I'm a big fan of pencil poppers save one aspect: the hook up ratio is pretty good but I always seem to derop fish on them! I also like how most bass you get on the pencil are pretty big.

What can I do to improve the landing ratio on the pencil popper? I mostly favor the gibbs. Should I swap out the hooks that come with it for some other brand of trebles? Sharpen the hooks like crazy?

I have been crushing the barbs down, maybe thats my problem. I also wonder if I have been foul hooking a lot of my fish with it. The other day I lost a fish and reeled in a large scale impaled on the hook.

On my Gibbs I swap out the hooks with VMC. They are much sharper. Back hook I like to put a single hook with a feather or a small amount of bucktail.

Thanks, I like that suggestion. Do you find that fish have a tendency to get off with poppers? Stripers mostly hit the front hook it seems. Maybe I should not crush the barbs down on the front.

does the weight/length of the lure have anything to do with the hook size you should buy?

im all for crushing the barbs on hooks when fishing for smallies. But ask yourself this.... When that hog hit that plug and the drag starts screaming do you really want to be thinking "man i wish i kinda wish i had barbs left on these hooks."

im all for crushing the barbs on hooks when fishing for smallies. But ask yourself this.... When that hog hit that plug and the drag starts screaming do you really want to be thinking "man i wish i kinda wish i had barbs left on these hooks."

thats the direction im heading towards. its happened a few too many times, frustrating as hell

does the weight/length of the lure have anything to do with the hook size you should buy?

Yes. For the most part you should use the same size hook as you are replacing.

For the Gibbs regular Pencil Popper 3/0 VMC for the treble 5/0 VMC siwash for the tail.

The pro series Gibbs comes with VMC hooks.

You might, however, experiment with 4/0 VMC on the regular pencil as a way of dropping your "drop ratio".

I like adding a split ring to the tail along with the siwash so the hook folds in closer to the body of plug when casting. Helps a lot when you dress the tail hook.

Yes. For the most part you should use the same size hook as you are replacing.

For the Gibbs regular Pencil Popper 3/0 VMC for the treble 5/0 VMC siwash for the tail.

The pro series Gibbs comes with VMC hooks.

You might, however, experiment with 4/0 VMC on the regular pencil as a way of dropping your "drop ratio".

I like adding a split ring to the tail along with the siwash so the hook folds in closer to the body of plug when casting. Helps a lot when you dress the tail hook.

Thanks Emgred,I'm gonna do that asap. The pencil I use has two trebles. What is the reason for the siwash hook in the back?

Thanks Emgred,I'm gonna do that asap. The pencil I use has two trebles. What is the reason for the siwash hook in the back?

Easier when there are blues around. Less trebles to deal with when the bass hit the front hook. Easier to dress a siwash with a little bucktail hair.

Some contrarian opinion. Changing hooksize on any plug, or swapping a big siwash for a treble changes the balance and action of the plug. It is fine to do it, just be aware. Putting a dressing on any surface plug reduces the ability to walk the dog. Again, that's OK, but not necessarily better. Barbless hooks generally result in more hookups, not less. Barbs may save you a few fish (though not many), but eventually will cause you a trip to the ER and lost fishing time.

Surface plugs with erratic action typically result in missed strikes or glancing hook sets and lost fish. Factor in fast moving water such as the canal and the drag from your retrieve changing the expected drift of the target (from the fishes' perspective) and you should expect to lose lots of fish on pencils. In calmer water with less current and slower retrieves it is less of an issue.

I was going to say the same thing. Erratic action. I have the same results when fishing bunker spoons on the boat. lost fish because of the erratic action fish will miss a lot of times. But they also attract lots of fish much like pencils so it is worth the chance. Also I see lots of people try to set the hook with pencils too which lots of times results in pulling the plug out of the fishes mouth or a very bad hook set. I just wait until the line comes tight and then pull back, not pull hard when you see the splash.

Some contrarian opinion. Changing hooksize on any plug, or swapping a big siwash for a treble changes the balance and action of the plug. It is fine to do it, just be aware. Putting a dressing on any surface plug reduces the ability to walk the dog. Again, that's OK, but not necessarily better. Barbless hooks generally result in more hookups, not less. Barbs may save you a few fish (though not many), but eventually will cause you a trip to the ER and lost fishing time.

Surface plugs with erratic action typically result in missed strikes or glancing hook sets and lost fish. Factor in fast moving water such as the canal and the drag from your retrieve changing the expected drift of the target (from the fishes' perspective) and you should expect to lose lots of fish on pencils. In calmer water with less current and slower retrieves it is less of an issue.

I agree 100% The only reason I mentioned experimenting with a 4/0 VMC is the shorter shank on the VMC as compared to the stock Mustad's. I have gone one size up for that reason on several plugs. I also think that a 5/0 Siwash and a 5H split will be very close in weight to a 3/0 Mustad so balance will not be effected.