Snuck away from work last night and had to see how the double hooks looked on the Baby Depth Raider. Sweet! I should post a pic but its to much trouble. I was so impressed I slapped one on a Taildancer as well. Looks good but I will scale down to a 3/0 hook on that.

Great.......this will be a big improvement. As somebody who does lots of trolling and usually with crankbaits this will alleviate the hassle of dealing with 30" pike and gangs of treble hooks. This set up will be much more like dealing with a jig.......humongous difference. Maybe I miss a strike or two? Perhaps but I bet I make up the few fish with less pulled hooks which is more common with treble hooks.

Plus I can bounce bottom with a bit more confidence.......

A few more thoughts on the Baby depth Raider......checked out a tube review on the bait yesterday and the guy mentions how effective the lure is for post cold front muskie along weed edges but also mentions the lure being good for walleye and pike.

While messing around with it I noticed it has a rattle. I'm not a big fan of rattling lures for the most part. Sometimes you have to wake things up but I prefer to sneak up on a fish and give them precious few seconds to decide to bite or not. the way to solve rattling baits is to drill a small hole into the rattling compartment and using a plastic syringe add some vegetable oil......don't over do it. Then seal things up with a few drops of super glue. The vegetable oil will tone the rattle down a tad....better in clear water.

Getting primed to go on a canoe trip.

Caught the last 12 minutes of last nights game.....pretty good. I hadn't fully appreciated Rodgers arm strength....impressive, Go Pack. 

I was eyeing the Butcher depth raider in a 6" version and visualizing the double hooks as the only ones.

A few thoughts.......the twin hooks slide onto the lure without using a split ring. By removing the front sets of trebles there would be no split rings on the lure whatsoever and consequently, no noise........ a truly silent presentation (for better or worse).

The other thing I was considering is by making the hookup at the rear of the lure I can't help but wonder if that would also mean less bite offs without a leader? Of course hook Mr Big toothy in the corner of the mouth and even with a 6" lure its still nip city without a bit of wire.

The big version of the Depth Raider was very productive when employed this past summer. I picked up a junior version to walleye fish with and am eager to see how it does.......slide those front sets of trebles off and just fish a 5/0 double hook. Intriguing oui? I like the big eye.....

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Hey I noticied that owner also has a "toad" hook now as well........their double hooks are a smidge different with the shank beng fused together and coming in a weighted version.

These hooks are very much like what is used in the "Top Toad" lure that I so highly praised in an earlier post. The top toads would, I suspect, be a killer smally lure taking advantage of the fishes natural aggressiveness. Throw it out and reel it in........I found the hook up ratio excellent with this style hook.

The truck will carry valuable cargo Tim, hence the Michelins. It's been a good one though with over 280K since it was drove off the lot with almost zero problems. I think we are both starting to show some wear however. Sat in a new one last spring and wasn't feeling 40K worth of happy. I'm like......... "really"?

I like shore fishing, especially if the scenery is nice. I also enjoy the simplicity.......sneak around the shore (preferably an uncluttered alpine lake )and gently plop something in front of a fat cutthroat......plenty fun.

But back to those hooks, they really are rather impressive and will aid in accomplishing the #1 rule of MT tripping credo, "No Hassles"......> dehooking even 26" pike with 3 sets of 8/0 trebles dangling was anything but stress free even with considerable thought beforehand. 

i get it now, and it makes sense. it'll take more than that to force you to shore fish MT. If that truck need tires, throw a pair of run-flats on it to boot.

Well zski for starters if your just going to run one set of hooks you want to mean business. That means upsizing.

When I trolled the Hunters Island loop I ran an old style Husky Rapala (original balsa model) and did something similar......removed all but the rear treble but sized upwards. I had nary a depth finder and wanted to minimize snags.....I had little or no issues hooking fish with the single treble.

The other notable aspect of the double hooks is balance. Bigger hooks need balance to make sure the lure runs correctly, clip a tine off a treble and who knows......plus I like the concept of both hooks riding upwards, less apt to snag.

I am eager to give them an honest try but canoe tripping looks remote as I must "gift" my truck to a worthy college student......unless a quick 40K comes my way this winter I will be a van driver next summer with limited carrying ability for a watercraft. Looks like i'll be shore bound! "How did it come to this"....... (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)

zski wrote on Nov 22^nd, 2014 at 3:32pm:


I've done that, but those EWG seem much better suited for toothy type fish that would take those bigger lures.

These are similar and have the added weed/rock guard as well. They make them in size 6-6/0 but as for ruggedness of construction compared to the EWG's, you'd have to compare them side by side and determine which one's suit your needs the best and gives you the most confidence

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I have almost all my lures converted to them, and while I still lose my share of fish, it's never been becasue the hook failed.

why not just clip the downward facing hook on the existing treble and be done with it?

I recently spent some time with a fellow QJ member on a trout stream in southern Tennessee of all places. We both had exactly the same thinking on lure choices (small crank baits) but special regs precluded using treble hooks with single barbless hooks being a prerequisite. Despite a 28 degree start to the day we ended up rather well with numerous trout caught including 3 over 20". After all was said and done my accomplice made the comment that he just might stay with the single hook as very few fish shook the single hook.

This was just further confirmation of a direction I have been leaning towards concerning fishing out of a canoe far from anything. My last trip in WCP was an eye opener on several levels. My preference for fishing very large lures was solidified........but the safety concern was also verified. In spite of being very cautious and having prepared myself quite adequately (boga, 9" needle nose pliers, lindy glove) I still had 2 very close calls. Something about a 10" lure sporting 3 sets of 8/0 treble hooks which is tough to overcome despite caution and respect.

So enter in the Gamakatsu EWG double hooks. Marketed as a hook to use with soft plastic frogs I think it would excel as a tail mounted replacement hook for a wide variety of crankbaits. Dispense with the other hooks and run a single double hook......perhaps run lures in the 8" range.

Only 2 sizes......3/0 and 4/0. I have picked up the 4/0 size already and it looks perfect for say an 8" grandma lure. I will be interested to see the 3/0 size. These hooks are not the typical flimsy narrow gap double hooks you might see on say an old daredevil spoon. Nay, these are tournament grade and should do the job rather well. Another positive aspect of this set up would be the lures ability to avoid snags.....bounce that rock pile aggressively, just might trigger a fish.

Anyways, just a thought. I might miss a few but overall I believe it will be far safer for me and easier on the fish I might add. up

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