Assuming you heard abut Ott using a rivet to rig his swimbait? Case you don't have a riveter, solder gun or welding torch handy, he gave these tips on rigging a solid swimbait with a treble:
 

> Using a line-threading tool, run your main line through your swimbait's nose and down through its body, exiting just short of the middle. "This will end up putting the hook about dead in the middle of the bait." If you don't have a line-threading tool, a needle or a long, thin-wire hook like a VMC Neko Hook will "do the trick just as well."
 

> Attach a VMC split ring to a #1 VMC Round Bend Treble 1X hook. Tie your line to the split ring.
 

> Stick one of the treble's three arms/hooks up into the swimbait's body, vertically centered. The other two treble arms will flare out slightly to the sides. "This will keep everything settled on the cast.

Mike Long has a different way yo do it  -

 

What's the advantage of making it line thru rather than using a jig head or regular tx rig?

When Mike Long speaks we listen!

Tom

39 minutes ago, j bab said:

What's the advantage of making it line thru rather than using a jig head or regular tx rig?

with a line thru , when you get bit and the line travels away from the lure , the fish can't use the weight of the lure to throw the hook . that is why when hooking a fish on a top hook swimbait is that when you get bit you reel very steadily keeping pressure on the fish , not letting it shake it's head at all . with the line thru, you decrease the odds of that happening 

1 hour ago, Big Bait Fishing said:

with a line thru , when you get bit and the line travels away from the lure , the fish can't use the weight of the lure to throw the hook . that is why when hooking a fish on a top hook swimbait is that when you get bit you reel very steadily keeping pressure on the fish , not letting it shake it's head at all . with the line thru, you decrease the odds of that happening 

I get that for big baits, but wasn't Ott using a small/regular sized swimbait? I could be wrong

17 minutes ago, j bab said:

I get that for big baits, but wasn't Ott using a small/regular sized swimbait? I could be wrong

the bait was a 6'' solid boot tail swimbait , i have to assume it weighs at least ounce or more likey at least 2 ounces . with that weight a jig style hook (top hook) can be thrown easily , especially if your rod is not stout enough for the lure/fish , when i hook up on a top hook hudd (8'') , i reel that bass in quick ! i mean really quick , not allowing it to shake it's head or jump very much. 

Smallmouth also tend to slash at baits in an attempt to disable/kill the baitfish. If you are fishing a traditional single hook/Tx rig, you will greatly decrease your hookups.

Having that treble on the bottom is a great benefit, especially when dealing with brown fish.

Ott was using new strike king rage swimbait

 

Doesnt come close to an ounce.

 

The main advantage is the lure slides out of way and smallie gets a mouthful of treble.

Speedbead gave you the reason Ott used a treble. The fish were swiping at his bait and he was missing fish because of it. Anyone who has ever fished a soft plastic jerkbait in summer for river smallmouth will know immediately what that feels like, you get a hard hit and then nothing, a lot of times you don't even get to set the hook.  The fact that the swimbait slides up the line does help, and it is essential for keeping fish hooked when using larger, heavier swimbaits but in Ott's case it was done to hook fish that were swiping rather than eating.

More on the rivet rig.

Ott DeFoe rigged his swimbait with a rivet to win the upper Mississippi Elite. New deal for bass-heads. Zona now says he knew the same trick and never told anyone about it...including me! What up with that Z? Some deets:
 

For years, he'd fished a soft-plastic jerkbait and swimbait on a Tex-posed hook...with a 65% hook-up ratio.
 

By chance, Zona met an "older-than-me gentleman" who teased Zona with tales of rigging a Strike King Caffeine Shad as a line-through with a treble hook. "You'll never miss them," he promised Zona. The gentleman promised to bring in a pop-rivet....
 

"You take the hollow sleeve out of the pop rivet. In a pop rivet it's basically a tube with a circular plate on the end of that sleeve. He showed me how to push it from the back side where the 'V' is in a Caffeine shad on the belly, push it up in there towards the nose, and use that nail to clean out the inside of the rivet -- and then your line slides right through it."
 

With a 4.5-5" swimbait, a #2 hook works best while a #4 is the deal with a 4" Caffeine Shad and a #5 on the Magnum size. Zona is adamant that a Lazer Trokar round bend treble hook is an important part of the equation.

 

http://1source.basspro.com/index.php/component/k2/237-fishing-info/3681-fishing-zona-and-defoe-s-riveting-rigging-secret

That whole bait rigging deal right there is GOLD.

A-Jay

I will admit to tearing my junk drawers apart looking for some rivets.  I do wonder about the line wearing on the edges of the rivets, but we shall see.  I have been having a lot of luck lately slow running plastics just above the dead SAV in many of the local ponds, this techqunice seems perfect for that as well.   

On ‎9‎/‎16‎/‎2016 at 2:24 PM, Montanaro said:

Ott was using new strike king rage swimbait

 

Doesnt come close to an ounce.

 

The main advantage is the lure slides out of way and smallie gets a mouthful of treble.

i didn't read the article , when i think of a '' swimbait '' that is solid and 6'' , i think of an actual swimbait , not a soft plastic paddle tail which to me are not swimbaits ... 

Why is a split ring needed?

On 9/16/2016 at 11:14 AM, j bab said:

What's the advantage of making it line thru rather than using a jig head or regular tx rig?

 

I think it also helps make your baits last longer.  We all know Keitechs (and their look-alikes) aren't the most durable baits.  Having that single treble on the bottom of the bait eliminates tearing up of the nose by screwlocks, bait barbs, etc.