Do you use waited or unweighted? Do you find that the twist lock and parts a different action other negatively or positively on the fall, and if so which EWG do you prefer?

EWG 4/0 Aaron Martins Gamakatsu G Finesse with  a 5" caffeine free swim shad weightless.

FM

I started using owner twistlocks after this video. Never looked back.

 

 

 

^^^ good video with sound reasoning. Me too.
 

The twistlock just seems to let the fluke be more free and natural for unweighted.

 

Now, if wanting to fish it lower in the water column most definitely a gammy 4/0 ewg weighted.

I switched from the Owner twist locks to the BKK permalocks. If I want a little weight, I use a weighted permalock (heaviest is 7/64 oz). Best hooks I’ve used by far.

Owner twist-lock un-weighted

+1 for an un-weighted 4/0 twist lock. Brand preferences in my case would be a owner twistlock open gap, berkley fusion 19, bkk armor point, or a gamakatsu superline with a slight preference to owner for any elaztech baits but as the caffeine shad does not fall under that list any of these would work for me and some of them might have a slightly wider gap than the owner but that cps does come in handy for worms or elaztech lures. For actual flukes I like a 1/16oz weight but the caffeine shad or yamamoto version are heavy enough that I prefer a weightless hook.

I use the gamakatsu 3-4/0 ewg haven’t had any issues so far. 

I like the Owner Twistlock hooks for fluke type baits. You do not have to worry about the bait sliding with it.

Owner 3/0-4/0 1/8oz twistlock all day every day, casts better, stays down, sweet little booty shake when killed. I work it faster than most.

I use the twist lock simply because the bait lasts a little longer. ewg works fine but the head of the baits rip out a little easier.

I think in the back of my head I’ve stuck with the EWG  because I dont want another hook to buy or carry lol 

I've tried a bunch and I'm partial to the Mustad KVD Grip Pin in 3/0 or 4/0. Both unweighted. Usually 3/0 unless I want a slightly faster fall, in which case I'll go to 4/0. 

13 hours ago, Joedodge said:

I think in the back of my head I’ve stuck with the EWG  because I dont want another hook to buy or carry lol 

Just go with this…

 

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/BKK_OCD_Tackle_Storage_System_Fully_Loaded/descpage-BKKOCDFL.html

10 hours ago, Smirak said:

Just go with this…

 

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/BKK_OCD_Tackle_Storage_System_Fully_Loaded/descpage-BKKOCDFL.html

Man that’s nice! Would suck to carry around the bank though! And costs more than any of my combos hahaha

It’s real nice. I didn’t buy the one linked. I bought the “starter” system, which is the main box and then 28 empty boxes inside (20 M, 8 S). I put my stuff in there. However, I’m phasing that out for the BKK hooks. They got me with the OCD… For bank fishing, you could just grab a few sizes of the “internal boxes” that you plan to use that day vs carrying the whole lot… 

7 minutes ago, Smirak said:

It’s real nice. I didn’t buy the one linked. I bought the “starter” system, which is the main box and then 28 empty boxes inside (20 M, 8 S). I put my stuff in there. However, I’m phasing that out for the BKK hooks. They got me with the OCD… For bank fishing, you could just grab a few sizes of the “internal boxes” that you plan to use that day vs carrying the whole lot… 

Oh nice man. Right now I use a small Hamamatsu folding compartment box. Works great for up about a 4/0 ewg no bigger tho

2 hours ago, Joedodge said:

Oh nice man. Right now I use a small Hamamatsu folding compartment box. Works great for up about a 4/0 ewg no bigger tho

This works great for hooks. I have a 2nd one with terminal. 

 

 

Twistlocks all the way baby ...!

 

The centering pin holds the body of the Caffeine Shad straight and horizontal (also helps with the plastic's durability). My biggest pet peeve with traditional EWG or other hooks is that the back of the salty/heavy plastic sags over time (like a swayback horse) and impedes the subtle, forward swimming action of the Caffeine Shad. Instead it just kind of sinks vertically like a wacky worm.  

 

I usually use a weightless 4/0 Twistlock LIGHT, unless on a deeper weed edge, then the 3/32 oz. 

 

There is magic in the action of the bubble tail Caffeine Shad, but it has to be the right hook!  

 

34 minutes ago, FryDog62 said:

There is magic in the action of the bubble tail Caffeine Shad, but it has to be the right hook!  

 

3 hours ago, Smirak said:

It’s real nice. I didn’t buy the one linked. I bought the “starter” system, which is the main box and then 28 empty boxes inside (20 M, 8 S). I put my stuff in there. However, I’m phasing that out for the BKK hooks. They got me with the OCD… For bank fishing, you could just grab a few sizes of the “internal boxes” that you plan to use that day vs carrying the whole lot… 

 

3 hours ago, Smirak said:

It’s real nice. I didn’t buy the one linked. I bought the “starter” system, which is the main box and then 28 empty boxes inside (20 M, 8 S). I put my stuff in there. However, I’m phasing that out for the BKK hooks. They got me with the OCD… For bank fishing, you could just grab a few sizes of the “internal boxes” that you plan to use that day vs carrying the whole lot… 

 

3 hours ago, Smirak said:

It’s real nice. I didn’t buy the one linked. I bought the “starter” system, which is the main box and then 28 empty boxes inside (20 M, 8 S). I put my stuff in there. However, I’m phasing that out for the BKK hooks. They got me with the OCD… For bank fishing, you could just grab a few sizes of the “internal boxes” that you plan to use that day vs carrying the whole lot… 

 

4 hours ago, JHoss said:

I've tried a bunch and I'm partial to the Mustad KVD Grip Pin in 3/0 or 4/0. Both unweighted. Usually 3/0 unless I want a slightly faster fall, in which case I'll go to 4/0. 

 

15 hours ago, Bass Rutten said:

Owner 3/0-4/0 1/8oz twistlock all day every day, casts better, stays down, sweet little booty shake when killed. I work it faster than most.

Is there a specific way you are supposed to work this bait to get the desired action from that bubble tail? I’ve heard there is a sweeping action of the rod required, but I always assumed you just let it fall and twitch lightly similar to other flukes.

I use a bunch of different retrieves. Standard is a couple twitches with a pause in between. You can also burn and pause. The tail action you hear about is when you kill the bait. It kind of backs up on itself and then rocks/shimmys on the fall. 

Another vote for twistlocks. And a kreh loop knot for extra action, and a micro drop of super glue on the knot for extra confidence lol

11 minutes ago, JHoss said:

I use a bunch of different retrieves. Standard is a couple twitches with a pause in between. You can also burn and pause. The tail action you hear about is when you kill the bait. It kind of backs up on itself and then rocks/shimmys on the fall. 

Nice. Is weight necessary to produce this action or is plastic heavy enough?

4 hours ago, Smirak said:

It’s real nice. I didn’t buy the one linked. I bought the “starter” system, which is the main box and then 28 empty boxes inside (20 M, 8 S). I put my stuff in there. However, I’m phasing that out for the BKK hooks. They got me with the OCD… For bank fishing, you could just grab a few sizes of the “internal boxes” that you plan to use that day vs carrying the whole lot… 

So you believe the BKK hook is better than an Owner or Gamakatsu?

52 minutes ago, JHoss said:

I use a bunch of different retrieves. Standard is a couple twitches with a pause in between. You can also burn and pause. The tail action you hear about is when you kill the bait. It kind of backs up on itself and then rocks/shimmys on the fall. 

Agreed. Sometimes less is more in terms

of twitching. Not usually big jerks, just subtle ones and let it dart, slow down, swim horizontally awhile, then it changes directions.  Twitch/twitch again - rinse and repeat.