Treble or single hook or hybrid?

[PigPen]

I had a fun morning but got skunked. Every fish that hit on my last master "spoon" got off and then I realized I've never brought a fish to hand with a treble hook. Does the forum have an opinion on these hooks?

I saw in cabelas a hybrids that had a treble with 2 smaller hooks and a much bigger one. My data may be skewed since I don't fish with trebles often, but when I do I get frustrated with all the tangles or hooks getting fowled in my birds nest of a kayak.

[Mark]

I use trebles on crank baits but only because they come with treble hooks already on them. I've read debates on whether replacing them with single hooks alters the action of the baits. I don't know what the truth is.

Catching fish on trebles is no problem for me. I lose very few strikes. In fact I have actually stopped fishing crank baits and switched to single hook lures several times this year during outings when catches were so prevalent that I got tired of removing the trebles from the fish.

I find that it's much easier to release fish when I catch them with a single hook jig or on a fly like a Clouser's Minnow.

On the other hand, the wobble and sound of a good crank bait in the water is very attractive to fish so I continue to use them. I should change a few to single hooks to see if it makes a difference in the attractiveness of the bait.

[PigPen]

I was talking with a fellow kayaker at the dock afterwards and were thinking about the effectiveness of circle hooks on my spoons and jitterbugs. It aggrevating when the hooks get all fowled up during the cast. I've noticed in flytying that many more patterns are moving to a single stinger hook or a single hook in a tube fly. The tube fly gives the fisher a chance to switch out the hook for different sizes and sharpness.

[DOGFISH]

I use trebles all the time with no problem. Even with the use of trebles, fish do seem to get off sometime. I have seen the longer hook on a treble but have not use one yet.