Hook Hangers

[ravenlures]

How do you guys make a hook hangar for wire through lures. It seems that I spend too much time on bending mine. They are only about 3/4" long for a slide through wire.

I don't cut a line down the center of the lure just have a hole down the center, then drill two holes for the hook hangars to attach to the wire then epoxy them in. I would like to do them faster.

I just put together one with a crane swivel and waiting for epoxy to cure. Will the swivel be strong enough, using a 1/0 size. Any help is always appreciated.

Thanks

[RayburnGuy]

What are you building your lures out of and what species are you fishing for? This makes a big difference in the answer.

Ben

[ravenlures]

Its a 8" X 1 1/8 diameter walk the dog style made of basswood with two belly hooks and a tail hook. Belly hooks are front 2/0 and 3/0 the second and tail hook.

[RayburnGuy]

And your fishing for bass........muskies??

[Vodkaman]

How long is it taking?

I have posted a couple of threads on hanger bending, search barrel. If you post a pic of the wire form, maybe we can help you with a better method.

Dave

[ravenlures]

I am fishing for muskies but if a bass comes along i'll take it. I just bend the wire with pliers make a loop then make the eye twist. Sometimes I reverse the twisting but it just takes too long, and hard to do. I am using .051 SS wire, maybe .040 wire will work. But not sure if strong enough. Sorry no pictures my son has my camera now. I do not use a wire form. The lure is drilled and then the hangar holes are drilled then sending .062 wire through and hooking the loop as it goes through, then epoxied in. I am sure it will be strong but just takes too long. I want to make 15 lures at a time. Thanks Vodkaman and Rayburn Guy I looked up the barrel twist but no pictures come up.

[Vodkaman]

0.051" is a heavy wire, I don't think a jig is going to help you, nor the barrel twist posts. Jigs will work with 0.040" wire and cannot imagine this not being strong enough.

to my barrel twist manual method. I'm sure that this could be adapted to your needs. Form the first eye, three or four tight turns, trim. Form second eye, hold first eye with pliers and make 3 or 4 twists, trim. But in the vid I was using 0.035" wire, considerably thinner than your choice, but it should work with 0.040" wire.

Dave

[RayburnGuy]

I hesitate to tell you what will and won't work for musky plugs as I have never fished for them and only build lures for bass. That being said I tested the connection strength of a twisted wire hook hanger using the barrel twist and found that the epoxied connection was stronger than the surrounding wood. Basswood was used for testing. Using a twisted wire hanger formed using the barrel twist method I hung weights on it over a period of several days. I ended up with over 30 lbs. of weight on a straight pull that hung there for a couple days before the hanger pulled out and it was the wood that finally gave way. The wire hanger I tested was only epoxied in to about a one inch depth. If your lures are 8 inches long you could easily double that increasing the holding power several times. One thing I like about using twisted wire hook hangers is that you can build a bunch of them in advance and they only take a few seconds to install. You might consider doing your own test and that should tell you if the connection is strong enough for what your doing and if so it will give you the confidence to use them.

hope this helps,

Ben

[ravenlures]

Thanks guys for the info. I will get back as soon as I do some modifications to the whole lure. Again thanks.

[crankpaint]

heres how i do thru wire hook hanger drill hole thru bait front to back down center of lure

drill 3/8 hole with forsner bit where your hooks are going to be just deep enough to go past the first hole so you can see the hole you drilled front to back

measure how deep the hook hanger hole is,add 1 inch then bend a u shape wire to that size bend ends 90deg to first bend and faceing up

slide main wire thru to edge of the hole put hook hanger into hole sliding main wire thru upturned ends of hanger so hanger is locked into main wire repeat as needed for the rest of the bait,epoxy the holes holding the hook hanger leaving the u shape outside the bait,it takes about a 40 seconds per hanger then just make your eye in the other end of the bait

Edited October 8, 2011 by crankpaint

[crankpaint]

heres a photo red wires the hanger blue wires the main wire thru the bait

Edited October 8, 2011 by crankpaint

[BobP]

I know muskies are strong and we all want to err on the side of making our lures stronger - but I think thru-wiring a basswood bait for anything less than a Great White is overkill.

[crankpaint]

I know muskies are strong and we all want to err on the side of making our lures stronger - but I think thru-wiring a basswood bait for anything less than a Great White is overkill.

I've had hybrid bass(5 to 8 lbs) pull hook eye out of basswood due to currents below the dam i fish and break 20 lb test on the strike a 30 or 40 lb musky can and will rip out hookeyes when you hook them at the boat and there is NO give to the line/rod even breaking the lures in half so thru wire is the way to go

Edited October 8, 2011 by crankpaint

[jkustel]

I'll admit I have no experience with muskies but I've seen plenty of lures land huge fish with screw eyes for hook hangers (wood and resin). The AC plugs have been using them for years and I've never heard of or had one pull out....lunker punkers....MS Slammers....were talking state record striped bass well over 60 lbs (in the colorado river) and thousands over 30lbs. I've had hooks and splits break on my own lures and I just use the crappy eyes from home depot. The long shank hardened steel ones should be plenty strong.....I would think your line would break way before they pull an eye. When I drill my pilot holes I just go in about a 1/4" to get the eye started straight that way it grabs really good into the wood. Also a few drops of epoxy or super glue. I don't deny the strength of through wire-if I was fishing big saltwater fish I would definitely consider it but in freshwater I've not had one fail in about 25 years. When a big fish hits especially at the boat you need a looser drag setting otherwise-somethings going to give..if its not the hook, split ring, line, or rod then the gears in the reel will break. All you need is enough pressure for the hook set.

JK

Edited October 8, 2011 by jkustel

[A-Mac]

I had a musky bite a rapala shad rap right in half. The front and back hooks were connected by wire, but there was no connection from the line tie to the first hook. Fish slammed the lure, did a run and the I got the front half of the lure back. Thats also balsa, and I've also never heard of anyone having the same issue...BUT, I am not a musky fisherman either. I would make it through wire personally, unless you are using some wickedly long hook screws.

[jkustel]

I had a musky bite a rapala shad rap right in half. The front and back hooks were connected by wire, but there was no connection from the line tie to the first hook. Fish slammed the lure, did a run and the I got the front half of the lure back. Thats also balsa, and I've also never heard of anyone having the same issue...BUT, I am not a musky fisherman either. I would make it through wire personally, unless you are using some wickedly long hook screws.

Hahahah......I don't doubt they're destructive power with them teeth however once hooked I don't imagine they pull much harder than a striped bass (especially ones in a river system.) If they are biting your lures in half (rapalas are light balsa I believe), then the last thing you need to worry about is the hook hangers! You need to build from a material they can't bite in half. Don't get me wrong the through wire is a good setup I just don't buy that its a necessity for big fish by any means based on the number of huge fish landed on lures with 1" zinc screw eyes. The exception is super light woods like balsa or perhaps a really light basswood. It must be a west coast thing.

JK

[woodieb8]

we build musky baits. we use wire thru on differnt styles. also we build screw baits. depending on wood types screws are fine. we have had baitss that have taken over 40muskies,without failure.

on the note trollers pull baits at 5mph average. that and big fish in a net thrashing is the most detrimental aspect for lures. hooks in fish and a net gives leverage.

[Sonny.Barile]

This my help: Drill a belly hole similar to how you drill for a belly weight somwhere near where your belly hanger is going to be. If you drill the nose hanger and rear hanger to break into this hole it is a plus. Drill your belly hanger hole on an angle to also break in to the hole. You can put your wires in so that they can all be pulled in to this hole and twisted together. Fill the hole with 5 minute epoxy and you have a "hybrid" thru wire bait. I usually do this when I cant drill thru because of the length.