Heavy Duty Trebles - 3x what are they good for?

[snake95]

Spontaneously grabbed a bunch of 3x trebles  for smaller swimbaits - size 2 and 4.

 

Am I nuts? Is 3x too stout?

 

What other applications do you guys use hooks like this for?

 

Fwiw these are Mustad Ultrapoints.

[GetFishorDieTryin]

The 3x VMCs I use a ridiculously heavy for S/LMB IMO, I use them on surf plugs.  I dont think the 3x Mustys are nearly as thick, dia wise, although I imagine they could be comparable strength wise.  

[snake95]

13 minutes ago, GetFishorDieTryin said:

The 3x VMCs I use a ridiculously heavy for S/LMB IMO, I use them on surf plugs

Yes looks like I might put these in the rotation for stripers in New England. Might have gone too heavy for bass.

[gulfcaptain]

Don't use anything in those sizes that heavy. Might use the 2s on a super spook, Swaver 168, whopper Ploppers, the #4s don't know

[WRB]

Todays hooks are very strong and made with metals far superior then traditional heavy wire hooks. 
Owners Zo wire STX for example uses smaller wire then 3X heavy wire hooks.

Tom

[Mbirdsley]

3x strong hooks are for trolling for king salmon, lake trout and steel head. They come standard on our Lake Michigan equipment.  A 30-40 lbs king will not straighten them out generally trolling at 2.5-3.0 mph .  You don’t need those for bass 

[MickD]

The problem I see with many "multiple X" trebles is that they are made of such heavy gauge wire that I question how they will penetrate and many don't seem to be very sharp.  King salmon and barracuda may need them; bass do not.  Since I have the drags on  my reels set to probably less than 8 pounds, I don't think I need "multiple X" trebles.  

[snake95]

Thanks guys, admittedly I haven't paid much attention to hook ratings and should have. I would up returning the load of 3x hooks and will order more suitable ones for replacement trebles.

[fin]

This thread was a wake-up call for me too. I thought it was just marketing hype, I didn’t know it referred to wire thickness. I recently got some cheap Eagle Claw trebles for replacement on old found lures, and they were 3X. That’s all they stocked at Walmart and Academy. I’ve had some missed bites, but I’ve caught a lot more on them than missed. So they will work for bass, but now that I know, I will definitely look harder for lighter wire the next time I get some. 

[Fat Ika]

21 hours ago, snake95 said:

Thanks guys, admittedly I haven't paid much attention to hook ratings and should have. I would up returning the load of 3x hooks and will order more suitable ones for replacement trebles.

They could come in handy for appropriately sized baits you'd like to get a certain paused presentation/sink rate out of. 

[snake95]

1 hour ago, Fat Ika said:

They could come in handy for appropriately sized baits you'd like to get a certain paused presentation/sink rate out of. 

Good point - Makes sense. For what it's worth I didn't think the 2s were too large/ heavy (based on a quick visual look) for larger cranks, walking baits or swimbaits. The 4s seemed more questionable than the 2s for this. I would consider them again for those applications.