MainframeJames Posted March 22, 2018 Share Posted March 22, 2018 Those look great dude. Once you're happy with them, you can start tying them to solid rings and have them ready to swap out if they get damaged. You just put the solid ring onto a split ring exactly like a treble. Can't wait to hear/see your results. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green Hornet Posted March 22, 2018 Share Posted March 22, 2018 13 hours ago, Aardvarking said: I've been trying my best to tie the stinger hooks on, but I can't seem to get the stingers quite short enough. Is there any knot I can tie where I can completely choose the length of the line during or after the knot is tied? I snell my hooks onto both ends of a single length of braid and half hitch that to a ring. The ones in your pic look fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aardvarking Posted March 23, 2018 Author Share Posted March 23, 2018 (edited) Just had my first session with the new and improved assist hooks. The tides were all wrong today in my local spot, considering it is about 5 times better at high tide and it was dead low tide, but I was too excited and gave it a shot anyway. I first tied on the Sammy 65, and was pretty disappointed. The problem was that the assist hooks weren't heavy enough to sink the lure down at the bottom, which meant it wasn't sitting or swimming right. After about half an hour I switched it out for my berkley bubble pop which I didn't do the assist treatment for, and got a few hits but had the same issue as before with bream not taking the hooks. A bit disheartened I decided to see if my Sugarpen would have the same issue the Sammy did, and I assumed it would so I had pretty much given up at that point. I could not have been more wrong. I'm not exactly sure why, but unlike on the Sammy the assist hooks nf the Sugarpen actually improved the action rather than ruining it, and didn't effect the way it sat negatively at all. My the time I tied it on it was getting late and I was about to head home, but on the first hit of the lure on only the 3rd cast I got a hookup, and the drag on my Stradic 1000 starts screaming. After a great fight with a bream on 2lb braid and 4lb leader I pull out a stonker 33cm bream, 4cm shy of my pb 37cm soft plastic bream. I was ecstatic, not only because I managed to get my bream and 25 dollar lure out of a snag, but because it is my first ever decent sized topwater bream, which I only got because of tips from people here, so thanks everyone! As well as the assist hooks, I also took the advice I got here about giving as long pauses as possible which was certainly good advice. I used to give about a 10-20 second pause between dog walks, but today I was doing about 20-30 instead, and this guy smashed it about 25 seconds into a pause. Another advantage of the assist hooks is the hookset felt a lot more solid than it does with trebles, and it pinned him perfectly in the bottom of the lip, so nicer on the fish too. Another great thing is I have a 52 pack of ultra sharp size 8 owner beak hooks I got for $3.50, meaning the assist hooks are certainly a lot cheaper than trebles! Edited March 23, 2018 by Aardvarking 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TurtleTown Posted March 23, 2018 Share Posted March 23, 2018 That’s great news, congratulations on the nice fish and thanks for giving us a report on your progress. Has made me think I must try the assist hooks myself, now I’ve only got to find a spot where the fish are lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green Hornet Posted March 23, 2018 Share Posted March 23, 2018 Good to hear its all coming together for you. I use assists on my Sammys with 2 rings and can't say I've had any trouble getting them to walk. Regarding the longer pauses, I couldn't tell you how many times I've been distracted and left a lure out floating on the surface, only to have it slammed by a bream after more than a minute. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MainframeJames Posted March 24, 2018 Share Posted March 24, 2018 Very well done. Fantastic result! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iamthecowgodmoo Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 Great result! I find surface lures for Bream, the most fun and rewarding way to target them. Just a couple of pointers that work for me: Water - No deeper than 2ft deep, 3 or 4 slow twitches - just enough to throw a little water with a long pause, Berkley Pop Dog in yellow, and some tiny 20mm clear popper do best around my area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aardvarking Posted April 7, 2018 Author Share Posted April 7, 2018 (edited) I have been using assist hooks on my surface lures for a few weeks now, and I can confidently say it has changed my life. My hookup ratio has tripled, if not quadrupled, and I haven't had a single hookset come off with the assists. I liked them so much on my surface lures than I changed the back trebles for assist hooks on every single one of my bream lures, and it has worked a treat of all my other lures too. I can't recommend tying your own assist hooks for bream lures enough, it is fantastic. Today I was doing some surface luring and had 6 hits, and every single one got himself hooked. It was a bittersweet day though. On my 2nd cast I hooked a pretty decent bream on a Sugarpen 70f, my favourite lure, and I managed to get the bream out of a snag and land him. As I was measuring him he wriggled out of my grip and back into the water, dragged my line along an oyster and was gone, with my lure still in his mouth. As many lures as I have lost in my life, it will always kill me to see a bream swim away with 20 dollars worth of plastic in it's mouth, and it hurts than much more when you've already landed the fish. My only hope is that the fish manages to get the lure out of it's mouth pretty quick, because I would hate to think that it's gonna be there forever. Edited April 7, 2018 by Aardvarking 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berleyguts Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 Great effort. Persistence pays, eh? ? Bad luck about the lure. Don’t worry about it being stuck in the bream’s mouth though. It will fall out soon enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TurtleTown Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 Good to hear your progress, What brand assist hooks did you end up using or are you still making your own? If so do you mind letting us know the hook size/type, braid strength and length from the lure to the hook you are finding works for you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aardvarking Posted April 7, 2018 Author Share Posted April 7, 2018 8 hours ago, TurtleTown said: Good to hear your progress, What brand assist hooks did you end up using or are you still making your own? If so do you mind letting us know the hook size/type, braid strength and length from the lure to the hook you are finding works for you? I'm making my own. I have about 15 metres of 30lb J-braid I had to cut off a reel because of a wind knot which I am using to tie the hooks on. The hooks I'm using are a size 8 Owner 5315 SSW all purpose hooks. Funnily enough they are actually meant to be bait hooks, but they are perfect assist hooks, because they are the right size and incredibly strong for a size 8 hook. Only reason I actually used them to begin with is because I bought a pack of 50 of them for four bucks on sale a while back thinking "maybe they'll come in handy one day", and when I started tying the hooks they were the only hooks I owned that were the right size. I'm not sure how the fact they aren't perfectly straight effects my hookup, I imagine not at all, but it doesn't effect the action of the lure in my experience. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aardvarking Posted April 7, 2018 Author Share Posted April 7, 2018 Forgot to mention, when tying them on I try to get the length so it's just short enough not to reach the front treble, and I feel that seems to be the right length for a good hookup, and means less tangling. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonD Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 When my daughters gets back from Mallacoota I will have to get her to jump in on this one as she's slaying ( catch and release ) bream on surface lures at the moment. She is loving this style of fishing and hits the water most days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TurtleTown Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 1 hour ago, Aardvarking said: Forgot to mention, when tying them on I try to get the length so it's just short enough not to reach the front treble, and I feel that seems to be the right length for a good hookup, and means less tangling. Thanks for that, will try this myself! You may have started a trend! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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