Converting treble hooks to J hooks

[J.A. Veil]

There have been several posts over the past few years about removing the treble hooks that come with a hard plastic lure and replacing it with a J-hook. I believe that treble hooks are damaging to a fish's mouth. If you plan to release the fish anyway, why use a more damaging hook. Also, I get nervous if I catch a fish using a lure with two or more treble hooks. I am worried that while unhooking the fish, the second hook can hook my skin or clothing.

Since I rarely use hard plastic lures, I never devoted too much thought to how the conversion should be done. I would like to try some new techniques and lures this season, and wanted to gain more insight on how to make the hook conversion. Here are several questions I pose to the Snaggedline membership. Feel free to answer any or all of these.

1) Inline J hooks are available from several hook companies. Compared to using an ordinary J hook as a replacement, are these: a) desirable, b) absolutely necessary, or c) it does not matter.?

2) When replacing a treble hook how can you choose an appropriate sized J hook?

3) Assume the lure has two hooks (belly hook and rear hook). Should you: a) replace both hooks, or b) replace one and leave the other one empty? If you answer b), do you put the single hook in the belly position or the rear position?

4) Is there any advantage or disadvantage to tying bucktail or other hair onto the rear hook?

5) Can you accomplish an equally safe (to the fish and to the angler) hook modification by some other means? Examples I have heard of include cutting off 1 or 2 of the prongs on the treble hook (I have used this technique) and bending 1 or 2 of the hook points inward so they are less likely to jab the fish or the angler (this is more difficult than it sounds -- I have never had success trying this option).

6) Assuming you do replace one or both of the treble hooks with a J hook, do you want the hook bend and point to be facing upward or downward? I have seen lures rigged both ways. In fact the new Cabelas Saltwater catalog that came yesterday shows various Rapala lures on page 22 with the rear hook facing upward and the belly hook facing downward. (see http://www.cabelas.com/product/RAPAL...2.uts?slotId=5).

I would appreciate learning from others about hook replacement -- this is also a conservation issue that should benefit the fish.

[ronaultmtd]

Converting treble hooks to J hooks

John- all my hard baits have in line replacement single hooks- there is a guide available to choose the correct sizes- I even use single hooks on my mini-crank baits- in fact my biggest redfish last year was caught on the mini crank bait with #4 Owner in-line single replacement hooks- a 25 inch redfish...no way possible would those orginal tiny treble hooks held that redfish- I use Owner hooks, but VMC also has in line single hook...and the correct way is as you describe...the belly hook down and rear hook up...I order from BassPro Shop on-line as they only carry a very limited selection of in line single hooks and they are all VMC in the store...love the Owner hooks- cannot say enough good things about them..

[baitball]

John,

Thanks for posting this topic.

Like you, I don’t use hard plastic lures from a kayak very often. The few times I did (when I first started kayak fishing), I ended up sinking a treble hook into my thumb. Since then I’ve shied away from all treble hooks.
This year I want to re-introduce a select few, hard, plastic lures into my repertoire and I will most certainly replace the trebles.

When I lived in NW Florida years ago, my friends and I fished from center console power boats far offshore in search of hard-fighting mahi, tuna, kingfish, and cobia. Many times, the plastic lures, metal jigs, or the trolled live bait we used were presented with single, or a pair of single, inline hooks (sized appropriately of course for these species). I tell this story, because I figure if it works for these predators, then single, inline hooks should work for the predators in our waters.

I copied an image Mark uploaded to this forum a few months ago and I will be using it to guide my efforts.

Treble Hook Replacement Chart.jpg

I also came across this article when doing a search on the subject :http://www.sportfishingmag.com/top-hook-modifications-for-lures-0

Finally, these are the hooks I’m considering as replacements:
http://www.basspro.com/VMC-Inline-Single-Hook/product/14053007413617/

Hope this helps.

[Mark]

John,

My thoughts on your questions in order:

1. In-line hooks are not absolutely necessary to make the conversion. You can use regular J-Hooks, but in order to get the regular hook to hang 'in-line" with the bait which is desirable but again not a necessity, you'd have to add a second split ring to each hook connection. The in-line hook makes a more efficient connection to the existing split ring on the lure.

2. There are plenty of charts on-line as Manny pointed out. But you can also just look at the existing treble and find an in-line hook with a gap that equals the full width of the treble you are replacing. That's how I do it when I'm in the store without benefit of a replacement chart.

3. I think you can often get by with one hook, especially on poppers. In fact on poppers I replace only the rear hook. That's a personal preference. I've read that some anglers replace only the middle hook. The exception to that for me is walk-the-dog floating lures. I replace both hooks on those because in my experience, hookups frequently occur on the middle hook. That may be the same for poppers too but not that I've noticed. None of my fly rod poppers have two hooks and the hooks are always on the back of my flies. So I just followed suit with hard-bodied poppers. A benefit of using only one hook on the rear of a popper is that you can use the body of the popper as a handle to control the fish near your boat. Now, for subsurface lures I replace both hooks. Again, my experience with those is that fish may hit them from the side. With poppers, fish are obviously striking from beneath them and often from behind them. I'll stay with my single rear hook on them.

4. Are hook dressings necessary? Probably not but it's fun to customize a store-bought lure that way! However, a little bucktail or feathers may present a slightly larger profile to fish looking for a bigger meal. In a feeding frenzy of breaking stripers, it does not matter. But when blind casting that extra dressing may give you an edge.

5. I think cutting or bending the trebles would work fine. I've never done that. I think changing the hooks is a cleaner, neater approach. But do the fish care about my preference? Absolutely not!

6. I saw the Cabela's add to which you refer and was glad to see it for two reasons. A. They had the hooks placed the way I do it. B. The presence of single hooks on lures from the factory is becoming more commonplace. Regarding point A, the placement of the middle hook is the most critical. You want the gap open as the lure moves forward in the water. If you place it so the hook point hits the belly of the lure as the lure swims through the water, you'll surely miss hookups. On the rear hook, I think you can go either way but you may lessen the chance of the hooks tangling under the lure if you place the rear hook with the point pointed up, like the Cabela's ad.

[mchottie]

Have several of the VMC in-line hooks (purchased from Bass-Pro) fyi for anyone looking, they are not with the regular hooks, they are in the next aisle over to the left of the trebles. Very east to overlook when you are rushing/browsing quickly.

[J.A. Veil]

Have several of the VMC in-line hooks (purchased from Bass-Pro) fyi for anyone looking, they are not with the regular hooks, they are in the next aisle over to the left of the trebles. Very east to overlook when you are rushing/browsing quickly.

I bought a pack of VMC 2/0 inline hooks from Anglers earlier this week. I am putting them on the big Sebile crankbait I found on an Eastern Shore pond that same day. As Michael notes, you have to look carefully to find the small number of inline hook packs among dozens of packs of other types of hooks.

[Mark]

As Michael notes, you have to look carefully to find the small number of inline hook packs among dozens of packs of other types of hooks.

Harry knows where they are. He took me right to them when I couldn't find them.

[Shady]

I converted most of my hardbaits to in-line singles last year and now when I buy new hard baits, I also buy matching in line hooks. I was tired of spending so much time trying to get the hooks out of the fish and tearing up their mouths. My time on the water is more limited these days, so I want to maximize the time that I'm actually fishing and spend less time with the extracurriculars. The parts that we enjoy most about fishing are the chase and the fight!

[bunnielab]

I switch over all my sub 3" lures over to single hooks, I use the Owner/Cultiva brand most often and buy them from ebay or from the various jdm tackle sites if i am already making an order. I select single hooks based on weight, trying to match the factory trebles. For inline spinners i go a little large, for small cranks I go a little small.

For larger lures I just crimp the barbs down, it still makes for an easy release and I have landed enough bass with just a single point of a treble hanging on to want to keep the trebles on them. I have never had a bass engulf a larger lure like they do with the smaller ones. I do avoid lures with a middle treble, thats too many hook points to keep track of. I found a large Whoppler Plopper in the ice this winter and am going to try it with single hooks this year as the factory trebels are trashed.

[alpha550]

Jann's Netcraft has a nice pdf on actual sizes of trebles.Screenshot_20180305-210253.jpg

[mchottie]

You pro-anglers may know about this already, but i'll add this footnote to people who keep the rear treble hook on a double hook lure... I was digging through Alltackle Annapolis' 'clearance bins' this weekend, and found three packs of these guys.... Treble hook pre-made silicone skirts!