Siwash trolling hooks for salmon

I've been buying siwash hooks to replace the old rusty hooks on my store-bought trolling rigs (Apex and RSK/FBR).
I have yet to find one that seems perfect The Gamakatsu 4/0 Siwash are very sharp but they corrode and the points have been breaking off after one or two uses. Maybe I got a bad batch?

The Trokar barbless siwash are sharp and don't seem to corrode, but if you look closely at the picture, the Trokar (on the left) has a shorter point than the Gamakatsu. I'm wondering how well this hook will hold a fish. I prefer a hook with a longer point as it seems that would stay deeper in the fish as the fish turns and shakes its head.

Anyone else have experience with either of these brands? Any other good trolling hooks to buy?

Thanks,
Andrew

I only use two different hooks for salmon. Both are made by Mustad, and both are stainless steel. They last a LONG time. I've been rinsing, resharpening and reusing the same few hooks for years now.

They aren't razor sharp out of the box, but the stainless steel is easy to sharpen with a file or stone.

I use the open eye siwash for spoons, and the "beak" hooks (very similar shape to an Octopus hook, but better in my opinion) for my Krippled anchovies, apexes, etc.

The stainless isn't brittle like a gamagatsu, so you can mash the barbs down without snapping them off. It leaves a nice round hump that's legal AND holds fish better than a regular barbless hook.


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I've been considering using the sickle style hooks for a while, think they might hold fish better.  Some have complained about them breaking on fish, but folks around here use them for sturgeon which fight arguably harder than a salmon.  I'm too lazy to change up my stuff right now and buy new hooks, but I just rigged a few on Tuna lures last night so I'll see.

Gama makes the Big River Bait and Matzuo makes some too.  They make them barbless but kind of difficult to find.  I would grind down barbs for salmon and sturgeon.

The commies like to use sickle hooks on their standard trolling spoons. Not sure if they'd throw off the balance/wobble for an Apex, etc though.

Why grind down the barb when it's legal to mash them, leaving a nice little rounded nub to help keep the hook in place?

I do like the shape of those Big River hooks, but I've found they rust out pretty quickly.


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Do it however you want, of course, but I'm never going back to a single hook for bait or Apex. Two hard tied (snelled) hooks is hard to beat, IMHO.

I go with two 6/0 Mustad Stainless "Beak" hooks for my Krippled Anchovies and Apexes. I like big hooks for salmon, and they don't seem to mind either.


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Why grind down the barb when it's legal to mash them, leaving a nice little rounded nub to help keep the hook in place?

I do like the shape of those Big River hooks, but I've found they rust out pretty quickly.


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I find the BRB hooks are hard to mash properly, the barbs tend to break.  I've also tried to mash down some other barbs with similar results.  I think some of the hooks that are chemically treated become more brittle/hard so mashing just doesn't work well. 

I've been able to successfully dremel down a barbed hook to pass the cotton ball test, but still leave a nice little nub there.

Alex, how do you tie two hooks to an Apex? The only way I've found that won't mess up the spinning action is to snell a 2nd hook onto the back of the Apex. Apex's require that barrel swivel which makes it impossible to dangle another hook behind the main hook (unless I'm mistaken). See pic.

I'm open to other suggestions though.

Alex, how do you tie two hooks to an Apex? The only way I've found that won't mess up the spinning action is to snell a 2nd hook onto the back of the Apex. Apex's require that barrel swivel which makes it impossible to dangle another hook behind the main hook (unless I'm mistaken). See pic.

I'm open to other suggestions though.

they dont need the barrel swivel.  I use a double snell on my apexes for kokanee and have no adverse effects to the action.  What you want to do is to protect the knot somehow from rubbing against the apex.

Alex, how do you tie two hooks to an Apex? The only way I've found that won't mess up the spinning action is to snell a 2nd hook onto the back of the Apex. Apex's require that barrel swivel which makes it impossible to dangle another hook behind the main hook (unless I'm mistaken). See pic.

I'm open to other suggestions though.

they dont need the barrel swivel.  I use a double snell on my apexes for kokanee and have no adverse effects to the action.  What you want to do is to protect the knot somehow from rubbing against the apex.

So what about a bead placed between the hook and the lure?

Alex, how do you tie two hooks to an Apex? The only way I've found that won't mess up the spinning action is to snell a 2nd hook onto the back of the Apex. Apex's require that barrel swivel which makes it impossible to dangle another hook behind the main hook (unless I'm mistaken). See pic.

I'm open to other suggestions though.

they dont need the barrel swivel.  I use a double snell on my apexes for kokanee and have no adverse effects to the action.  What you want to do is to protect the knot somehow from rubbing against the apex.

So what about a bead placed between the hook and the lure?

that's what I do. small enough to protect the knot but not affect the action.  Apex's don't spin constantly, only occasionally.  they do more wobbling than spinning. They're essentially the knuckleballs of the salmon fisherman's tackle box in that they're very erratic.

That's why they can be a pain in the ass to run multiples of off a boat.  But from a kayak when you're only running one or two (for you and your bro on the TI) with a decent enough spread they're no issue.

 But everyone can try whatever they want for rigging, they're pretty foolproof.  The reason is most of the action is because of the "bill" in front - so as long as you have unimpeded water flow to the front of the lure, then it will still have plenty of action.  That's why they're recommended to fish long leaders instead of right behind dodgers or other flashers, as the water flow can change how the lure runs.

Why grind down the barb when it's legal to mash them, leaving a nice little rounded nub to help keep the hook in place?

I do like the shape of those Big River hooks, but I've found they rust out pretty quickly.


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I find the BRB hooks are hard to mash properly, the barbs tend to break.  I've also tried to mash down some other barbs with similar results.  I think some of the hooks that are chemically treated become more brittle/hard so mashing just doesn't work well. 

I've been able to successfully dremel down a barbed hook to pass the cotton ball test, but still leave a nice little nub there.

Yeah, that's one of the big reasons I switched to stainless steel hooks. I got REALLY tired of throwing away hooks after one or two uses. I started off using Gamagatsu hooks, but I noticed that the sharp points would often corrode away within an hour or two of trolling. Sure, you can sharpen them, but then you're removing the protective coating and inviting rust.

If you grind on the hook with a Dremel and remove the surface coating (black nickel, chrome, whatever), you're inviting rust.

I haven't had a single hook failure or a single speck of rust since switching to Mustad stainless hooks.


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Here's how I rig my Apex. That's two 6/0 Mustad hooks snelled inline and a few small beads (just enough to get the hook point clear of the back of the plastic lure). It still has plenty of erratic wobbling action. And most of my fish end up stuck to the trailing hook. (Fish I wouldn't have even felt if that hook weren't there).




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Cool, thanks. I just tied this up...looks pretty similar. I added a little piece of a plastic sleeve to keep the snell in place. One green bead. Any suggested improvements before I try it out later this week?

Cool, thanks. I just tied this up...looks pretty similar. I added a little piece of a plastic sleeve to keep the snell in place. One green bead. Any suggested improvements before I try it out later this week?

tighten up that first snell a bit.  wet before tightening.  slack in the knot can weaken it.  But overall, it looks like it will work fine, although I would recommend another octo on the first hook instead of the J. you could put a couple more beads without any harm - if you see now the first hook is sort of protected by the lure and may not be exposed enough.