Over the years I've probably caught about 5 fish total with my Zara Spook. And I only caught fish on the initial splashdown, never on the walking the dog retrieve back. My friend and I went fishing today. This time only 3 hit it on the initial splashdown and the rest were on walking the dog back.

 

Well, I made an order from Tackle Warehouse and ordered 2 KVD Sexy Dawgs as they were on sale. I liked the fact that they had the bearings inside that make noise, the regular Zara Spook I have does not have this feature.

 

Well, I went fishing today with my friend and we both fished Sexy Dawgs. His was in pearl I think and mine was in perch. I had about 10 fish on the line and boated 7. My friend lost 2 I think. I did fish mine a lot longer then he fished his though. It went from glass to a little bit windy back to glass. The fish seemed to bite when the water was broken up a little bit by the chop as people on here said they would. It was a great time.

 

However, every once and awhile my line would get tangled up with the front treble. I was wondering if anyone removes the front treble or if it would effect the hookup ratio or balance of the lure.

 

 

 

What do you think?

Give it a try! If it doesn't work for you then you can put the front hook back.

Removing/Adding any hardware from a lure alters its action. Personally, i wouldn't remove it and i still get tangles on the front hook from time to time.

I wouldn't remove anything. Iv never tried, but it seems to me it most likely would alter the plug in a negative way.

I still get tangled on the front treble from time to time. Its a quick fix. Also, even if I wanted to remove the front treble, I wouldnt... Id say over 50% of my spook fish are landed with the front treble attached, and back treble swinging freely.

No, don't remove it unless you're replacing it with a red VMC SureSet.  Two things will all but eliminate line tangling on the front hook. Heavier mono, at least 12lb. and thumbing the spool before the lure hits the water.  The heavier line is stiff and resists lying to the rear of the line tie both on the cast and during the retrieve and by thumbing the spool or feathering the line off your spinning reel, the lure will hit the water facing toward you.

Another thing you can try is not overworking the lure. Hard jerks on slack line will cause the bait to change directions violently and it will often swing into the path of your line catching it. 

I've seen some guys in Australia remove the front hooks off thier poppers. Never been just watch a lot of YouTube.

Why not try it maybe it works maybe it doesn't. You don't have much to lose except a fish or two.

I use a Super Spook a lot for snook here in FL. I remove the middle hook entirely. I replace the front and back hooks with #2 Owner ST 41 trebles. The plug is still balanced properly and you avoid the nuisance of the front and middle hooks tangling. I use 20# PP line with a  2 foot 40 or 50# leader (I'm sure 25 or 30# would work equally as well). The front hook very rarely fouls the leader with this setup.

I use a Super Spook a lot for snook here in FL. I remove the middle hook entirely. I replace the front and back hooks with #2 Owner ST 41 trebles. The plug is still balanced properly and you avoid the nuisance of the front and middle hooks tangling. I use 20# PP line with a  2 foot 40 or 50# leader (I'm sure 25 or 30# would work equally as well). The front hook very rarely fouls the leader with this setup.

Interesting. I just took off my front treble. I'll put it back on and try taking off the second one instead.

Do you notice any change in hookup ratio?

i wouldn't remove the hook...but i would definitley change the hooks on the Spook...notoriously terrible hooks..

i wouldn't remove the hook...but i would definitley change the hooks on the Spook...notoriously terrible hooks..

Would you change the hooks on the KVD?

And what hook and size?

i don't own a sexy dog... so i can't say.

but i do replace the hooks on the SK KVD 1.5,2.5, 3xd and red eye shads...

but the jerkbait, 5xd and 6xd seems to have pretty good hooks..  ??

So I took the front hook off and it rode funny. So I put it back and took off the middle hook. Still got tangled. So I put it back too. lol.

So what hooks are you using to replace the originals?

tcbass wrote: "However, every once and awhile my line would get tangled up with the front treble.

The front hook and leader tangle probably has more to do with your line. Especially if you are using braid. With braid you need a short mono or FC leader. If you are not using braid then your line is probably too light. Put a short shank treble on the front.

Frank

It usually only happens to me when there is a little bit of disturbance on the water. I think mostly is it because it runs over your line on one of the side to side glides.

It happens to me a good bit when I throw lunker punkers no matter the surface conditions. That's just part of the game though with those. They just glide so far there is not much you can do about it.

I don't use those exact baits, but I never remove the front treble of any bait. I have caught a lot of fish that slashed at the bait and got the front treble, especially out in open water.