Losing fish on a beaver bait...need hook recommendations

[kadas]

I use an O ring just like you would on a wacky rigged Senko. Just position the O ring about 1/8 inch down from the head of the bait. It really helps to keep the bait from sliding down the hook. There is a video on YouTube about this.

Saw an article on this trick a while ago. He was using the O-ring on Biffle bugs to keep them pegged. Thanks for the reminder. Forgot all about that article until your post. Good tip. Old age does affect the memory

[DrewFlu33]

Heat shrink would work similarly to the o-ring idea I bet. Maybe even better. I use it instead of o-rings for wacky rigging and prefer it for many reasons. I also use it for nose hooking baits when drop shooting. Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but it's one fish per bait if I'm lucky when nose hooking normally. I can usually get several fish per bait with the heat shrink added. I may try this for Texas rigged stuff just to see!

[SemoBassman]

Second the Owner here, I swear by the Twistlock Flipping hook with the Zo Wire. It's a grey, teflon coated hook that won't bend, super sharp, and the twist lock lets you catch 5 or 6 fish per beaver. It also come through mats better than the ewg. I'll use the ewg on big tubes and that's it.

[sabby]

I use Berkley Fusion hooks or Owner Beast hooks. Always use a dab of superglue as well. I usually use a straight shank hook.

[k3fishing]

X2 on the grip pin hooks... been using them since they came out and don't worry about the bait sliding anymore. Flippin hooks in beaver style baits here in Florida.. Tried that EWG and missed 1 out of 3 fish.

[golfpro307]

Thats heavy line for your technique,,, maybe downsize line and hook. For Trig I like 10-12lb line And a thin wire hook. The thin wire doesnt create a big hole . Think of ot like a dropshot.. thin tiny hook..but hardly ever lose fish. Good luck.

Chris

[fluke1987]

Thats heavy line for your technique,,, maybe downsize line and hook. For Trig I like 10-12lb line And a thin wire hook. The thin wire doesnt create a big hole . Think of ot like a dropshot.. thin tiny hook..but hardly ever lose fish. Good luck.

Chris

That's way too thin of line to be throwing around brush piles, docks and rip rap...especially on a beaver bait. The Gamakatsu is a thin wire hook...much thinner than it's Trokar or Gammy Superline equivalents.

I tried out the KVD grip pin hooks over the weekend. Pretty happy with them for the most part...only complaint is the hook points are not as sharp out of the package as Gammys

[Pearlizer]

Put a dab of super glue on the hook at the bend of the offset right before you thread the bait over it. Though you didn't say what type of plastics you were using, I've never seen plastics slide down worse than Z-Man Elaztechs when Texas rigged. They're great for a bunch of things, but staying put without a keeper of some sort is not one of them. This solves it and allows me to successfully Texas rig them.

I've never straightened a Gamy Superline EWG...they're my main Texas rig hook. I favor 5/0 hooks for beavers, but have muscled 5 lbers out of thick weeds with braid on them. I also don't ever recall straightening a regular Gamy EWG, but that may not be right. Cheap Matzuos? Have straightened them a bunch. I've also straightened Daiichis recently which used to be (at least I thought they were) the best hooks out there....maybe they've gone down hill, or I just didn't know what I didn't know.

^^^^^THIS^^^^^

[minnowlimo]

Another vote for grip pin! It's the only hook I buy anymore.

[jkarol24]

I don't throw a beaver on any hook besides a straight shank. My preference is the old Reaction Innovations BMF 5/0 flippin hook but I don't think they are available anymore. The Trokar TK130 is decent, as well as the Owner x4. The old Gammi straight shank had issues with the keeper slipping, but have heard the new version is better... That one is a great hook if you make your own shrink-wrap keeper. I believe the BMF was also gammi hook if i'm not mistaken, and came with DIY shrink-wrap keepers. Using a snell knot is imperative with the straight shank while texas rigging, 90%+ of the time it pegs em in the hard roof of the mouth. I am also a huge proponent of braid (with fluoro leader if in clear water) for the best hookups

[VaZ518]

If I'm fishing them on fluoro I usually use a 4/0 owner wide gap plus. Had good luck with the 4/0 hack attack if using braid.

[barrys]

If I'm fishing them on fluoro I usually use a 4/0 owner wide gap plus. Had good luck with the 4/0 hack attack if using braid.

This ... Both these hooks are brutes!!

[Jb357]

I switched to the strike king swing heads with trokar hooks this year for flipping beaver baits because I got tired of getting hung with bullet weights. Haven't lost a fish yet(other than break offs).
Always used gammy ewg's before with no issues but I don't think it's necessary to try to rip their lips off on hook sets.

[sabby]

I use straight shank flipping hooks, super glue the bait so it won't slide down. Don't miss fish this way and between berkley fusion, vmc and hack attack flipping hooks I haven't straightened any of them on a fish.

[adam lancia]

I'm using an o-ring on the nose of the bait and using a 4/0 Owner flipping hook. The o-ring really does a good job of keeping the bait where it's supposed to be. This was my first season flipping and I didn't really know what to expect when setting the hook. Well, my PB 4.2lb LM was my first flipping fish and it was effortless setting the hook right into the roof of it's mouth. Now, I'm using a Fenwick Aetos 7'6" HXF with a locked drag and 65# braid so that may have something to do with how easy that seemed. Strangely enough, after 3 more fish hooked, I noticed the barb had actually been flattened a bit. I don't know which fish that happened on but none of them came off and the hook was buried really well on each fish.