hey guys.  im trying to upgrade the trebles on all my crank baits.  i was looking through bps and *** and saw some regular treble hooks and ewg treble hooks.  how much of a difference do the ewg's make?  or should i jsut stick with the regular ones?  i guess are some better in other situations thatn others?  Also, how do you figure out the size of the hooks you need.  i mean going over the internet, i can only guess but i just cant mentally gauge the sizes.  is there any brands you guys recommend.  i am liking what im seeing in the owner treble hooks.  these are going on some rapala shad raps, looking for extra replacements for my lc pointers (78 and 100 sp) and some of my chug bugs and daiwa poppers.  thanks for looking and for your input guys.

It all depends on your fish. The EWG is an awesome hook to KEEP fish hooked up, problem is it will miss some of the fish that just slap at the bait. If your fish tend to eat the bait well then use EWG's by all means, they're excellent hooks. Personally, I prefer the 2x owner trebles for almost all my needs. The tips are turned in slightly which doesn't help on slapping fish but they tend to hold fish really well and won't bend out where other hooks will. For the baits you're using you should be using size 4 and size 6 trebles.

I like the regular treble hooks because as long as there is constant pressure on the line the entire time then your odds of losing the fish are very slim.  Also I've noticed with the EWG-type hooks that they tend to skin hook the fish more often than regular trebles and rip out of the skin since the EWGs don't seem to go behind/around the lip as much as the regular trebles.

As for the Shad Rap, the hooks that come on those are very very sharp and sticky.  I assure you as my periodic carelessness has led me to catch myself a few times.  Those things are hard to get out even using the fishing line method to remove the hooks.

If you fish open water alot,you should give the Sure Sets a try. That one bigger hook makes a difference,plus they are good quality hooks and quite sticky.

yeah those sure set hooks look fun.  i had them on a rapala one time, but i lost it in some pads and never got to catch a fish on it.  thanks for the info guys, keep it comming.  i am eyeing those owner hooks though.  anyone have any opinions on this?

You really cant go wrong buying anything from Owner although I'm not a big fan of the Owner trebles with the points turned slightly inward. They dont seem to get a deep enough bite into the fishes mouth.

well i guess i am going to ask for an opinion and if i can make this a pole.  What treble hook would you chose: owner, gamakatsu, lucky craft, or other?  thanks guys

mustad, short shank, round bend, on all my crankbaits

Mustad Triple Grips

Dan

I use Daiichi 4x trebles exclusively, and buy them in 100pks from Cabelas.  You save quite a bit of money when you pay $23.99 for 100 hooks versus $5 for the 8 or 9 hooks that come in a  filler pack.

I use gama for everything. Really like the EWG on my shallow runners.