Single J Hooks (Siwash) VS. Treble Hook.......Surface and Yo-Yo Iron

[sundaytrucka]

I have always been a treble hook fan (because that was on the stock jig), but recently bought a few jigs at an unbeatable price and a few have siwash hooks on them. I have read multiple times people recommend single J hooks for tuna, less likely to come loose on a longer fight; yet people say treble hooks are the way to go for yellowtail fishing!?

I assume it is that Tuna have larger mouths compared to an equivalent size YT and more likely to inhale a jig versus biting at one, that coupled with a longer anticipated fight, I understand the J hook, but not the recommendation of treble hooks, or put down of J hooks for yellowtail jigging. Nobody really states why treble hooks "work better" for YT, only that they work for them and is what they prefer.

Any opinions or experience?

[maxpowers]

I like them both but i have something I am trying out at the moment.  Knowing that the fish can use the treble hooks and to a certain extent the single hook connected directly to the end of the jigs to pop off, I have decided to tie longer assisted treble hooks and j hooks.  The hooks are still connected to the end of the jig and loosely tie with small rubber bands.  Once hooked up, the rubber band either slide off or break off and the hook is free to move about.  This eliminate the possibility of the fish using the leverage to pop off the hook.  For yoyo I have been experimenting with using the shimano butterfly method and assisted hooks.

[fisher480]

I like a single on all metal lures. I find a much better hook up / retain ratio and when you are unhooking a fish the hook doesn't have two other points exposed and ready to hook you.

[TomT]

I fish mainly CA and Baja.  In CA you can't even use barbed hooks for salmon--which translates to any other fish if you have a salmon on board. 

About 20 years ago, I started fishing in Baja in small aluminum boats and the lures I bought mostly had treble hooks.  My trouble was not with any fish using the treble hooks as leverage, but I had a problem getting the treble hooks out of the fish once I had them to the boat. I first made the hooks at least semi-barbless.  I then replaced them with single J-hooks.  I have lost very few fish in Baja with this setup and I do not remember ever losing a YT.   Just my experience.  My biggest YT's have been under 50 Lbs.
TomT

[joel8080]

What size Siwash hooks do you use on your metal lures?, Surface and Yo-Yo. I hate treble hooks double hooksare not as bad but single hooks sound like the way to go, When we get back to CA I have to buy some Iron and I want to go the single hook route.


Joel

[SoCalAngler]

Joel,

Thats hard to say because each manufacturer sizes their hooks differently. Most tackle stores that have saltwater gear in Ca. will have jigs with single hooks already installed but not all the sizes and colors, just match the size of jigs you have to the hook size on the jigs they have. If your not going to replace the rings on the jigs there are Siwash hooks with a open eye's for easy installation. Their not as beefy/strong as the the single hooks that come stock on the iron but work for most applications. If you want/need stronger hooks than the "open eye" you will need to replace the ring on the jig with either a split ring or solder on new solid rings. In most cases though a 6/0, 7/0 or 8/0 single hook will be the size your looking for.

[jig-guy]

Need rings for jig hooks.
I have a bunch of cod jigs that I purchased with no hooks or rings. Where can I purchase new rings and I will braze or silver solder the rings with hooks installed.
tl's
Bill

[johndtuttle]

You can get a lot of opinions on this from the Iron pros in Southern California and I will try and distill some of what I have been taught (and found myself over the years).

The true rule of thumb is lure action as some maintain that the stock trebles are essential for the balance of surface iron to get a slow wide wiggle back and forth. People religiously stick to trebles on surface iron due to this belief and on the 8 or so different LR boats out of San Diego that I have been on every deckie told me the same. True fact or Deckie myth? Who knows? I do know that Surface Iron is deadly in other waters other than SoCal/Baja and single vs trebles makes a tiny difference in lure action that perhaps less finicky fish don't care about.

Yo-yo, the retrieve is essentially as fast as you can bring it back to the boat and the hook affects the action far less. Then, single hooks provide one deep seated hook that is unlikely to come out and are preferred, generally, if nothing else to make release easier.

In my experience however, many that complain about trebles "pulling" don't realize they have hooked a fish in the side or on the outside of the mouth etc. These spots are very likely to pull out and with singles they wouldn't have hooked up at all. They also probably get more "short strikers" that get barely hooked by one of the trebles etc.

However, if you take a treble on an iron and twist it you can see that the fish can get more leverage to remove the hook from itself. Guys I know that fish for GTs run assist hooks off of all their lures and report both more hook ups and more landings as the cord makes it impossible for the hook to get twisted out.

You gotta take fisherman's experience with a huge grain of salt (pun intended) though. Very little science is done on a fishing boat and recent experience tends to dominate the discourse. That is not necessarily a bad thing, keep it light .

best

[FishnNauru]

Not much of a caster of metal, but on trolling lures ( halco, rapalas, sebiles etc)I use to be anti treble, and would replace one or both trebles with singles, swiash (which sometimes come off if the drag gets high, the criping eye thing isnt the best in my opinion) or decoy sergeants with an inverted eye (so you only need one split ring for them to run right). I reckon the single hooks stays hooked up better, but you miss a few hits that don't hook up. Rarely lost a fish at the boat on a single...
But now I'm keeping trebles on most, sometimes changing the size to make them run abit faster than stock, and I do hate foul hooked fish and losing fish at the boat when they throw the hook, but don't miss as many bites either, so abit of a trade off in my opinion.
I'm in the middle of the pacific and keep every fish caught and it all gets eaten, so catch and release reasons don't really effect my decisions, which it can for other guys. Trebles can really be a pain to gt out at times and can damage fish mouths...not fun to try get them out of a feisty wahoo going ballistic from the gaff...but on they calm down its all good

[Bill B]

I was walking the river bank and found this well used (beat up) 5 1/2" flatfish in chrome and yellow....but he finish was chipped and missing so I took a couple magic markers (black and red) and filled in the missing colors resulting in the lure below...the question is would you put trebles or siwash on it???

[FishnNauru]

Depends what ur After, if your salmon fishing and need a single to stay legal then go a good squash (vmc are good, gamagatsu and cheap crap in my limited experience) or treble up front and swish on back.
You can touch up fish eaten lures with nail polish too   I have more colours than my wife

[bluefish69]

VMC Siwash hooks come with an open Eye & in Dura Tin so they take longer to rust.

Mike

[FishnNauru]

The vmc are like twice the gauge of the gammas, and take some serious effort to crimp onto the eye of the lure. I've had gammas come open on a good fish with heavy drag, so will never be buying them again.
The vmc dura-tin is nice too.
Eagle claw have some nice swiash hooks too. Equal to the vmc in gauge, no duratin.

[bluefish69]

I have Chinese Limerick Hooks 7/0 & 8/0 that are harder to close the ring on a VMC. I use a 10" Vise Grip on both kinds of hooks.

Mike

[FishnNauru]

I use my mono swage crimpers,
I figure the harder they are to close the less chance of them coming open on a fish