As many know, I spent 10 days fishing some of the great waters of NY state, and with some great anglers as well. One of those days was spent on Port Bay off Lake Ontario, with my friend, Secret Weapon Lures pro staffer, Burnie Haney. Like many others, myself included, Burnie was looking for a good flipping hook. Most EWG, superline hooks, and straight shank hooks have not lived up to their hype. One, however has, but is very difficult to find lately, the Reaction Innovations BMF hook. Burnie decided to try something different. Here is the story with some videos that show how to, below:

A few days ago I mentioned using a 6/0 Gamakatsu Octopus Hook with my plastics this year.

So far I've rigged the Sweet Beaver (4") and a Zoom Black Lizard (6") and this hook has been great.

When using the EWG Superline hooks I found after a few good fish I could actually open up the hook gap a bit using either mono or braid, so I wanted to find an alternative hook option.

My initial desire was to get a few Reaction Innovations BMFs and give those a try, but after looking around on the net or at local stores during the month of April I soon learned those hooks seem to be in great demand and they aren't readily available.

My next best option was to find a comparable hook and see how it performed.

Well, I'm happy to report I found another quality hook that's up to the task. The Gamakatsu 6/0 Octopus hook, take a look at the following videos on how I tie and rig it.

Nothing fancy and it doesn't need to be. It's a strong hook that does the job required and the best part is the shelves at your local Gander Mountain stores are loaded with them.

Who knew… a Salmon hook that does a great job when T-Rigged in plastics

Maybe this can give you another hook option too.

Thanks for Reading

Burnie

Nice bed smallie on beaver using the Gammy 6/0 Octopus hook:

Nice!  

    Cool!!!!!!!!!!!!  I might have to try that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

im gonna try it!

seems like a great idea. I like how the snell knot effectively turns the eye into a bait keeper. The only thing I would be concerned about with that strong of a hook is if you are using heavy line for flipping and get snagged on a piece of wood or something you are liable to pull the whole tree up before the hook bends or breaks or the line snaps!

Dan, for the most part, we were pitching beds, and while there is wood in that water, the beds are more associated with docks.  I carry a piece of dowel with a small nitch that I use to remove snags.  Usually the hook point is bent, but sometimes you bring a chunk of cover back

Dan, for the most part, we were pitching beds, and while there is wood in that water, the beds are more associated with docks. I carry a piece of dowel with a small nitch that I use to remove snags. Usually the hook point is bent, but sometimes you bring a chunk of cover back

I was just picturing flipping into some cover like a christmas tree or something like that, getting snagged, and winching the whole thing right up...ha!

I plead the 5th!  I have NO IDEA how those brush piles got there, LOL....

The strength of the Octopus hooks along with the short shank is why I use them for wacky rigging. I use the 2/0 and 3/0.

Thanks for posting, great idea.  

Same here...I had to use em for a t rig once, as I ran outta worm hooks..lol

The strength of the Octopus hooks along with the short shank is why I use them for wacky rigging. I use the 2/0 and 3/0.

What kind of hook set are you using with these hooks?  Hard, light, or a sweeping set?

I need to do something different.  If I add the bites I miss and the ones that get off before I get them in, it is probably half the bites I get.

We were using XH flipping sticks. Burnie likes 20 or 30# TripleFish fluorocarbon, while I use 50 or 65# PowerPro. I think he had a BPS Extreme saddled with the new Ardent flipping reel, I use a Kistler with a Daiwa TDX103HSDL.

We both use the same rip set with these baits. Imagine ripping a weed (or tree) out of the ground, and throwing over your shoulder in one powerful swing. Basically, your tip is up, to detect the take, you are gently moving the bait, and once the fish takes it, you drop your tip, reel down, and swing. We mostly stood shoulder to shoulder on the front deck, though a few times I was behind in the back. You gotta stay aware, or 1/2 oz. of tungsten will bean you on your bean. Trust me, it hurts, I did it to myself at Smith Mountain Lake.