to trap hook? or not trap hook?.. that is the question.

[Jimmyz123]

Originally Posted by tasteslikechikn54

Hey jimmyz, I was wondering if that might have been what I was doing wrong.... I was placing the treble hook on the upper side of the bait, at the begining of the tail... Does hooking the bait in the midsection decrease the length of life? If so, I will need to constantly be changing it out and being that I have a bait tube that will be an issue for me... For the time being... Saving up for a bait tank at the moment.

I haven't seen any loss of life fast with the hook placed on the dorsal line or underneath. I know someone told me once that you should place it is a specific spot, but I usually grab the bait, hook the nose and then the tail section as fast as I can to limit the amount of contact with the bait. One thing I have learned with Halibut is when you see that bite happening, wait, until he bait is truly picked up.



Top fish was 32" and the second fish was 26". Both caught on the same day. Keep in mind also if using circle hooks don't set the hook, just reel and the hook will seat itself. Also when cranking them in, go slow and have a net ready, with a gaff you have to make a fast judgement call, so a net works better for measuring, and use one that will not split the tail.

[taggermike]

I stopped using trap hooks quite a number of years ago. Using the traps made catching short halibut and gut hooking big sand bass easier. I think traps damage the baits, take longer to tie, and in general I don't like having a treble hook swinging around. Like other poster said, a big hali will eat the bait if they want it. Mike