Hardbody Lures and Slow Trolling

Author: Shufoy

Category: Kayak fishing tackle

Published on Sunday, 21 March 2010 16:44

Written by Shufoy

Whilst out this week in the Sound, and it being very quiet, it was frustrating to get hit on a few ocasions, for no hook up. It got me thinking about the lessons learnt last year, especially when trolling Hardbody lures.

Most, if not all off the shelf HB's are designed for trolling behind a boat at a fair rate of knots, say between 5-10knots, and usually have standard galvanised or tinned hooks. I find that these hooks aren't that sharp, and have average hook penetration, especially when used out of there designed parameters trolling at super slow speed on kayaks. This is when the not-so-sharp hook points begin to let you down.

On a boat, at a decent trolling speed, the forward momentum contributed greatly to a solid hook up, something lacking at the 1-2knots i usually troll at on the yak. So as a result, last year i went to chemically sharpened hooks, resulting in more strikes converted to solid hook ups, and also if chosen correctly, a much stronger hook, that can withstand the shell crunching vice like jaws of snapper.

So I looked around for some replacements, turning to last years favourites the Owner ST-41 in Black Chrome, 2x strength. These are a super sharp hook, and also very strong, i look for sizes like 1 or 1/0, positioning different sizes for different parts of the lure for maximum hook exposure. I also came across a new hook this year, in a T shape, the Decoy T-S21 again in 1 and 1/0 sizes. These T shaped trebles allow the hook point to always be positioned away from the lure body, hopefully allowing more opportunities for hook ups. Decoy also make a great standard Y treble in the Y-S21, a comparable hook to the Owners. Owner split rings also complement these beautifully, and are much lighter and stronger than the standard fare.

I think the improvement is obvious, and whilst it can be expensive to make these improvements, what cost can you put on the frustration of missed strikes? These chemically sharpened hook points, and extra hook exposure will hopefully eliminate missed strikes at slow speeds, and increase catch rates. Looking forward to unleashing them upon the local Snapper population.

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