# Single hooks on hard body Cod lures



## Gonesoft1 (Jul 31, 2009)

A few of us have been changing our treble hooks on bass lures such as Jackals to single hooks. A brand called 'decoy' makes a solid hook designed for knife jigs etc that are available that has the eye of the hook in line with the hook bend rather than perpendicular to the hook bend like all other hooks This enables the decoy hook to sit in line with the hardbody lure body with a single split ring.

The reason we are doing this is that it makes the lures very snag resistant when casting in the snags for bass etc. I understand a few people in Melbourne are also doing this to larger lures trolled for snapper. My experience with bass is that the hook up rate has not been adversely affected much at all. I'm thinking of doing this to cod lures like 75mm and 100mm Oargee Plows etc to similarly improve their snag resistance however because cod seem to inhale the lure rather than grab it like bass etc I'm wondering if the hook up rate might be adversely affected to a greater extent than bass for cod due to the way in which cod take a lure as there are less hook points exposed.

I'm sure we're not the first to have thought of this for cod as it has been very successful on bass lures. Has anyone tried putting single hooks on cod lures and if so what were your results?

On bass lures (and if I change cod hooks) the front hook actually faces so that the point rides up. You might think that the front hook would then be up against the lure body but it is not the case because the lure runs with a very nose down attitude and the front hook hangs down at about 90 degrees from the lure body. Interestingly bass usually take the front hook. I caught two cod and two yellas on single hook jackals in April in the Ovens but Jackals are quite small lures.

I'd be interested in your thoughts or experience.


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## dishley (Jan 20, 2009)

You're an absolute champ for posting this, i've been meaning to change my hooks over, and i actually went to the tackle store today to get some.








This is what i came home with


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## Donutslayer (Jun 9, 2007)

Dont see why not, spinnerbaits only have one hook and they snag a few. Personally, i have came to accept that your going to loose a few lures to the snags. might cost the odd fish. dont matter tho.


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## Feral (Oct 18, 2008)

The only issue I would see for cod (and barra) is that often the hook ups you get are from "reaction" strikes, not bites. IE They are annoyed by the lure and give it a smack with their head rather than try to eat it. (IE whack - bugger off junior this is my spot) It is not uncommon to get both cod and barra hooked up the side of the face rather than in the mouth. This type of hookup would probably be harder to achieve with a single hook.

Also single hooks tend to be longer than trebles, possibly giving the fish better leverage to straighten the hooks (I certainly use shorter trebles for barra because I have found the longer trebles are more easily straightened, but this may be a function of treble hooks, I dont know if it would translate to a single)


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## dishley (Jan 20, 2009)

That's why i went with those hooks feral, all the other hooks were long shank. These should be good as a stinger on a spinner too.
I personally feel pretty sick when i jag a fish, if i haven't got him by the lip i don't want to catch them. The first time a bass takes my stinger hook too deep i'll ditch them, i've heard this won't happen and i hope it doesn't.
The pics i see on here of people dragging up just an eyeball are disgusting. That's why i don't like trebles, too much collatoral damage. And when you mostly chase bass like i do, purely for C&R with minimal harm, it's just not acceptable in my book.


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## Blinky (Jun 16, 2011)

Hi all,
Just my two bobs worth on the subject.
I've been changing out trebles for singles on all my Barra lures for donkey's years. I use Owner "Dancing Stingers" which, unfortunately, aren't available here in OZ. The Kevlar cord allows for more flexibility and rotation than the traditional hook/split ring set up therefore leaving the fish with much less chance to use body of the lure to lever hooks out.
I have found that the hook up rate is a little down on trebles, but the amount of fish that stay stuck and the size of fish that stay stuck far outweighs the drop in hook ups. I find you don't hook up on the "rats" and face slappers; you only hook up on fish that really want to eat the lure. Once a big single finds its mark it very, very rarely comes adrift.

*Poltie with Owner Dancing Stinger hooks.*









*Classic Barra with SureCatch hooks.*









*Owner Dancing Stingers.*


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## jondogg (Sep 2, 2010)

I know I'm going off topic a bit here, but could anyone tell me what type of lure cod take? 
I've been wanting to head out and go for a few cod but I'm not to sure what lures to use.
At this point I'm thinking a slick rig, or maybe whipping out one of the Halco Poltergiests I have in my tacklebox. 
Cheers,
jondogg


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## headoffatness (Jan 7, 2010)

hi jondogg,

the two go-to lures for cod would probably be something like:

suspending diving hardbodies with lots of slow wide wiggle, like oargee plows. Worked cast, bumbed and dived in around rocky/bouldery gaps, or bigger deep divers for trolling.

bassman/codmac spinnerbaits... twin colorado blades seem to work best although some people swear by single willow blades. the model with the stinger and soft plastic does the damage.

can't comment on slick rigs, but have a poke around the 'goodo dreaming' website and rod mackenzies blog for more ideas.


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## Barrabundy (Sep 29, 2008)

I Have lures with big singles on them and I don't notice any difference in hook up rate. I dont even bother to buy the special ones that have the hook and eye in line and can't say I catch less fish. One major advantage for me on barra is that the big singles are much less prone to opening up and I reckon they actually hook up better because they have a bigger opening compared to trebled of the same gauge.

That's just my unscientific observation and I'm also not one to believe in tuning lures, they either wobble or they don't. If your fussy about tuning you may disagree with my analysis of the situation.


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