So today I was at the quarry fishing a white/chartruese spinnerbait. The bass were crushing it. Caught a bunch of 2 pounders, and a few 3+ pounders. My issue is that when I caught the bigger fish i caught them by the spinnerbaits hook, not the trailer hook and when i got the fish in they were bleeding a lot from the gills. Weighed em, snapped a pic and got them right back so they were ok. I couldnt figure out what was causing the bleeding. I think because they were hooked by the main hook while they were thrashing around the trailer hook may have poked them in the gills or something. Anyone else have this issue? Like I said the fish swan off peachy keen but Im curious if anyone else has experienced this.

I do not use trailer hooks on my SB's but that's likely the cause.

Yea i think so too. I might as well not use a trailer hook since im catching them all on the main hook. They have been crushing them so they pretty much hook themselves.

I always start out fishing a spinnerbait or buzzer with a trailer hook, it's saved the day for me on many occasions. I'll remove it if the fish I'm catching are hooked on the front hook inside the mouth as I've had the same thing happen when a fish takes the whole bait in it's mouth. If I feel I'm missing fish later on, I'll go back to a trailer hook.

If you still want to use a trailer after having this happen, go to one with a shorter shank so it doesn't drop down between the gills if you hook one on the front hook.

I have stopped using trailer hooks. It always seemed that when I was pulling the bait through weeds, or timber the spinnerbait would make it through OK but the trailer would get snagged.

I rarely use trailer hooks with my spinnerbaits unless I'm missing a lot of fish. If you're hooking them on the regular hook there really isn't any need for a trailer hook.

I used to use trailer hooks a lot more often. I also use a trailer on my spinner baits to give them more action. Recently I've gone to shortening the trailer and loosing the extra hook entirely. I now keep them in my box in case I start experiencing short strikes. It always seemed that when I would get hung up it was that extra hook that was the cause.