Trailer hook on buzz baits

[DrePac3000]

I have been throwing a buzz bait in the evening lately and the bass have been destroying it, but for about every 3 or 4 blowups I get I only hook 1 bass. Is a trailer hook the answer and do you guys use trailer hooks on buzzbaits?

thanks 

[papajoe222]

First off, have you tried slowing down your retrieve? Second, what type of line are you using? Third, what rod are you using? Fourth, how are you holding your rod? They all make a difference.

You're going to miss strikes on almost any topwater lure.  You miss them on subsurface lures, you just are unaware of it.  The fish just miss the bait. There's nothing you can do about that. You can increase your hook-up percentage by letting the ones that don't miss get the bait into their mouth. Slowing down your retrieve speed is the easiest thing to do.  If you find that a slower speed doesn't generate any strikes, then I'd add a trailer hook.  If you're using braid, you should be using a rod with some flex at the tip. Holding your rod tip up does a number of things in your favor. It will make getting and keeping the buzzer on top easier. It adds a length of line over holding the tip down. Lastly, it almost forces you to hesitate setting the hook as you will want to drop the rod tip and pick up the slack before setting the hook. 

The other thing to consider is the type of cover you fish. For vegetation, I shy away from using a trailer as it has a tendency to attract the green stuff.  When I do, It's the kind that has the shrink tubing over the eye.  Same goes for timber.  A loosely swinging trailer hook is an invitation to getting snagged.

[Bluebasser86]

Make sure you don't set the hook until you feel the weight of the fish. I never use a trailer hook on my buzzbaits and I don't miss many of them since I started following that piece of advice. 

[bassin is addicting]

Yes, a trailer hook. I've never had  much of an issue in getting hung up on anything. The trailer hooks sits the same as the stock hook, it comes through timber or vegetation pretty much the same for me. 

And since I've started using a trailer hook my hookup ratio has went way up. I do agree that you need to wait a little bit and feel the weight as mentioned.

[the reel ess]

I always use a trailer hook, but I'm starting to rethink that a little because lately I'm fishing a big pond that has a lot of laydowns from the bank. It looks like the pnd was not cleared except near the dam and most of the trees fell over and stayed. That extra hook can get hung up on laydowns if the place is so thick with them you can't avoid casting over some. The last couple fish I caught there got the main hook. One was 5.0 lb.

Even with the trailer hook there are some fish that will come swirl on it but change their mind at the last second. I think it's intimidating to small fish. But for fishing a place that's mostly clear or the cover is still vertical like pier pilings, I ALWAYS USE THE TRAILER. What do you have to lose?

[DrePac3000]

I've been fishing a pretty weedy resivoir and it already catches the weeds occasionally, I think that I will continue to use it how it is just be a little more patient and wait to set the hook and if that doesn't improve my hookups I will pick up some trailer hooks to expirement with. 

 

[YoTone]

sorry to bust in on this thread but do yall use swimbait trailers along with the trailer hooks?

 

[dsqui]

you could i personally dont use tailers on buzz baits but i do on spinner baits and run swimbait trailers.