Bull dawg?

Who cuts the top hook off dawgs. I think that it might be better for the fish if I do this. Idont think that I’ll lose fish with out it it just in the way when unhooking.

I can honestly say, I’ve never heard of that

We’ve never cut them, at least not before a fish was in the net. I think a lot of guys underestimate the hooking ability of a rigid single, vs split ringed trebs.

The Dunwright baits that Bobby ran in the IDO muskie episode do have some minor mods, specifically the big squirley has been reduced to 1 upsized treble on the front, the back treble has been taken off.

I think the one thing that accounts for more fish shake offs then any other, is more than one hook sunk. When the head shakes start, multiple treble barbs across the face provide leverage against other embedded hooks. One barb buried top (preferably), or bottom gives the fish little prying power when they are trying to “back away” from the bait open mouthed.

There is a reason Great Lakes salmon trollers only put singles on their spoons, I can’t say that I am ready to abandon trebles on plastics, but it might be worth a try one of these days.

In the case of Bulldawgs; at least the Standard, Uptown, and smaller, I would remove trebles before I cut that single. Pounders and Two Pounders(god forbid I ever have to throw one) I will keep any hook I can get.

Dan are you saying that Bob put a bigger treble on the big Dunwright it’s allready like 7/0 or 8/0?

Bobby has a couple boxes of VMC Conecuts in the garage, if memory serves he upped the 7/0 they come with, to the 8/0. He also put shrink tubing around the eye, rings and shank to make it more rigid, stay pointing down and off the side of the bait. I was riding with him in the truck the other day when he was on the phone trying to get his hands on a box 9/0 and possibly bigger.

We were talking about it, and last year Bobby noticed a couple of things. By going to one treble, the tail of the bait fouled on hooks less during casts (especially when throwing into the wind), and if you did end up in the greens it was easier to rip it clean with no tagalongs.

I didn’t get to spend much time in the boat with him, so he can chime in about how he felt the hook-up ratio was effected…If at all.

I think the reasoning behind experimenting with even bigger trebles this year is also twofold. Bigger trebles have wider gaps, which would lead to more single barb hookups. They also have longer shanks, which will give more clearance between the rings and the points. If musky fishing is a game of inches, stack the odds in your favor a 1/4″ at a time if need be.

You also might notice he takes liberty with his collection of permanent markers, nothing scientific to prove if his art was beneficial or detremental, but considering the year he had last year, I’m not afraid to huck what the self-proclaimed Picaso has doctored.

Thanks Dan I was just looking at my dunwrites and I think i’ll give that a try.

Dan:

If Bob is still looking for 9/0, have him PM me… Great to see the board starting back up again. So far heard a few 45’s and a 51″. A pair of the 45’s were caught by the same guy and both were tigers.

Mark

Timschmitz:

I do know guys up here in the north that DO cut that single hook off. Personally I think it is a good idea, though Dan’s thoughts are compelling reasons not to. I really don’t fish them often enough, but am trying to become a better jerk fisherman this season so I may be using them more often.

Mark

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Dan:

If Bob is still looking for 9/0, have him PM me… Great to see the board starting back up again. So far heard a few 45’s and a 51″. A pair of the 45’s were caught by the same guy and both were tigers.

Mark

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Thanks Mark, I got my hands on some hooks just the other day.

Last year I had a hard time landing fish in the beginning of the season. We were hooking up with fish almost every trip, a few of those days could have been personal bests for me,had the hooks just stayed in place. I have two different trips from last year that stand out in my mind, for two very different reasons. They were both potential 5 fish days, but in the grand picture, we were only able to land 4 of the 10 in those two days. The hook up ratio was driving me nuts, or should I say, the landing ratio. I starting to experiment with a lot of different things and this brings me to the first reason that I will never forget what the start of last season opened my eyes to. Looking back at two days of fishing, where we should have had 10 fish in the boat was more then enough to crush most huckers season. Looking at this, I did my best to put a positive spin on it. Making changes to baits and hooks, shrink tube, gap, hook style. Small changes at first glance, but it made a BIG difference in the number of fish I got to tuck into the net. There is something special about the feeling of making modifications to baits, and having success on said changes. Making those changes was really where my season started to turn around.
Fishing confident, be it, in your lake of choice, your spots, and most of all your baits, confidence does wonders for how you fish. I love to mess with all my baits, some produce and others don’t. I keep a lot of information written down and look back at it often. I like to look at specific days when fishing was really good, and try my best to moniter the weather for similar conditions. Keep track of water temp, wind direction and speed, sky conditions, the more you write down, the better info you have for future trips. I print a lot of things I write here on the website, and keep it in a 3 ring binder. The info is easy to access, and I can take it with me for road trips, it passes the time in the truck to read about old trips and its a great refresher on the body of water that I am on my way to fish.
Sometimes a small change with a marker is just enough for me to feel confident in what I am throwing. A red tail on the end of a big plastic, I made a small change, and on some slow days that keeps me hucking a lot longer, and fishing a lot harder. Most of it seems to be mind set for me, keeping focused and positive, knowing that next lunge is just around the inside weed edge. Keeping a log of information is one of the things that has shortened the learning curve for me.
I for one can’t wait for this weekend, I have been getting things ready for the last month, or three, but who’s counting?

Happy hunting and good luck this weekend

Letting them go, its the best part of the hunt

WOW!!!!! Thank you Bob. The 9/0 are on the dunwriters now. I hope that helps.

Bob:

I was looking at the Musky Shop at our hook selection and the only thing we had in 9/0 was the Mustad 3551. What brand and type hook were you able to find???

Also looking at purchasing the Dunwright curly tail in the gold fleck/walleye, but we are out and am wondering if the paddle tail is effective or if I should wait for the curly to get back in the shop???

Mark

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Bob:

I was looking at the Musky Shop at our hook selection and the only thing we had in 9/0 was the Mustad 3551. What brand and type hook were you able to find???

Also looking at purchasing the Dunwright curly tail in the gold fleck/walleye, but we are out and am wondering if the paddle tail is effective or if I should wait for the curly to get back in the shop???

Mark

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I believe they were Mustad’s, but to be honest, I did not look very close at them when I picked them up the other night.
Last year we used the paddle tails a lot at the start of the season, and yes, they were very effective. They work great on a slow retrieve. Just cast out and crank in very slow. I had success on both of those baits last year, I just spent more time hucking the curly.

When i was just starting out musky fishing, a local guide was telling me to cut the top hook off because it did nothing but screw up a quick release by getting caught in the net. I have never done this yet, but figure if it is caught in the net, I’ll just cut it. Of course, I have to catch one first…..

Bob:

Only reason I asked is at the Musky Shop last season, lots of comments regarding more fish hitting on curlies than the paddles. No matter the bait, dawgs, suzy suckers, dunrights and others, if a company made both it seemed like the curly was doing better. It seemed that it was worth asking as you have a little different perspective just outside of our area.

Mark

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When i was just starting out musky fishing, a local guide was telling me to cut the top hook off because it did nothing but screw up a quick release by getting caught in the net. I have never done this yet, but figure if it is caught in the net, I’ll just cut it. Of course, I have to catch one first…..

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Saturday my friend, Saturday. Looking forward to cutting some hooks. Preferably mine!