I'm looking to replace some of the treble hooks on my topwater lures. Some are a little soft and weak, others not very sharp (although I'm pretty handy with a hook sharpener and have sharpened the dull ones), and others are offset and tear up my lures. I'm not tournament fishing so I'm not going to replace these with Gamakatsu or Owner, etc but I've looked at the cheaper Eagle Claw Lazer Sharp 3X round bends and the Fletcher Shryock 2X Kahle treble hooks, these look like the Mustad KVD triple grip treble hooks. I've used the 3X roundbends in size 10 for live shrimp under a popping cork and they are a very strong hook and can take the pressure from a larger saltwater fighting fish. The deciding factor is which one will beat up my lures the least. I know it's impossible to keep the trebles from scratching them up eventually but I have some Spooks that have the rotated off center hooks like the Xcalibur TX3 hooks and they can do a number on a lure, especially the silver/chrome ones that I prefer. The caveat is the rotated hooks do a good job of hooking a fish that isn't committed or just slaps the lure, just hate how they prematurely wear out a relatively new topwater. Thinking of keeping those on the rear end for short strikers. So which one will beat my topwaters up the least, round bend or wide gap? Thanks. 

It doesn't seem to matter, after a while the all hooks will scratch the paint off the bottom of the lures. The sharper the hooks the faster they seem to scratch the paint.

But of course, you want sharp hooks.

Owner Stinger Treble Hooks or Mustad Triple Grip Treble hooks and take my chances on paint scratches .

Paint/finish is going to get dinged up anyway just from being used. Owner Stingers is all I use for treble replacements.

Not sure which will be easier on the paint but you might try to not catch too many fish as that does a number on the paint as well. Jk jk ... but in all seriousness it matters more to you than the fish. 

On 8/17/2020 at 8:34 PM, Festivus said:

I'm looking to replace some of the treble hooks on my topwater lures. Some are a little soft and weak, others not very sharp (although I'm pretty handy with a hook sharpener and have sharpened the dull ones), and others are offset and tear up my lures. I'm not tournament fishing so I'm not going to replace these with Gamakatsu or Owner, etc but I've looked at the cheaper Eagle Claw Lazer Sharp 3X round bends and the Fletcher Shryock 2X Kahle treble hooks, these look like the Mustad KVD triple grip treble hooks. I've used the 3X roundbends in size 10 for live shrimp under a popping cork and they are a very strong hook and can take the pressure from a larger saltwater fighting fish. The deciding factor is which one will beat up my lures the least. I know it's impossible to keep the trebles from scratching them up eventually but I have some Spooks that have the rotated off center hooks like the Xcalibur TX3 hooks and they can do a number on a lure, especially the silver/chrome ones that I prefer. The caveat is the rotated hooks do a good job of hooking a fish that isn't committed or just slaps the lure, just hate how they prematurely wear out a relatively new topwater. Thinking of keeping those on the rear end for short strikers. So which one will beat my topwaters up the least, round bend or wide gap? Thanks. 

 

   When it comes to hook rash on baits, trebles of the same design (round bend or ewg) usually all perform in a similar manner, regardless of price.  

 The Owner Short Shank Treble Hook ST-35 adorn many of my treble hook baits. 

                   (Not for a tail hook though)

This short shank treble is different in that it features 150-degree Premium Point Position design, which splits two hook points out 150-degrees versus the typical 120-degrees between all three points.

This allows the hook points to be positioned slightly farther out from your bait and help increase your hook up percentage.  Opening the gap to 150-degrees also minimizes damage to your bait from the hook points, while keeping the hook points sharper over time as well.

 

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Owner_Short_Shank_Treble_Hook_ST-35/descpage-OSSF.html

 

    Note: Owner Stinger ST-35 Short Shank Treble Hooks are designed to be used with baits that have the hook hanger in line with the length of the bait.  These will not hang correctly on lures that feature any hook hanger that is perpendicular to the length of the lure – some of the offerings from Megabass for instance.  Had to include that because as great as these trebles are – they do not work in the situation described.

 

  Finally, I believe it's fair to say we all want to land the fish we hook, especially the plus size models.

Investing a little extra scratch in quality hardware is a means to that end.

Whether or not one is participation is a tournament may not change much.

Good Luck

A-Jay 

A-Jay doesn't like these hooks, but I do!

 

https://megabassusa.com/__trashed-21/