Spoons: Replace the treble for a single?

[Need More Fish'n time]

I hope this hasn't been covered off with another post. I did a quick search and didn't see anything...

So... I was fishing the other day in the NSR and hooked a nice jack on a #2 LT 5 o'Ds. It was a treble that ended up getting very stuck. I kept the fish in the water and tried my best. I ended up using the wire cutter portion and removing one of the hook arms. It saved the fish and nothing was left in that guys' mouth. He sawm away strong. The treble hook was wrecked (snapped off and bent) so I replaced it with a single.

To make a long story short... Does anyone fish spoons with a single? If so what is the correct placement & size ratio? Any successes… any failures? I do mostly C&R fishing so it seems like a good idea.

[blackmamba]

I replace all my trebles on my rapalas with single hooks , I actaully find that it gives them more action in the water !! I hate hookin fish with trebles , Ifeel it cause way more damage than that of single hook !!! Thats JMO.

mamba,

[ishootbambi]

many spoons now come with a single and treble hook. look and see that the single is a little bigger than one hook of the treble. they seem to work as well as trebles with less damage to the fish.

[newfierefugee]

Same here, all lures and cranks have one single barbless hook - I'll buy the barbless hooks, cost more but so much easier to remove and I hate having to spend fishing time bending barbs or trying to break them off. The only mistake I made was buying the ones with eyes that were too small...

I hate treble hooks now, there's simply no need for them and they can do too much damage to the fish. I was like you - caught a pike that was hooked by all 3 barbs in both upper and lower jaws, nearly sealed it's mouth shut - not pretty when you're a C&R fisherman. Really made me rethink the gear I was using.

[Corro]

I too have begun replacing my treble hooks with singles, and ran into the same problem with small hook eyes. I haven't noticed any action difference, that includes my small mepps spinners.

[dodger]

For the last 10 years I have cut off one of the hooks on the treble leaving 2 hooks remaining. Makes life easy for releasing my fish. 90% of them I can just flip the hook out of there mouth with the needle nose pliers while there still in the water.
Dodger.

[Geezle]

I've got a couple spoons that came with a big single hook instead of the treble...I want to say it's maybe a Gibbs Kit-A-Mat?

Blue Fox spoons and spinners also come with a single siwash hook that you can use to replace the treble.

Whenever I get the time and have the ambition (probably this winter) I'll be swapping out the majority of my trebles for single hooks.

[soggysocks]

I'm the same as dodger and just take wire cutters and remove one of the hooks. Easier hook removal and less weeds.

[CantThinkOfAName]

Was reading an article regarding this. The author swaps out trebles on spoons with a single siwash-style hook. He goes on to mention that he sets up the hook facing 'up' on the spoon. And adds a second split ring so hook pivots better for increased hookups.

[Drano]

Great advice ...


Thanks

[cleson]

hahaha. i better recheck the alberta regs. I fished BC all my life, and the last 4 years in alberta, I use single barbless hooks in rivers. Didn't even know trebles were allowed. It' s apain releasing fish with multiple hooks, but when you want to land and keep them it sure is nice. I've lost a few hogs in the clearwater in fort mac, because of single barbless. If you aren't used to fishing single barbless, you need to focus on keeping your tip up a little more. If you don't keep that tip up, they wiggle off a lot easier than with a treble.