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Does anyone swap out the treble hooks on top water or suspension lures for single hooks or reduce the amount of trebles from 3 to 2?

Furthermore, are there any other neat modifications you make to your lures?


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I am in the process of doing just that-I believe the single hook top water plugs will be safer to remove, nothing ruins a trip faster than having a treble hook jammed in your finger/hand. It probably doesn't do the fish any good either, if you plan to release it. The problem is finding the right length and weight so the action of the plug is not altered.

I'll swap out treble hooks on some deep diving hard baits with single weedless hooks especially when fishing grass but leave topwater and shallow running baits like they come out of the box. Like stated, mods work on some but alter action on others.

Yeah, I agree. Fished the Eggnog Open in December. Had a 25” redfish swallow a three treble hook lure. It took us 2-3 mins to get the lure out. Blood all over.

There was a 1/2 lb penalty for dead fish. After we got the hooks out I put him in the water next to the boat and to my surprise he slapped me and took off like a lightning bolt! My partner was madder than a hornet.

So I have been contemplating changing things up to avoid this issue.


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I switched trebles for inline circles on my mirrodines a few weeks ago. I’ve had 2 really good days on trout and reds and didn’t miss a single fish. It’s so nice using a dehooker and release them boatside without touching them. I’m going to try it with tw plugs this spring. I’ll use owner #1 or 1/0 and report back. I also remove the middle treble hook with super spooks.

Wrote an article about single vs. trebles for TIDE about two years ago. MirrOlure is offering conversion kits to swap out trebles with in-line singles. Rapala is offering single-rigged lures straight out of the box.

I've converted a few topwater lures to singles. I've found the best configuration for hook-ups and balance is with a smaller in-line (#2 or so) facing forward towards the head and a larger (1/0) at the rear facing aft. No middle hooks and I've been using VMC brand. Owner and some others are available.

The hook-up ratio on topwater with singles is not quite as high as trebles. Topwater bites are mostly reactionary and trout especially key in on the head. Still experimenting, but since I release most of my fish, the value of less damage to the fish and less risk to me is an acceptable trade-off. I haven't noticed much difference in lure action. Mostly throw Rapala Skitter Walks with some MirrOlure or Spooks mixed in.

I tried those single inline on topwater when the floating grass was bad and never again.i missed about 5 fish out of 6 blowups on it that was enough for me.

mpa_72001 wrote: ↑February 19th, 2021, 8:34 pm I tried those single inline on topwater when the floating grass was bad and never again.i missed about 5 fish out of 6 blowups on it that was enough for me.

An old salt like you, missing those fish? You weren't holding your mouth just right. I haven't switched out all my trebles.

Water was pretty dark too but min I grabbed pole with trebles it was fish on.

For catch and release, pinching down the barbs on trebles helps to reduce damage to the fish. I too remove the middle hook on top waters, they tangle each other too often and pick up more grass.
I tried the inline singles a few years back and was not happy with the hook up ratio.

silverking wrote:Wrote an article about single vs. trebles for TIDE about two years ago. MirrOlure is offering conversion kits to swap out trebles with in-line singles. Rapala is offering single-rigged lures straight out of the box.

I've converted a few topwater lures to singles. I've found the best configuration for hook-ups and balance is with a smaller in-line (#2 or so) facing forward towards the head and a larger (1/0) at the rear facing aft. No middle hooks and I've been using VMC brand. Owner and some others are available.

The hook-up ratio on topwater with singles is not quite as high as trebles. Topwater bites are mostly reactionary and trout especially key in on the head. Still experimenting, but since I release most of my fish, the value of less damage to the fish and less risk to me is an acceptable trade-off. I haven't noticed much difference in lure action. Mostly throw Rapala Skitter Walks with some MirrOlure or Spooks mixed in.

I’ll have to look into those kits. I figured at the very least taking the middle treble out. I believe I got the idea of changing out the hooks from the fishing show “Chasing the Sun” that is filmed in PCB.

Any pics you could show would be awesome.


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Salty Gator wrote:I switched trebles for inline circles on my mirrodines a few weeks ago. I’ve had 2 really good days on trout and reds and didn’t miss a single fish. It’s so nice using a dehooker and release them boatside without touching them. I’m going to try it with tw plugs this spring. I’ll use owner #1 or 1/0 and report back. I also remove the middle treble hook with super spooks.

Can you provide pics of the set up?


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I have found that a treble hook with one hook cut off is the sweet spot of ease of release vs hook-up ratio. It's that third hook that gets in the fish's jaw and then you can't back it out that's the problem for me. The single hook deal works on topwater if all you want is to see the strike....again and again. lol

SouthernPointe wrote: ↑February 20th, 2021, 8:30 am

Salty Gator wrote:I switched trebles for inline circles on my mirrodines a few weeks ago. I’ve had 2 really good days on trout and reds and didn’t miss a single fish. It’s so nice using a dehooker and release them boatside without touching them. I’m going to try it with tw plugs this spring. I’ll use owner #1 or 1/0 and report back. I also remove the middle treble hook with super spooks.

Can you provide pics of the set up?


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https://share.icloud.com/photos/0lAYSOv ... JGYERKzYhA[/i]

Salty Gator wrote:

SouthernPointe wrote: ↑February 20th, 2021, 8:30 am

Salty Gator wrote:I switched trebles for inline circles on my mirrodines a few weeks ago. I’ve had 2 really good days on trout and reds and didn’t miss a single fish. It’s so nice using a dehooker and release them boatside without touching them. I’m going to try it with tw plugs this spring. I’ll use owner #1 or 1/0 and report back. I also remove the middle treble hook with super spooks.

Can you provide pics of the set up?


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https://share.icloud.com/photos/0lAYSOv ... JGYERKzYhA[/i]

Too simple! Thanks for sharing.


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