A day in the Fitzroy

[Douglas]

Is that one of the Smash Minnows Al? It looks bigger than a 79.

I've got a couple of sardine Smash Minnows but am keeping them until I get onto some decent sized fish.

Look like different hooks and is that a proper split ring on the tow point or one of those silly little egg things. Hard to tell with the angle. You must have changed it? I certainly do.

That treble sitting out by itself. It looks like a VMC 3X with the remains of an egg ring. Back one might also be VMC 3X although it seems bit shinier like an owner. Certainly neither is a 6X VMC.

I was just about to research Owner for different trebles especially wider gape ones which need to be much stronger due to increased leverage due to the wider gape. Maybe st66 4X strength even at no4 size.

Will let you know what I find if you like.

Al, I'd get something done about that front treble connection before I used it again.

[Douglas]

That barra had been tagged in 2012 @540mm (64cm) just 2 km downstream. Been out for 1600 days and had grown 280mm = .175mm per day or 64mm per year.

Where ever its been, it wasn't in a very good paddock with a growth rate that slow.

He'd have been 680mm (68cm) when the netting stopped. How lucky was he being right in the middle of prime netting country when tagged.

[al49]

Pretty sure they were 4x upgrades back then on a new split ring a mate gave me to try don't know what brand though , had two do it on one session

[Douglas]

Hey Al

I've had another look at that image of the busted Jackal lure.

That front treble split ring is a mangled egg model. My view is that they are hopeless on bigger fish. I'm not surprised that it opened up. Egg rings might allow the treble to hang further from the body but there's a price you pay (increased leverage at the potential break points).

The second thing is that treble has a scale pinned in the centre. The actual hook penetration into the fish was only as deep as the barb. There would have been enormous leverage on the front treble, the egg split ring and the lure anchor point. That treble sure wasn't going to fail so something else had to.

Thirdly, to pin a scale like that, the treble wasn't in the fish's mouth. It was on the outside near the head (maybe the cheek or top of the head judging by the small size of the scale). That's why the leverage stresses were increased.

The front treble on those lures is usually a wider gape to that the treble bends and points protrude further out from the profile of the lure. Then the lure body doesn't interfere with the effectiveness of hooking ability of the treble.

If the lure is sucked into the barra's mouth, then none of the above really matters as the leverage point is at the bib split ring.

But its when a treble is stuck on the outside of the mouth that the poor old lure is subjected to significant increases in leverage stresses.

Food for thought?

Anyway, thanks for putting that image up. I've learned a few things about reasons for wide gape trebles that don't apply to normal wide gape single hooks.

[Ducksta]

I'm pretty sure that's a round ring that's just been straightened out. I've seen quite a few ending up looking like that.
For mine - the worst scenario for damaging/straightening hardware is when both hooks are well set in the mouth, but opposite jaws.

[Douglas]

Bit of a mess whatever it was.

How did you find the peacock bass on terminal gear?

[Ducksta]

I didn't lose any due to failures in 'proper' terminals. I did straighten a couple of light gauge trebles on small lures which I didn't upgrade due to weight/balance issues. A bit like Rakey says when fishing the Jackalls with stock hooks - you want it swimming right... But it still hurts. Luckily none of those fish were estimated bigger than 10lb. In future I will put singles on lures that wont balance with the required hooks. Generally it's when it was a fussy bite so you're downsizing.

I'm not brand loyal, and I used Owner ST66, VMC 6x, VMC Spark Points all without major degree of failure. I'm keen to try the BKK hooks next time as well.
I did have hooks came back and need replacing but not to the point of losing fish. I didn't think to souvenir or photograph any though.
I had a fishing partner straighten an Owner on a fish and lose it. Not sure how big it was but it pulled hard. (Suspect it may have been a 'subarim' catfish and not a peacock.)

I lost more fish just from being a shit angler more than anything. haha
Line failures, knot failures, and in one case the tow point pulled out of a lure (that had caught dozens of fish) cost me fish.

The fish in my avatar was 'only' 15lb but bent the hook, destroyed the prop, and bent out the screw eye splitting the timber on a brand new 6" woodchopper which had to be retired after one fish. It pulled 20lb of drag like it was nothing, and buried me in brush leaving the guide to swim for it. I think if it proceeded as an open water tug of war it might have done the hooks.

[Douglas]

The BKK trebles are popular here for guys who go impoundment fishing. Bulky and heavy though with turned in points. I just can't seem to take to anything with turned in points.

I've got a fistful of lures, a fistful of different types and sizes of trebles, a 6 pack, a sense of humour and a bucket of fresh water so I'm off to tune some suspending lures.

What sort of success (or otherwise) have you had putting singles on? Be lighter I'd guess.

[Ducksta]

My experience tends to be using them when weight of trebles is the problem. Quite often that is when I get a surface lure that wants to sink as soon as you take the tinny factory hooks away for something else! (Largemouth bass must be pretty piss weak if they are eating those big lures without wrecking the aluminium looking hooks they carry.)

I think the hook up rate diminishes with singles.
I'm yet to decide whether or not I'm totally convinced you lose less fish once hooked.
I still get a few hookups that aren't in the mouth, or aren't clean. But probably less so than trebles.
I think my results are biased by only really using them on surface where more hits miss the mouth anyway, and only really as a last resort.

[spark]

I use jackalls at monduran, last two trips landed one fish per trip, 1m barra each time, they work well.