Trailer Hook, Throat Hook, Spinnerbait

[1984isNOW]

I have only ever thrown a trailer hook a couple of times some years ago. I hear a lot of people say things like "I won't throw a trailer spinnerbait without a trailer hook" and so I decided to give it a go again last night.

 

It works... Too good! Caught a good bass, hooked bad. She swallowed it! Obviously can't cut the line and flip the hook...

 

How do yall feel about trailer hooks? How do you deal with a gut hooked trailer hook?

[TriStateBassin106]

I love trailer hooks for spinnerbaits, it's quite the opposite for me it's usually short strikes and that the trailer hook gets the fish instead of the main hook. Also speaking of trailer hooks from yesterdays outing this guy wouldn't have been caught without one.......... 

[Hammer 4]

Been throwing spinner baits for a looong time, caught 100's of fish, and some over 6 lbs. Never used a trailer, or a trail hook, lost very few bass due to short stikes. Knowing how to fish spinnerbaits imho is an art. Time will and some experimenting will bring dividens.

[Captain Phil]

Many anglers don't like trailer hooks. I get it. They say they don't miss fish and that trailer hooks are not needed. It's the fish to don't know about that you are missing.  If you are fishing for fun, missing fish doesn't matter because you won't know.   If you are fishing for money, a trailer hook can mean the difference between getting a check and being a contributor.

 

 

[Functional]

I had fished trailer hooks and had issues with hooking up. Stripped the trailer hook but threw on a trailer and life has been great. I'll get the occasional bump with no hook up but its rare.

 

In the interest of science though I've never tried a spinner with trailer hook and a small trailer. I'll give it a try and see if I notice any more fish in the boat vs not. If @Captain Phil is right, and he very well might be, I wont know until I try. 

 

Try all 3 ways and see what works best for you, everyone fishes different. 

[Zcoker]

'I feel good about trailer hooks!' Could even be the tune for a song lol  They are a must when I'm tossing a spinnerbait....or even a chatterbait. I've lost too many nice fish on the spinnerbait/chatterbaits and ever since I went with trailers, I'm sticking them pretty darn good. Rarely do I have a deep gut hook and, if I do, the hook is not too difficult to get out via the gill area. Many times the only saving grace when I pull in a big bass is that trialer hook. Big bass have massive mouths, bucket mouths, and the bigger they are, the bigger their mouths are. Lotta open space in there.....the more hooks to grab at something, the merrier! 

 

 

[gim]

Last fall before my season ended I was on a hot spinnerbait bite.  The very last time I went in mid October, we had a couple days of much cooler weather and the water temperature dropped a few degrees.  I started with the same spinnerbait that was killing it the last few weeks, and in the first half hour I had several fish swipe at it and miss.  I did catch a couple too, but the misses were not happening in the weeks prior.  I believe the drop in temperature created this situation.

 

I switched to a slower moving chatterbait instead that day and they were whacking it.  I don't recall missing a single fish after switching.

 

Maybe a trailer hook is needed, maybe its not.  But maybe you just need to change the cadence or slow the retrieve instead too.  Or switch to a slower-moving lure.

[the reel ess]

10 hours ago, TriStateBassin106 said:

I love trailer hooks for spinnerbaits, it's quite the opposite for me it's usually short strikes and that the trailer hook gets the fish instead of the main hook. Also speaking of trailer hooks from yesterdays outing this guy wouldn't have been caught without one.......... 

Interesting trailer

[1984isNOW]

2 hours ago, Captain Phil said:

Many anglers don't like trailer hooks. I get it. They say they don't miss fish and that trailer hooks are not needed. It's the fish to don't know about that you are missing.  If you are fishing for fun, missing fish doesn't matter because you won't know.   If you are fishing for money, a trailer hook can mean the difference between getting a check and being a contributor.

 

 

For some reason.... I trust you. And I really like the light trailer to go with the trailer hook. 

 

So it doesn't happen often then that trailer hooks are more likely to get into the throat it seems, I'll keep at it.

 

But @Zcoker  you say its easy to deal with trailer hooked throats through the gill plate - how? with the barb on the actual spinnerbait hook and the spinnerbait itself taking up a lot of room in the mouth its practically impossible to get a trailer hook off to twist around through the plate.

 

And here's another question for everybody - how do you size your trailer hooks? 

[1984isNOW]

1 hour ago, the reel ess said:

Interesting trailer

Live bait as a trailer, you gotta give it to him - brilliant!

[Zcoker]

14 minutes ago, PUTitinYOURmouthFISH said:

For some reason.... I trust you. And I really like the light trailer to go with the trailer hook. 

 

So it doesn't happen often then that trailer hooks are more likely to get into the throat it seems, I'll keep at it.

 

But @Zcoker  you say its easy to deal with trailer hooked throats through the gill plate - how? with the barb on the actual spinnerbait hook and the spinnerbait itself taking up a lot of room in the mouth its practically impossible to get a trailer hook off to twist around through the plate.

 

And here's another question for everybody - how do you size your trailer hooks? 

 

The only fish that comes to mind (out of hundreds) where the trialer hook caught near the throat area was a larger fish, which was not difficult to get out. I could practically stick my whole hand in there but opted for the gill area, which popped it right out. I've never gut hooked a smaller fish with a trailer hook. Regardless, smaller is smaller, no doubt, so that would present with a bit more careful thought to remove a trailer...but still very possible. 

 

Usually 1/0 to 2/0 is what most use for the trialers. I use VMC 2/0's. 

 

 

[Captain Phil]

It is very common for a bass to short strike these baits.  Bass are unbelievably adept at sucking in a bait and spitting it out without you realize it happened.  This is where modern no stretch lines and sensitive rods give you an advantage.  If you feel anything different, there is a good chance you just got a hit. Without a trailer hook, that fish is lost.  If you don't use a trailer, you will catch aggressive fish.  If you want to catch all the fish, use  a trailer hook.

[1984isNOW]

Which lures do you put a trailer hook on and have you ever used a treble hook for a trailer?

29 minutes ago, Captain Phil said:

It is very common for a bass to short strike these baits.  Bass are unbelievably adept at sucking in a bait and spitting it out without you realize it happened.  This is where modern no stretch lines and sensitive rods give you an advantage.  If you feel anything different, there is a good chance you just got a hit. Without a trailer hook, that fish is lost.  If you don't use a trailer, you will catch aggressive fish.  If you want to catch all the fish, use  a trailer hook.

 

[volzfan59]

I keep two sizes of trailer hooks in my boat. Rarely ever use them. 

[Captain Phil]

1 hour ago, PUTitinYOURmouthFISH said:

Which lures do you put a trailer hook on and have you ever used a treble hook for a trailer?

 

I always use a trailer hook on traditional style spinnerbaits.  Spinnerbait bass are normally larger than those caught on a worm, so I use a 3/0 spinnerbait trailer hook from BPS.  My spinnerbait trailer hooks are extra strong wide gap round bend hooks with a large line tie so the trailer will slide over the spinnerbait hook.  I make my own keepers with a round paper punch from clear plastic package material. Spinnerbaits points tend to dull easily.  I sharpen mine often with a pocket file. 

 

Spinnerbaits work best when fished near cover. Using a trailer hook means you will have more hangups.  I consider this is a cost of doing business. One of my favorite tactics is to fish a spinnerbait around isolated pads.   I cast beyond the pads and run my lure directly under them.  You don't want to use a treble hook as a trailer as this will make matters much worse.  Other than hanging off plugs, the only time I use treble hooks is in the nose of a Zoom Fluke.  Rigged this way, a weightless fluke is an awesome schooling bass lure.

 

Using a trailer hook on a spinnerbait is not convenient or easy.  It forces you to make more accurate casts.  It can be annoying.  It will also allow you to catch more fish.  If this matters to you, try it. 

[papajoe222]

I believe the equipment you use determines whether or not you should add a trailer hook. A Med. to MH/ Mod rod and 12lb.-14lb. Mono wouldn’t call for a trailer hook. A MH/Fast rod using 30lb braid would. 
I use the latter as my spinnerbait setup and almost always use a trailer hook. The exception is a bait possessing a long lower arm ehere the hook extends to the back of the trailing blade. 

[Striper9]

Never used a trailer hook in my 30 year of fishing 

[Munkin]

Rarely do I use trailer hooks and if I do short shank ones work best. Like jerkbaits if they are just swiping a spinnerbait without committing you need to make a change. Color, retrieve, etc. make small adjustments until it works. Right now on the Upper Potomac they are hitting spinnerbaits like a freight train. There are 3 different baits working right now that I just have to figure out which one they like best that day.

 

Allen

[1984isNOW]

1 hour ago, papajoe222 said:

I believe the equipment you use determines whether or not you should add a trailer hook. A Med. to MH/ Mod rod and 12lb.-14lb. Mono wouldn’t call for a trailer hook. A MH/Fast rod using 30lb braid would. 
I use the latter as my spinnerbait setup and almost always use a trailer hook. The exception is a bait possessing a long lower arm ehere the hook extends to the back of the trailing blade. 

This makes sense, I was using a MHMF rod when she swallowed it.

 

@Captain Phil What area your thoughts on equipment and trailer hook interplay?

 

And everybody else who uses them for that matter.

[Way north bass guy]

I’ve caught hundreds of bass on spinnerbaits over my lifetime, and quite a few of my larger smallmouth over the years have come on a double willow burned as fast as I can reel in gin clear water. Don’t think I’ve ever thrown one that didn’t have a trailer hook on it.  They may be big, and mean, but that doesn’t mean they always get the entire bait in their mouths properly. I’ve caught so many big smallmouth on just the trailer hook, that I’d be afraid to throw one around here without it. 

[DitchPanda]

I've fished a spinner bait for 20+ years and don't think I've ever used a trailer hook. Rarely use a trailer either.

[Captain Phil]

13 hours ago, PUTitinYOURmouthFISH said:

@Captain Phil What area your thoughts on equipment and trailer hook interplay?

 

I use heavier tackle when I fish spinnerbaits.  Here in Florida our cover is dense and our fish can grow large.  Most spinnerbait bass I catch are 3 pounds and up.  The pads I fish are like iron.  I use a 7 ft heavy action graphite rod and an old school round 5/1 casting reel.  My favorite reel for spinnerbaits is an old Shimano Calcutta 200 that I have used for years. It's the perfect retrieve ratio for the 3/8 oz. spinnerbaits I use.  It's loaded with 20 pound Big Game Mono only because that's what I'm used to.  You could use braid if you want.  In either case you want heavy line so you can reduce the need to go in the cover to get your lure.  I like the trailer hook to swing free.  I have tried pegging it and the swinging hook works better for me.

[Mike L]

At little off subject but don’t be afraid to use a spinner bait when pitching in holes and target shooting to specific spots as you would any plastic. 
 

They’re all lot more versatile than conventional thinking would have you believe 

 

 

 

Mike

[Mike L]

24 minutes ago, Mike L said:

At little off subject but don’t be afraid to use a spinner bait when pitching in holes and target shooting to specific spots as you would any plastic. 
 

They’re all lot more versatile than conventional thinking would have you believe 

 

 

 

Mike

Edit:

As far as using a trailer hook..

When pitching I don’t use one as you won’t get a lot of short strikes. 
When sniping your spots with one, when they hit it you’ll know 

 

 

Mike

[Bankc]

I'll use a trailer hook for buzzbaits.  They move fast enough that bass will occassionally short strike them.  But for spinnerbaits?  Nah.  They're not needed, in my opinion.  

 

I've thought about using a trailer hook for shaky heads, but I don't know exactly how that would work.  I just know that these spotted bass love them, but will often just grab the back half.  Sometimes you can still hook them if you give them a second to get a second bite, but I'd rather hook them on the first.