Weekend fishing and DS Hooks

Instead of the partly cloudy and mostly calm day (today), I chose the
bluebird sky, high wind, post frontal day to go fishing this weekend. All
morning long, I pretty much couldn't get bit on anything other than a
jerkbait. And only one of the fish I caught would have gone even close to 2
pounds. But then I got one good trip down a certain stretch of weedline
that produced a couple slightly bigger fish, so I stuck it out a bit
longer. Then the jerkbait bite died. When it did, among the options I went
through was drop shotting, and that proved to be the ticket. 9 3 pound
class fishin in about an hour and a half saved the day. But in the middle
of it all, I broke off my DS rig. When I retied, I gabbed one of these
hooks a buddy gave me. Red Diacchi Straight Eye, Straight Tie, Wide Gap
hooks. The fact that thye were red didn't seem to hurt or help. they got
bit as regular as the black Gammy I'd been using. But I lost 3 of 4 fish I
hocked on them, and two of them felt like really good fish. After the 3rd
self-unhooker, I took the time to retie with my preferred DS hook, and
didn't lose any more.

Can't really say that they are inferior, but I sure won't be trying them
again.

RichZ©
www.richz.com/fishing

RichZ wrote:
I broke off my DS rig. When I retied, I gabbed one of these
hooks a buddy gave me. Red Diacchi Straight Eye, Straight Tie, Wide Gap
hooks. The fact that thye were red didn't seem to hurt or help. they got
bit as regular as the black Gammy I'd been using. But I lost 3 of 4 fish I
hocked on them, and two of them felt like really good fish. After the 3rd
self-unhooker, I took the time to retie with my preferred DS hook, and
didn't lose any more.

Can't really say that they are inferior, but I sure won't be trying them
again.

I'm curious

From your description , you were using a D25Z Daiichi,, was it the same
size the Gammy was ? Was it tied up the same ? was the same lure used
and hooked up the same ? Could you figure out why it failed ?, was the
point checked for sharpness (normally these hooks are about as sharp as
you can get, was the barb checked, but this hook was given to you by
another, perhaps he had already used it, perhaps damaged ?

I ask this because I have used these hooks, and have found them to work
very well in a drop shotting rig. I can't remember two fish lost when I
felt the full pull of the fish.

Of course fisherman confidence is very important to any fisherman,,
stick with what your confident with.

One hook, failing in one outing, can destroy confidence in it's style
and manufacturer, but one hook failing, really is not a test, if a
design is flawed.

The way hooks are designed today, it's getting where each one has it's
won special application,, take it out of it's specific application, and
they don't perform as well as another designed for that application.

Note*
To newbe's of drop shotting, not to you Rich

One thing that must be understood when nose hooking a lure,, the further
back on the lure you hook it, (to a point of the fattest part of the
lure) a small hook does not allow for a good hook set,, you need to make
sure you have enough point sticking out, to get a good stick. I have
seen number 4's used where a number 1 was needed, the lure filled up the
gap in the number 4, making a good hook set almost impossible.

--
Rodney Long,
Inventor of the Long Shot "WIGGLE" rig, SpecTastic Thread
Boomerang Fishing Pro. ,Stand Out Hooks ,Stand Out Lures,
Mojo's Rock Hopper & Rig Saver weights, Decoy Activator
and the EZKnot http://www.ezknot.com

Those Daichi hooks sound like they would make great gifts for my fellow club
members. ;-)


Brad Coovert
2003 Angler of the Year, Greenfield Bassmasters
http://www.greenfieldbassmasters.com

I just got some of the new drop shot hooks from Daiichi. I don't typically
do much drop shotting, but these things are neet. I thinkt hey woudl be
worth checking out Rich.

I plan to take one day, and just do some drop shotting in one local back
lake that I think would be ideal for it. There are also some grass beds
starting up in 9-11 feet in another area where I did well last year.

Anyway, I tied on one of the new drop shot hooks, and played with it. The
action is neat. No matter how you tie it except upside down the hook stands
out perfectly. It also springs up with a snap when you set set the hook
with a snap. TJ from Daiichi described it to me as more of a "lever action"
hook than just a drop shot hook, or "standup" hook as Rodney described it.

The ones I got are fairly small. Smaller than my first choice for
dropshotting. I'll have to use smaller 3-4" drop shot baits. My instinct
is to use larger baits. But hey, I'm learning right? I do have a whole bag
of assorted Culprit drop shot worms I have never used so this is the chance.

I just got two brand new medium power fast action spinning rods. Arizona
allows the use of two ros at the same time witha two pole stamp. I may do
some walleye style side by side jigging with identical drop shot rigs. The
difference being one with the "lever action" hook, and one with a regular
bait holder hook.

I am excited by the hook. This leads into a radical change (over many
years) from a "hook is a hook" to deciding that there are some niches that
only a particular hook really works for.

--
Public Fishing & Boating Forums
Fishing & Boating Link Index
www.YumaBassMan.com


"RichZ" wrote in message
...
Instead of the partly cloudy and mostly calm day (today), I chose the
bluebird sky, high wind, post frontal day to go fishing this weekend. All
morning long, I pretty much couldn't get bit on anything other than a
jerkbait. And only one of the fish I caught would have gone even close to
2
pounds. But then I got one good trip down a certain stretch of weedline
that produced a couple slightly bigger fish, so I stuck it out a bit
longer. Then the jerkbait bite died. When it did, among the options I went
through was drop shotting, and that proved to be the ticket. 9 3 pound
class fishin in about an hour and a half saved the day. But in the middle
of it all, I broke off my DS rig. When I retied, I gabbed one of these
hooks a buddy gave me. Red Diacchi Straight Eye, Straight Tie, Wide Gap
hooks. The fact that thye were red didn't seem to hurt or help. they got
bit as regular as the black Gammy I'd been using. But I lost 3 of 4 fish
I
hocked on them, and two of them felt like really good fish. After the 3rd
self-unhooker, I took the time to retie with my preferred DS hook, and
didn't lose any more.

Can't really say that they are inferior, but I sure won't be trying them
again.

RichZ©
www.richz.com/fishing

As the DS hook I have been using is a Daiwa's circle hook (live bait hook)
fine wire in black for 3 inch Power Micro clawer on spinning gear. My
fishing
water is open water. The circle hook increases the catch ratio than regular
worm hook.

I also painted eyelet less salt water hook in sliver to red by red oily pen
and used
for the DS but not sure the red made muck more strike than silver or black.

I also have a few Daiichi Worm hook in red which were given my friend in the
US but not used for DS so far because of a little biger size for 3 to 4 2
staright finess worms.

Hiromi

"RichZ" wrote in message
...
Instead of the partly cloudy and mostly calm day (today), I chose the
bluebird sky, high wind, post frontal day to go fishing this weekend. All
morning long, I pretty much couldn't get bit on anything other than a
jerkbait. And only one of the fish I caught would have gone even close to
2
pounds. But then I got one good trip down a certain stretch of weedline
that produced a couple slightly bigger fish, so I stuck it out a bit
longer. Then the jerkbait bite died. When it did, among the options I went
through was drop shotting, and that proved to be the ticket. 9 3 pound
class fishin in about an hour and a half saved the day. But in the middle
of it all, I broke off my DS rig. When I retied, I gabbed one of these
hooks a buddy gave me. Red Diacchi Straight Eye, Straight Tie, Wide Gap
hooks. The fact that thye were red didn't seem to hurt or help. they got
bit as regular as the black Gammy I'd been using. But I lost 3 of 4 fish
I
hocked on them, and two of them felt like really good fish. After the 3rd
self-unhooker, I took the time to retie with my preferred DS hook, and
didn't lose any more.

Can't really say that they are inferior, but I sure won't be trying them
again.

RichZ©
www.richz.com/fishing

Bob La Londe wrote:


I am excited by the hook. This leads into a radical change (over many
years) from a "hook is a hook" to deciding that there are some niches that
only a particular hook really works for.

Thanks Bob,, but it also works great with live or natural bait, vertical
fishing (fishing straight down, or under a float)

It can keep your hook/bait off the bottom, out of the gunk, and trash
but your weight on the bottom, outstanding for bottom bouncing, drift
fishing. Float fishing from the bank, the weight anchors your bait out
there, so the wind does not blow it in, and the hook/bait still stays
off the bottom, allowing you float to go under when you get a bite

I tested the new factory hooks this weekend bottom fishing for cats , I
placed a 1 OZ weight below the hooks, and a very small float 12 inches
above the hook (the float holds the hook/bait vertical from the weight
and just off the bottom) I tossed 4 rods out as far as I could throw
them, and left them unattended. I would check them every hour or so,,
usually they had a nice 1 to 2 Lb catfish top lip hooked, or I still had
my bait (very large earth worms were used for bait),, I didn't loose a
single worm, without catching a catfish (thank God no little bream were
around, as I was using the #1 hooks.

When I tested these crappie and bass float fishing using live minnows, I
never lost a minnow, without catching the fish.

A side effect to this hook is ,, it "always" top lip hooks the fish

I have never tried these hooks for other application where you would put
the hook at the end of the line, I need to though, I think the leg may
reduce some gut hooking, but I don't know if it would be worth using
them for that application, as circle hooks work well for this

On drop shotting this hook's leg gives that lure a little kick, every
time the line straightens out, (something that current drop shot hooks
can't do) and you never have to reposition the knot after landing a
fish, just toss it back out there, it keeps you in the water longer


--
Rodney Long,
Inventor of the Long Shot "WIGGLE" rig, SpecTastic Thread
Boomerang Fishing Pro. ,Stand Out Hooks ,Stand Out Lures,
Mojo's Rock Hopper & Rig Saver weights, Decoy Activator
and the EZKnot http://www.ezknot.com

Hiromi wrote:
Daiwa's circle hook


I HATE circle hooks. The instant of the hook set is the single most
exciting moment in fishing. I live for that moment, and sure don't want to
have to remember NOT to do it when I'm using a circle hook based
presentation. The only problem I have with the Gamakatsu #2 Split Shot Hook
that I prefer for DS fishing is that I am almost out of them. Thus the ill
advised experiment with the red diacchis that I went through on Saturday.

RichZ©
www.richz.com/fishing

Rich Z wrote.
htmlfont size="3"......Gamakatsu #2 Split Shot Hook that I prefer
for DS fishing....../font/html

In addition to your hook preference, what's your preferred choice(s) for
on the hook.

Sorry about that, the smallify code didn't work on my last post for some
reason. Guess I need to keep working on it.

Paul wrote:
the smallify code didn't work on my last post for some
reason. Guess I need to keep working on it.

Don't bother. Newsgroups are and should be the last vestige of plain text
on the net.

what's your preferred choice(s) for
on the hook.


A variety of small platics, many of which are in very short supply. My
absolute favorite drop shot bait is a 4" "Airtail" worm. Long since out of
business. I missed the opportunity for the motherlode of them on ebay last
year. After that comes Mesa Tackle's Belly Shad. Gil from Mesa used to be a
regular here. Haven't seen hide nor hair of him in quite a while. Then
there's the Lake Police Dart. Way too expensive for a soft plastic.

Finally, some stuff that's readily available... 4-3/4" Lunker City Rascal
worms; 4" Zoom Meatheads; 4-1/2" Yamamoto Flat Tails; 3" Snakebit Paddle
Tail Shads; 4" Fin-S Fish with most of the belly trmmed out by hand.

RichZ©
www.richz.com/fishing