbaits. I've never tried bending them. In fact, I use Owner 2X trebles so the bass, and especially the stripers, can't bend them. The Owner hooks are short shank, so I can fit three on a 6" glider without them fouling, and they're sticky sharp. But they do tend to stick in the wood bait sometimes if it lands wrong on a cast. Maybe Ting them would prevent this. I always put extra epoxy on the hook swing faces to fight hook rash. Do you ever bend hooks that big? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishThanks Posted January 31, 2008 Report Share Posted January 31, 2008 Mark, just re read my last post did not mean it to sound like it reads. I spent all day dealing with the results of a homeless guy using my S.S.# for his medical stuff, jail time etc. what a mess. left me a little short mentally. I bend them from 3/0 to 6/0. I used to chase smallies on the lake and started catching Muskie by accident. When I started buying Muskie baits and I would think what the heck is with these bent up hooks, then you run one not bent and the lights come on. When I dropped out of the smallies I was running a bunch of Lucky Craft crankbaits and having a ball, one of these days I will get them back out with the kids and I will try teeing them up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodieb8 Posted January 31, 2008 Report Share Posted January 31, 2008 we t all hooks from 3/0 on standard baits to custom baits that require 10/0 hooks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted January 31, 2008 Report Share Posted January 31, 2008 FishThanks, No offense taken. Sorry about your identity theft deal. That stinks. I was thinking that if I were to try to bend those heavy gauge hooks I would have to use either a vise or visegrips. How do you do it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swede Posted January 31, 2008 Report Share Posted January 31, 2008 I will surely start to T my hooks on my bigger baits Looks like a simple & good way to save the lures from hookwear Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
