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I Love Those Things
Phil Williams
If you spend
any time at all reading articles about fishing, you’ll
soon see a point that most outdoor writers will try to
convey to you. It seems most of them believe your line
is the last and most important link between you and the
fish. I’m writing this piece to challenge that theory.
In my opinion the hook certainly is the last and quite
possibly the most important link. You can put a cheap or
dull hook on 100lb. test line and let the fish drag you
over a mile of rocks, trees or cables and never break
your line. Then the next thing you know she jumps and
your cheap piece of a hook comes unplugged and your
crying about the pig that got away.
Now my partner Gary and I didn’t win every time out this
year, but we did win two and finish 3rd or better in 5
out of 6, and won the Satellite Div. Of Woods & Waters
Team Tournament Trail due in large part to the hooks we
were using this year. We literally lost only two fish
that we hooked up with all year long. One of those lost
fish was on a Zoom Fluke and a 4/0 Mustad Mega Lite
hook. I panicked because she hit so close to the boat
and didn’t wait for Gary to get the net. I just flipped
it in the boat like one of those guys you see on Bass
Masters and the thing just flopped right across the deck
and back into the lake over the other side. That one
really hurt. It hurt my knees from the rug burns I got
from diving on the deck trying to keep her in the boat.
It hurt from Gary laughing all day long (and ever since)
at my rug burned knees. It hurt the team even more as
she was much bigger than the smallest fish we weighed
that day. We finished in third and the difference
between the lost fish and the smallest one we weighed
was more than enough to put us over the top. It wasn’t
the Mustad’s fault though it got the fish in the boat.
It was my Bass Master circus act that lost her. The only
other fish we lost was on spinner bait that didn’t have
Mustads on it. Hmm. You can probably figure out that
with that kind of execution you can finish high in the
money on a regular basis. When you put every bite you
get in the boat you don’t even have to be that good to
win a lot of money.
We had always been Gamakatsu and Excalibur guys before
this year. On all of our soft plastics and jigs we used
the Gami’s and for crankbaits and jerk baits we always
switched out the stock hooks for Excalibur’s. That was
until we got a hold of some Bandit crankbaits. Bandit’s
come with Mustad Triple Grip hooks on them and I’m
telling you what, those things are “BAD”. There have
been many occasions when I have broke the hooks off in a
fish’s jaw trying to get one of these Triple Grips out.
In the “Old Days” when Gami’s first came out they seemed
like the best thing since sliced bread. They were a thin
wire hook that penetrated very easily into the fish’s
lip. The problem with them is they have a very small
barb, too small, and the fish can throw them very
easily. Then a few years back Pradco came out with the
Excalibur hook. It is a heavy wire hook with a much
larger barb and a unique bend in it that reduces the
fish’s ability to get leverage on the hook point thus in
theory he has less chances of spitting it. The only
problem with this design is with the combination of the
heavy wire and the larger barb it takes a much greater
force applied to the hook point to drive that sucker
home. This becomes a problem on the end of a 70-yard
cast on 10lb. line with a medium action-cranking rod.
Then along comes the Triple Grip. This line of hooks is
the perfect combination of wire and barb size, teamed
with a unique “extra wide gap” design. These hooks stick
quick and hold on tight. As I said earlier I have broke
them off trying to get them out. I recommend you buy a
good set of needle nose pliers if you’re going to use
Triple Grips. These are not hooks you can get out of the
fish very often without the assistance of the needle
nose. You may also want to consider a good set of side
cutters in case you need to cut one off in the event you
can’t get it out of the fish or yourself.
I have been fishing for quite a few years now and have
never stuck myself to the point of cutting a hook off
until this year. Yes it was a Triple Grip and yes I was
alone of course. I had just caught a 3lber on a Bandit
and was attempting to switch it from my left hand to my
right to gain a better angle with the pliers when she
decided to go ballistic again. They wait for an
opportunity like that you know. Well anyway it flipped
out of my hand and pop, into the knuckle of the ring
finger on my left hand goes the triple grip. Now there’s
one thing I’ve noticed about 3lb. fish hanging from
you’re flesh and that is it’s a whole lot funnier when
it’s hanging from your buddies hand than it is when it’s
hanging from yours. The whole humor thing gets lost in
the switch some how. The good news is I didn’t have a
buddy there to laugh at me; the bad news is I didn’t
have a buddy there to cut the stupid thing out of me.
When I finally got the d*#@ fish to quit floppin’
around, I had a fish in my right hand and a hook in my
left. Now what? How was I going to pull this off? I just
knew that the instant I let go of her lip she was going
to go Friggin’ ape s*!# again. It’s starting to sound
like I’m a little bitter about this whole deal doesn’t
it? Well things get better. Luckily I know enough to
have the needle nose in my back pocket when I’m fishing
with Triple Grips, now all I have to do is figure out
how I’m going to get them out with the fish in my right
hand and my left stuck to her lip. I stand there looking
around with a stupid look on my face (I do that a lot)
for anyone to help out when I realize, I’m screwed,
there is no one in sight. I’m going to have to figure
this one out for myself, and I’m not real good at that
sort of thing. By now the fish is almost dry so I figure
I can lay her in the bottom of the boat and then I’ll
have a free hand to operate on us with. She seems dead,
so I think it’s safe, let’s go for it. I lay her down
contemplating my odds of being able to let her lip go
and her cooperating by laying still. I slowly let go,
keeping my thumb just a fraction of an inch from her
lip. She just lays there, I’m thinking cool, here we go,
I’m going for the needle nose. Of course the pliers are
in my left back pocket so I have to reach around my fat
butt with my right hand and try to get them out without
moving her. I don’t think I pulled it off to well
because the instant I had the pliers out of my pocket,
there she goes again. Did I mention they sit and wait
for a chance like that to get you back for sticking them
with that d*!# hook. The best part is I threw the pliers
about a mile out into the lake when she decided we were
going to dance some more. It took about 15 minutes of
cussing and brain farting before I remember the side
cutters. The side cutters, why didn’t you think of that
earlier? Because they’re buried under about a ton of
junk in the boat and you don’t have a free hand to dig
for them with you idiot, that’s why. I gotta’ go for it.
I don’t have any other option. I’m feeling like John
Wayne at this point, I’m P/Oed, I’m bigger than her, I’m
determined to win and I’m goin’ for it. But I’m real
scared. I lay her down and open the locker. I look at
her, it’s all good she’s quiet, real dry but quiet. I
find the side cutters real fast, cut the hook off of her
lip and before you know it I’M FREE, well almost.
Now, I don’t have a fish attached to my knuckle any more
but the Triple Grip is still in there. No problem, just
pull it out, right? Wrong, I pull and I pull, my eyes
water a little so I pull harder then harder. It’s not
going to come out. These d!#* things are Triple Grips. I
HATE these things. Then it hits me, these are Triple
Grips, and they’re razor sharp, I’ll just push it
through. Bingo, with out any effort at all it pushes
right through the other side (it wasn’t as bad as it
sounds). I get it to push through about a quarter of an
inch and blink, I cut the barb off and slide it out. Of
course I throw the Bandit in the lake because this whole
thing was its fault, tie on a new one and I’m back in
business.
As I start fishing again I’m thinking, man, trying to
push that hook through my knuckle would have really
sucked if I hadn’t been using Triple Grips. I Love Those
Things.
See Ya,
Phil |
