Assist Hooks for spoons

[Hooch]

Maby some experts can shed some light on this. Why can't you use assist hooks on spoons instead of the trebble hook? Was looking at some jigging pics and it make sense to use it that way! Have one hook and all you do is chance the spoon. Helps with hooks getting tangles ect. What's your thoughts on this?

[benniejordaan]

Guys do!

[REEFMAN]

Hooch if you look at all Basil Manning's GT Ice creams and needle nose plugs, they all have a type of "assist hook" attached to the back of the lure... no reason why you can't do spoons the same way...

[Half-Pint]

One thing that annoys me is the size of those gt ice cream hooks. The one I bought had like a 1/0 hook on it. Imo that is too small for garrick etc maybe I'm wrong

[REEFMAN]

Small hook catches all size fish... big hook catches no fish... no big fish left in the sea.... 

[Kumz]

Small hook catches all size fish... big hook catches no fish... no big fish left in the sea.... 

 
  .........

[Andre Laas]

I have rigged a number of my spoons that way, but have not had any strikes yet (in a long time actually). I often add bucktail onto the hook, or a yamashita squid above it for extra movement.

[Half-Pint]

But really a 1/0??? I have put a 6/0 on now and to me its more in proportion with the plug size

[Hooch]

Thanks Chasps! Now what dacron? 80, 130 or 200lb from the surf?

[REEFMAN]

Christo, you can use 200lb Dacron, but if you really want to do it properly, you can get some KEVLAR cord, which is tooth proof, available from Jigstar Africa. Whether this is necessary from a R/S perspective is debatable, as it's only really a Couta from the shore that will have the gnashers to bite through the Dacron.

[Hooch]

Thanks Tony. Think ill go the dacron root. Like you said, its only couta that have a serious pair of dentistry to go threw the dacron. This will make spooning a hole lot easier. Thanks

[tackle whore]

the idea  to rig assists  at the front of plugs started with the GT guys overseas . The idea being that a big GT  engulfs the plug were some times the trebles dont get a good hook up ratio the assist has proven 100% . also a fish cant use the plug as a lever to pry the trebles out . Catch is it only really works on fish that have a big mouth that engulf the lure ie - GT , GROUPER  etc . small garrick and elf/shad i would stick to the trebles or add a single to the back as well . . rigging spoons with assists at front works great for dorado and yellowtail , assist must not be longer than 2/3 lengh of spoon , also you may want to heatshrink your dacron to make it abit stiffer to stop tangles when you casting .

[tackle whore]

head assists on spoons work really well on yellowtail and garrick not sure on shad/elf though.

[nico]

the idea  to rig assists  at the front of plugs started with the GT guys overseas . The idea being that a big GT  engulfs the plug were some times the trebles dont get a good hook up ratio the assist has proven 100% . also a fish cant use the plug as a lever to pry the trebles out . Catch is it only really works on fish that have a big mouth that engulf the lure ie - GT , GROUPER  etc . small garrick and elf/shad i would stick to the trebles or add a single to the back as well . . rigging spoons with assists at front works great for dorado and yellowtail , assist must not be longer than 2/3 lengh of spoon , also you may want to heatshrink your dacron to make it abit stiffer to stop tangles when you casting .

That all makes perfect logical sense to me. We do often rig an extra single at the top of a couta spoon and two singles at the bottom - not with assist cord though.
 
Reefs, as for the kevlar cord being toothproof - the sad reality is that it is not. I've been packing out fishing gear over the last couple of days and threw away plenty pieces of the above mentioned kevlar that had been bitten through by nothing more serious than a couta. I may even have some bits left and will take a photo if I do.
 
 True, you do sometimes land the fish with the cord just halfway bitten through, maybe it is still better than dacron. I would love to find a replacement for steel on the hook (or the leader).
 
Cred for whoever can come up with something!

[REEFMAN]

Reefs, as for the kevlar cord being toothproof - the sad reality is that it is not. I've been packing out fishing gear over the last couple of days and threw away plenty pieces of the above mentioned kevlar that had been bitten through by nothing more serious than a couta. I may even have some bits left and will take a photo if I do.
 

That's very interesting! Claims, claims, claims!
I've never fished with the Kevlar cord, rather I did some research on it a few years ago and imported some stuff called ZYLON... which they say is Tooth proof, tried and tested on Dogtooth Tuna... to cut the stuff, even with braid scissors is a major mission!!

[REEFMAN]

Chris Wong from New Zealand was quoted as saying that the Zylon is Cuta Proof, and that was about 3 years ago.

So where's my cred Nico... 

[nico]

Chris Wong from New Zealand was quoted as saying that the Zylon is Cuta Proof, and that was about 3 years ago.

So where's my cred Nico... 

Here it comes! +cred to the Reefman!
Now to find some of the stuff...

[REEFMAN]

I got mine from http://www.jigsdirect.com/eMerchantPro/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=9&idproduct=77

[benniejordaan]

Reefman, Some of the "kevlars" or assist chord have a steel core. I'll post a pic of the stuff I have at home which has a very flexible thin steel core. The Kevlar from jigstar is NOT tooth proof! I've lost enough fish to know. It is very abrasion resistant but not tooth proof.

[benniejordaan]

Oh and you can get this stuff from Basil Manning.

Now send me some cred and I'll give you some tomorrow night!