Stinger Hook problems.....

[Sitkaspruce]

I have been experimenting with different types of stinger (trailing) hooks to see if they really do improve catch to hit ratio's. But I am see a problem that has me a little concerned.

In the last week, we have had to release dead or dying sub-legal and kill a few barely legal chinooks due to the main treble getting caught up in the gill and gill plate and causing massive blood loss. Today we caught a 52 cm spring at 90' and by the time we got it to the boat, it was bleading from two ripped gills and the treble was hooked in the gill plate and a couple more gills. The single was still hooked in it's lip, but that was ripped from the force of the two hooks pulling on each other. The fish was toast and it has either fed the crabs or the couple seals that were hanging around.

The main treble is a size #1 and the single trailer is a 4/0 siwash.

Is this common with stingers? or am I having bad luck??

Is there a simple fix or should I scrap the stinger hook idea (Which I am leaning towards as I have seen not noticable difference). The hook up % has not changed any, except we seem to hook a lot more smaller fish.

Cheers

SS

 

[Tips Up]

Agreed Sitkaspruce. Trailers can cause a lot of damage to fish.
They should be illegal. IMO. I think it should be any one hook, treble or single. Doesn't make any sense that we can not have barbed hooks but can run 2 in a row??

Don't get me started on this again. LOL!

Tips

 

[godeep]

5 1/4 anchovie and a #2 treble has worked for our camps for the past 14 years. Start with a long leader and re tie after every good fish. By the end of the day your leader is a couple feet shorter, which doesn't make a difference if you are dialed in.
If the fish can't eat your whole anchovie then it is probably not worth catching anyways.

My 2 cents

 

[notmebud]

stic with two singles less chace of multiple stab wounds remember its called fishing not fill the freezer lol

 

[wolf]

Right on tips and go deep ever look at the size of a 25 lbs springs mouth!!!!!! its huge thats why i use a big treble in my chovie if I dont get it with that grappling hook it wasnt big enough.

Look at all the old commercial plugs with a 9/0 single hook and you still got a 5 lb coho in the mouth with that???? crazy fish!!!!

imho experimenting is good but at the expense of unwanted killing you have to ask why bother????


Wolf

 

[The Fish Assassin]

Later in the season when the big buggers just mouth the bait I use a trailer , a single small trailer. I have caught lots of fish on that trailer, but when they hit hard a single treble is fine.

Take only what you need.

 

[Highliner]

I had the same problem this past week but with tandem octopus hooks in a hoochy. We kept running into small shakers, so I re-tied it on a single siwash which made a clean release much easier.

Does anyone run bait with a single octopus hook, threading the hook through the back of the bait and then hanging free like a trailer hook?

Highliner

www.salmonboats.ca

 

[Even-tide]

I don't like trebles period.
I found early that a treble with a single trailer riped the hell out of the gill plate when the fish ran when only the trailer hooked up.
found that a #2 single steel head hook with the off set taken out for holding the anchovy along with a 0/4 trailer worked great. In 4 years I have not had any issues with damage when the trailer is hooked in the mouth and the small single is not. I've had many large fish landed when the trailer is not hooked at all and the fish is hooked with this #2 single tied on a sliding knot.
seems to work...

 

[profisher]

The early summer springs usually get hooked well as they still take the bait from a feeding attack. Later on when the males hit the bait out of aggression (late August and early September) it becomes frustrating to have so many not hook up. A tell tale sign is the teaser and bait driven back hard down the leader into the hook. Hitting the bait from the front or the side missing the hooks and spitting it out shortly after it pops free of the rigger. I haven't found a reliable way get those fish to hook up in high percentages.

 

[reelfast]

loose the treble hook and you get rid of the problem. i have never found ANY advantage to using treble hooks when salmon fishing.