Hook recommendations for Craftbait realbait.

[Geoff Volter]

Hi all,

I was curious as to what people consider to be the optimal hooks (type and size) for the 170gr Craftbait Realbait.

Thanks

Geoff

[Dave Foyle]

Hi Geoff,

Personally I would go with two Mustad 10/0 10874BLN's  rigged baker style (back to back with a cable tie) with another one on the tail - you will need two split rings to make this hook face up or down.

If you can't get the Mustads I would use 9/0 Owner Jobu's.

The Mustads are not easy to find but are worth the effort - getting on towards an SJ51 for strength but with an eye that will take an 11 or 11H Owner split ring.

Tight lines   Dave

[Brandon Khoo]

I think the optimal hook setting for a particular lure is a personal thing which you will work out over time in terms of what you like.

My preference would probably be 2 x ST-76 5/0s or perhaps 2 x Recorder 7/0.

I'm not a big fan of the long shanked hooks like Jobus for Bakers, particularly for stickbaits. The reason for this how the hooks sit when the lure is being retrieved. My experience with poppers is that I get a lot of hits when the lure is stationary but with stickbaits, I find I get quite a lot of hits when the lure is moving as well.

When a lure is moving, the hooks sweep to the back whereas when it is stationary, the hooks hang straight down. What this means is that when the lure is moving and the hooks are in a swept back position, something like 2/3s of the lure is not covered by any hooks. If a GT attacks the head of the lure, it can very easily miss the hooks conpletely. My suggestion if you want to use a Baker is to go with SJ-41 13/0s. The other option you could consider is running an assist hook off the towing point. I'm still a little undecided on this as I'm not sure of the impact on the action of the stickbait but it has a hook exactly where I'd like to see it

[Dave Foyle]

I agree the Jobu's don't look right...but they do seem to work ok. Had to use them when I ran out of Mustads

I've used trebles, baker and head rigged arrangements and thought a bit about GT takes and hooking arrangements a bit and came to the conclusion that it probably doesn't make much difference which way you rig your lure.  By the time you factor in the pressure wave from the GT's charge (on lure alignment and hooks)..its speed...the direction it comes from and how it grabs the lure the alignment of your hooks in its mouth could be anything.  Given this I figured the strongest hook arrangment (baker on stickbaits and pencils and head rigged single on most poppers) is the way to go for me for now!!

One interesting thing I have noticed is that when head rigging a popper 9/10 fish (or more) are hooked on that front hook....which is somewhat suggestive.  Then again baker rigging a big ebi-pop or a 300mm stickbait leaves the front 40% of the lure without a hook...and I've hooked up fine on these too....go figure !!

Its all in the mind 


 

[Brandon Khoo]

what I will add is that over many years, I have lost count of the number of occasions where I've thought I've had a hook-up but I've lost the fish after a few seconds notwithstanding maintaining full tension on the fish. I strongly suspect that in the case of these, the fish has never been hooked and many of these have had teethmarks around the head. I've also found the incidence of this to be more prevalent with longer poppers, as you would expect.

I am not convinced of the assist rigged hook off the towing point for stickbaits due to concerns about the impact on the action of the lure but if I am using a long popper like a 200 Ebipop, I'd be using it.

At the end of the day, we can all only give you our opinions so ultimately, you will work out what you like, Geoff.

[Geoff Volter]

Brandon, I certainly like reading all things GT and i really appreciate the more experienced amongst us sharing their expertise so freely.