Single hooks instead of trebles?!??

[Rod Bendhard]

I know a lot of salt water guys will switch out trebles to single hooks on plugs and such but I rarely see this happening in the swimbait world. Has anyone tried this before? I'd like to move away from trebles if possible for the fishes sake, but at the same time I don't want to miss bites

[swole_t]

I doubt the hook up ratio would be as good as treble hooks on hardbaits. I’ve done it before just to reduce weight on a slow sink bait to turn it into a floater. But I ddnt have confidence in the hook up ratio so I ddnt fish it very long like that.

[danthefisherman]

I never saw the need to leave trebles behind, but there are some cool single hooks that attach to the bait via a cord that I've always wanted to try out. I think they're called butterfly hooks or something. The Basara Full Moon has them.

[Amistoad]

I swap out to singles on my saltwater topwaters when chasing redfish and speckled trout. Less chance to hook oysters and weeds and less damage to the fish. Been thinking of trying it on my bass Baits too. If a single can hold a 12 lbs redfish that pulls a LOT harder than any bass of similar size, it should be just fine fishing for bass with a single. Maybe I’ll give it a shot this season and see how it goes.

[MA Frog Man]

I've only done it on saltwater baits and believe it or not the hook up and drop ratio is better than with trebles. Topwater for bass I'd stick with trebles. Other than that it would be more of an experiment and see as far as how weight and shape/size would effect a bait. Most baits are tuned with trebles so probably wouldn't be great.

[Moleman]

One thing to consider is how a treble hook fits on a bait while swimming. Something we don't realize is that treble hooks don't hang straight down like they do when a bait is out of the water. With lighter treble hooks (like a st-36) the treble hook pushes up against the bottom of the bait when you retrieve it. As a result, there is really one treble hook point sticking out throughout the entire retrieval of the bait. This is particularly the case when I fish a 250, I've noticed that the same hook points seem to stick fish consistently and I think this has to do with how the hooks position on the bait. Considering this, I would argue that the hookup ratios are probably pretty similar. 

[bigpoppabass]

Be careful switching up could affect the lures action.

[Angryjohn]

I had a double prop hard bait made by R2S that the rear treble always hung up on the rear prop.  I did make the switch on that bait and i got a lot more action out of the bait because it was not messed up every other cast.  Fish always seemed to hit the front hook so it was no big deal.  To this day i dont think i have had a fish on just the rear hook.  I will not be changing them on my baits but i will use them as a tool to fix problems if need be.

[Rod Bendhard]

I had a double prop hard bait made by R2S that the rear treble always hung up on the rear prop.  I did make the switch on that bait and i got a lot more action out of the bait because it was not messed up every other cast.  Fish always seemed to hit the front hook so it was no big deal.  To this day i dont think i have had a fish on just the rear hook.  I will not be changing them on my baits but i will use them as a tool to fix problems if need be.

i notice the same thing throwing a whopper plopper. hundreds of fish on that thing every single one on the front hook