I like a 5" Gags Grabber Popper that has 2 treble hooks. But... I don't know that I really need the 2 hooks. So, I'm considering removing the front hook.

I'm also wondering if it would be advisable to cut the top hook off of the rear treble and leave only the bottom 2. I mean, I don't want to miss fish but I usually catch and release and that 3rd hook usually gets em' good.

What do you folks do?

What are you after? Most of the bass I have gotten on poppers are caught on the front hook. Almost 100% of the blues are caught on the tail. I would leave the front hook for sure and cut back the tail hook.

switch to eels and that problem goes away! :D

Put a single hook on back and leave the treble up front. Crunch a barb or two on the treble. I think you'll have gook luck with this set up.

Yeah, what richs said. Put a single hook bucktail on the back. Stripers are almost always hooked on the front; blues are almost always hooked on the back. With the treble in front, you'll have a better hold on the cow that hopefully takes your bait. With the single on the back, blues are much easier and safer to take off.

A few years back I ran into a daytime blitz of mostly short bass at Squibnocket, in the middle of the afternoon. Because virtually all of the fish were small, after catching a few on a double treble hook popper, I put on my staple bluefish plug--"The Popper of the Million Teeth Marks" ;) It's a medium white Superstrike that has almost no paint and just a plain single hook at the rear. On the average, it took a bass about 5 swipes at the plug before they got hooked. Often, they whack at the plug all the way into the first wave without finding the tail hook.

If bass are what you're after, and you want to remove one set of hooks, make it the tail set :D