TRAPPER HOOKS?

[GrumpyOlPhartte]

As an aging, enthusiastic (but not too skilled) fisherman I am fascinated by all the new, bright, shiny things on the market. I just saw Trapper hooks and said, "O-o-o-h!" Then I got to thinking ... the two right angles in the hook appear to make sense since they SHOULD keep the hook barb parallel to the body of the soft bait, but then I realized that if a bass bites, it looks like the bait can't slide down the hook when I set the hook. Instead, it would seem that one has to compress the body of the plastic to expose the hook point.  Seems to me it might be tough to get a good hook set, especially with a tougher plastic like that used in Z-Man baits. Am I missing something?  Oh, since this is my first post, I apologize in advance if this is in the wrong area. Thanks for any info or other thoughts!

[Preytorien]

I have some, but I've not had the chance yet to give them a good shake. I don't know how all that will work. In general when I use a hook like that I'm using a straight shank, threaded into the soft plastic at an angle so it will have a better path out of the bait on hookset, but since these are going to have the hook point parallel to the bait, I get a bit nervous about it. 

 

I do know that until I've fleshed it out a bit more I won't be using these in critical scenarios.

[blckshirt98]

I wrote a little review on them in this forum but it's been pushed down quite a ways.  It was only for the smaller dropshot hooks and while I didn't have any problems with hookup, removing the hooks are another story.  With normal hooks you can just remove the hook by reversing the curve of the hook.  Not with the Trappers!  The first 90 degree bend after the point gets in the way when trying to remove the hook, where you have to push the barb out in a straight plane, and if the hook is embedded in a weird way in the fish's mouth, you don't have the movement/space to push the barb straight out.  Fish will have a hard time shaking your hook but I see a potential issue with damage/mortality rates to the fish in the unhooking process.  I was hoping someone else would have a chance to use the hooks and share their experience.