Killing trout and I don't want to

[Tinker]

Sunday morning I caught three legal rainbow a 1/4 oz. black/yellow Panther-Martin with pinched barbs. All were about 12 inches. Killed two when they took the treble hook very, very deeply. Had all three points buried deeply. Kept them, but hadn't planned on keeping any. What mods do I need to make to keep from injuring and killing trout? What's wrong with these fish that they're so aggressive towards a spinner?

 

[troutdude]

You apparently have standard-issue treble hooks. Treb's are regularly deadly, to fish in general. Replace those trebs, with a "de-barbed" single hook. Doing so, should greatly reduce your kill ratio. And it's easy to do, with needle nose pliers and some extra split-rings as needed.

Good on you, for wanting to safely release your fish.

 

[Tinker]

Yeah, they're the stock trebles. I pinched down the barbs and thought it'd be enough (NOT!), but I'm not used to fish sucking in a lure very deeply. I'll get to with replacing the trebles right away. Thanks!

 

[Jay Herb]

Yeah, they're the stock trebles. I pinched down the barbs and thought it'd be enough (NOT!), but I'm not used to fish sucking in a lure very deeply. I'll get to with replacing the trebles right away. Thanks!

I had the same problem as you when fishing with treble hooks, when I fish for bass I used to use treble hooks but do to my arthritis hands I only use single hooks.
Good to see you care about safely release your fish.

 

[the_intimidator03]

you got excellent advice on switching to single hooks, I would recommend the depending on the type of lure used to add a small split ring between the hook and lure since a lot of spinners do not have that.. just a wire loop that goes through the hook eye.

 

[Tinker]

I had the same problem as you when fishing with treble hooks, when I fish for bass I used to use treble hooks but do to my arthritis hands I only use single hooks.
Good to see you care about safely release your fish.

Yeah, my experience with small spionners was all with bass, and they don't take the lure as deeply as trout seem to. For such a small mouths, trout can get surprisingly big things in them.

you got excellent advice on switching to single hooks, I would recommend the depending on the type of lure used to add a small split ring between the hook and lure since a lot of spinners do not have that.. just a wire loop that goes through the hook eye.

The Panther-Martins that I like don't have a split ring, so I've been adding them as I change hooks. Yesterday I just clipped-off two of the three hooks on the treble - easy with wire cutters - and the spinner ran true without tweaking it, so we'll see what effect the split rings may have on the action.

Thanks, all. It freaks me out when I mortally wound a fish I hadn't planned to keep and I'm extremely relieved that the ones I hurt were legal sized keepers; I'd have been thoroughly disgusted with myself if they's been under-sized fish.

 

[Jay Herb]

Yeah, my experience with small spionners was all with bass, and they don't take the lure as deeply as trout seem to. For such a small mouths, trout can get surprisingly big things in them.
Most of the Bass I have cough have been in the lips and no problem releasing them, with my bad hands treble hooks seams to get me hooked and that hurts so I avoid them when I can



The Panther-Martins that I like don't have a split ring, so I've been adding them as I change hooks. Yesterday I just clipped-off two of the three hooks on the treble - easy with wire cutters - and the spinner ran true without tweaking it, so we'll see what effect the split rings may have on the action.

Thanks, all. It freaks me out when I mortally wound a fish I hadn't planned to keep and I'm extremely relieved that the ones I hurt were legal sized keepers; I'd have been thoroughly disgusted with myself if they's been under-sized fish.

If Iam not going to eat my fish I want them to go back in good shape so someone else can enjoy the sport.

 

[rippin fish lips]

Not to mention, single hooks will usually catch the bigger ones too.

 

[Silvers&Steelies]

I lose more fish with trebles on hardware. It just happened to me yesterday on a spoon that I didn't put a siwash on. Had 4 fish on that didn't slam my spoon and when I tried to set the hook it came out every time. Same thing with spinners. If the fish slam it on a treble it's usually not a problem keeping it hooked but like yesterday they didn't slam it and I missed some fish.

 

[sunsalem]

As far as keeping fish alive and/or NOT donating your hardware to the Water God, there are several easy things you can do.

Siwash singles in place of trebles.

If you don't want to Siwash, snip off one or two of the trebles' hooks, making it a single or double hook.

Sometimes easier said than done, pinch the barbs.
Don't be afraid to bring out one of your Dad's rusted old tools to get the job done.
Or if you are skilled with a Dremel and have good eyes, give it a go....

 

[Tinker]

Not to mention, single hooks will usually catch the bigger ones too.

Oh yeah? Well, after having changed some spinners from treble hooks to single hooks, I went back yesterday and caught nuthin'...

The caddis hatch is wild down here and since everything was feeding on top, I was standing there not really paying attention and doodle-heading about whether I should walk back to the truck and get my fly rod when a very nice-looking sea-run cutthroat took the spinner and I forgot to even try to set the hook. I blame the single point hook because I would never forget to fish when I'm fishing...

Most of the fish in this stretch strike in the deep shadows. The cutthroat chased the lure into shallower water and I watched it take the spinner and felt it bend the rod and I just stood there. Rats!

 

[rippin fish lips]

Tinker, any little bump you feel with singles on. SET IT! Lots of times the fish will strike the lure multiple times with a single before really inhaling it. You will hook less fish lots of the times, but when you do hook em, they are there and are not going anywhere. Give it some time and fish the singles. Then come back and tell me what you think after you catch a few on em. And yes, singles will catch the bigger trout. Give it time, you will figure that one out. Atleast i have on my river.

 

[C_Run]

Oh yeah? Well, after having changed some spinners from treble hooks to single hooks, I went back yesterday and caught nuthin'...


Do you bend the hook point a bit sideways? That helps. Take two pliers and make the point bend sideways a bit. Usually you get them right in the jaw.

 

[Tinker]

I think the single point conversion will work fine. It wasn't an equipment failure, it was a brain-fart: I watched the critter charge out of the shadows, grab the lure and start to swim away with it and I stood there until it decided it didn't like how it tasted and spat it out again... then I set the hook and managed to get the lure tangled in my hair. I was wearing a baseball cap that makes my hair kind of puff-out over my ears, or I'd have hooked my ear for sure.

I hadn't thought about bending the hook to offset the point. Great tip! Not that it will help me pay attention, but it'll help a lot when I'm not daydreaming. Thanks!

 

[sunsalem]

Do you bend the hook point a bit sideways? That helps. Take two pliers and make the point bend sideways a bit. Usually you get them right in the jaw.

Great tip.

 

[GungasUncle]

I snip 2 barbs off the trebles on my trout spinners, and on the larger ones I replace with single siwash hooks.

When replacing a treble, I typically go to a siwash one size larger than the treb - seems that some lures come with hooks far too small anyway. Barbless siwash are easy to remove. Another trick you can do is bend the hook point in just a bit - and then to the side just a bit. This is a poor man's circle hook. It causes the hook point to slide in the fishes mouth and usually grabs the corner of the mouth. On my bass cranks - I stick with trebs because they throw crankbaits easily enough even with twin trebles hanging off. I do bend the hook points sideways a bit on these lures to help 'em stick.

 

[sunsalem]

I snip 2 barbs off the trebles on my trout spinners, and on the larger ones I replace with single siwash hooks.

When replacing a treble, I typically go to a siwash one size larger than the treb - seems that some lures come with hooks far too small anyway. Barbless siwash are easy to remove. Another trick you can do is bend the hook point in just a bit - and then to the side just a bit. This is a poor man's circle hook. It causes the hook point to slide in the fishes mouth and usually grabs the corner of the mouth. On my bass cranks - I stick with trebs because they throw crankbaits easily enough even with twin trebles hanging off. I do bend the hook points sideways a bit on these lures to help 'em stick.

Excellent tips.

 

[Tinker]

I snip 2 barbs off the trebles on my trout spinners, and on the larger ones I replace with single siwash hooks.

When replacing a treble, I typically go to a siwash one size larger than the treb - seems that some lures come with hooks far too small anyway. Barbless siwash are easy to remove. Another trick you can do is bend the hook point in just a bit - and then to the side just a bit. This is a poor man's circle hook. It causes the hook point to slide in the fishes mouth and usually grabs the corner of the mouth. On my bass cranks - I stick with trebs because they throw crankbaits easily enough even with twin trebles hanging off. I do bend the hook points sideways a bit on these lures to help 'em stick.

Great advice, as always!