Pencil Poppers hook up ratio

[emgred]

Originally Posted by doktorfaustus77

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.

[numbskull]

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.

[emgred]

Originally Posted by numbskull

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.