frostbite shore fishing for lakers updated 10/31/2017

[Matt]

Fishy1:

If you haven't convinced everyone on this forum to try what you are doing, I don't think you ever will! I have never used a Kastmaster without a front ring on it? .....hmmmmm! It would be hard to just look at this spoon, not having used it, to be able to appreciate the great action that it has.

Probably shouldn't say this, but ..... after enlarging your picture, I looked at the hook on the Kastmaster and would recommend changing it or at least taking a file to it. It seems like they really need a better point? Could be just the picture but ...

Lures that come right "out of the box" should always be sharp, right? Noooo! Don't trust that. Always check. You can't count on many opportunities for great catches, so when the opportunity comes make sure your hook is sharp.

Thank you very much for spoon pictures. You don't know how much that means./Jim

I never liked the heavy wire hooks that come with most lures. I switch most of mine out with a much thinner, smaller hook. Better penetration and easier to file back to a nice sharp point.

[fishy1]

what i would like to do is switch them over to single hooks without changing the action of the lure on what its supposed to do. jim is that possible? im not a big fan of treble hooks anyhow. my catch percentage for salmon this spring with those same kind of hooks wasnt very good. something like four every 10 i landed 3. this was all on the shore also. the bigger salmon always seemed to shake loose also. i think matt is right also thinner is better. i use #4 snell hooks for lots of fishing and rarely do i lose a fish.

[fishingmachine]

fishy1,if you have a gunpowder scale,you can weigh your treble hooks and then pick a single hook that weighs the same,that should give the lure the same action,that's what I do, another point , on the salmon river we have found that a #6 Mustad hook yarn fly is the best hook to use on King salmon in the river.It hooks more fish and is plenty strong enough to land those 30# salmon, we use a # 8 on steelhead with an eggsack or a yarn fly.

[fishy1]

fishy1,if you have a gunpowder scale,you can weigh your treble hooks and then pick a single hook that weighs the same,that should give the lure the same action,that's what I do, another point , on the salmon river we have found that a #6 Mustad hook yarn fly is the best hook to use on King salmon in the river.It hooks more fish and is plenty strong enough to land those 30# salmon, we use a # 8 on steelhead with an eggsack or a yarn fly.

thanks frank will look into that but ist need to get the proper scale. those lures im throwing are mostly 1/2 ounce dont know about those #6 and # 8 hooks matching those . will do some more research lost that kastmaster this morning in that 20 mph south wind when the line caught on the end of the bail and snapped the kastmaster off and it is now somewhere way out in the lake.

[fishy1]

had a couple hours free this morning so went up to cast for lakers. got there at 6:30 am and the waves were really pounding the shore. started casting and a half hour went by and no hits. then i casted and the wind snarled my line on the end of the bail and snap there goes my kastmaster somewhere a long ways from shore. went up to the pickup and put on a gold loco. always wanted to try these locos on champlain i bought them to use on lake ontario. 10 or 12 casts and still nothing then i had a solid hit and fish on. it was a fighter and my problem was how was i going to net it on the rocks with those huge waves. kept working him in towards shore and i never got it up so i knew it was a pretty good laker. got him on shore and stretched out trying to net him and just like that i slipped and went down and the waves just filled me up right to my waist. got the fish in the net approx 28 inches or so set it free went to the pickup very wet and headed home. the water was very cold but the air wasnt bad. i was very embarrassed when i got home wet to say the least.

[Gecha (Gerry)]

Lost your Kastmaster and got wet up to your waist.... that is a memorable morning

[fishy1]

Lost your Kastmaster and got wet up to your waist.... that is a memorable morning

i had a flashback of matt sitting in the tributary trying to hold on to that 32 inch steelhead. i guess its why they call it fishing. my left leg is pretty sore and black and blue but going to try and get back there in the morning or hit a tributary.

[Matt]

Lost your Kastmaster and got wet up to your waist.... that is a memorable morning

i had a flashback of matt sitting in the tributary trying to hold on to that 32 inch steelhead. i guess its why they call it fishing. my left leg is pretty sore and black and blue but going to try and get back there in the morning or hit a tributary.

[tamiron]

what i would like to do is switch them over to single hooks without changing the action of the lure on what its supposed to do. jim is that possible? im not a big fan of treble hooks anyhow. my catch percentage for salmon this spring with those same kind of hooks wasnt very good. something like for every 10 i landed 3. this was all on the shore also. the bigger salmon always seemed to shake loose also. i think matt is right also thinner is better. i use #4 snell hooks for lots of fishing and rarely do i lose a fish.

Fishy1:

More than possible ... definitely recommended! Fishy1, great opportunity to experiment. Fishing machine is right about the gram scale as a good place to start. The larger surface area of the treble hooks over single hooks of the same weight may cause you to have to up a little in weight on single hook. But it's a great place to start.

I agree that singles are preferred for release purposes and a good hook set with a single hook gives no mechanical advantage to the fish. I was very impressed with the action of a Kastmaster but can't imagine you tying direct to a hole is allowing the spoon to do all it is capable of.

I think that the manufacturer was hoping you would use a snap or snap swivel to attach to the hole. I would add a #4 thin wire spit ring to the front eye and then tie direct to the ring or tie on a #4 Duo-loc snap and attach it direct to the eye hole. I would be sure to offset the point of the hook about 1/8 of an inch out of alignment with the shaft.

The single hooks will pick up less debris as well. But Matt is also right, thin wire trebles will penetrate easier than thick, are easier to re-sharpen, and, with a good drag set, will handle virtually any size fish

[fishy1]

jim:
thanks for the great info since my kastmaster is far out into the lake somewhere ill have to wait and get another. i took that right out of the package there and thought it was funny how i tied directly to the lure but it worked and worked well. had a lots of action and the lakers crushed it. my dillemma now is i cant find any to replace it. googled in acme tackle and they dont seem to sell them direct. im still a luhr jensen fisherman for casting though. why would a manufacturer sell a lure without a ring or a snap on it? matt

[C-Hawk]

I think that with a kastmaster, the manufacturer wants you to tie it so that the lure is at the end of a loop. I don't know a knot name, but we used to tie salt water poppers this way. The lure gets to slide around on a 2 inch or more loop, giving it more action.

[fishingmachine]

fishy1,if you have a gunpowder scale,you can weigh your treble hooks and then pick a single hook that weighs the same,that should give the lure the same action,that's what I do, another point , on the salmon river we have found that a #6 Mustad hook yarn fly is the best hook to use on King salmon in the river.It hooks more fish and is plenty strong enough to land those 30# salmon, we use a # 8 on steelhead with an eggsack or a yarn fly.

thanks frank will look into that but ist need to get the proper scale. those lures im throwing are mostly 1/2 ounce dont know about those #6 and # 8 hooks matching those . will do some more research lost that kastmaster this morning in that 20 mph south wind when the line caught on the end of the bail and snapped the kastmaster off and it is now somewhere way out in the lake.

I wasn't implying that 6 or 8 size hook is what you want,only that small hooks will work on big fish. For lakers and salmon,when I replace a treble hook on a lure it is usually with a #1 or 1/0 siwash open eye hook, I buy them from Capt. Hook.com. on bigger heavier casting spoons you could go to a size 2\0 or even bigger..Also a Luhr-Jensen Krocodile is another heavy castable lure that will work for lakers,,I think Norm's has some

[tamiron]

I think that with a kastmaster, the manufacturer wants you to tie it so that the lure is at the end of a loop. I don't know a knot name, but we used to tie salt water poppers this way. The lure gets to slide around on a 2 inch or more loop, giving it more action.

C-Hawk:

That's true with stick baits, but I don't think it's the same with spoons. One of my competitors, Michigan Stinger, definitely wants you to use a snap or snap swivel to attach to their front hole. I am guessing that if you add a ring and a snap/swivel, you will lose too much of the action on the Kastsmaster spoon and have to pull it much faster.

HONEYBEEs definitely have that problem as we discovered this year on the forum. When I designed them, no one used snaps or snap/swivels so I fully expected people to direct to the welded ring to get the most action at the slowest possible speeds. Once you start adding hardware you have to go faster to get the same action. But for those that prefer a snap, you can eliminate the front ring completely for great action at the slowest possible retrieve.

I hope everybody understands that although I am telling you about the mechanics involved, I am also heavily biased by my own preferences. Please take that into account and experiment for yourself as well./Jim

[fishy1]

fishing machine (frank) those lures are krocodiles except for the kastmaster. i use krocs 99 per cent of the time and the ones with the same hooks as that kastmaster i lose lots of fish. the one with the red sure set hooks is a 1/2 ounce blue mackeral kroc and i didnt lose any fish with it . it was when i switched to the kastmaster with the other hooks like most of the krocs. norms had the same hooks and the kastmaster and his were only 1/4 ounce. my krocs i use even in shallow water are between 1/2 ounce and 1 ounce. i have been using them since the 80,s and they do their job best for me. and you right smaller hooks do catch big fish as you know i use #4 snell hooks for all other fishing. matt can also attest to that he uses small hooks mostly.

[fishingmachine]

I should have known you would be up on this stuff fishy1,good luck out there,maybe you can change out some of those Kroc hooks to improve your landing ratio?My boat is put up for the winter but maybe I could come up and give you a hand landing them lakers on the rocks?