Innovative Trapper Hook delivers solutions to angling’s most common problems
Take a long look at the hooks in your tackle box: their basic J shape hasn’t been altered for centuries. That’s about to change… Welcome the Trapper Hook from Trapper Tackle. Years of research, engineering, field testing and refinement have yielded a hook that holds both baits and fish better than conventional hooks.
How many bites did you get on your last trip? How many of those fish made it to the boat? Poor fish retention has plagued anglers since the first primitive J hook was cast into the water over 42,000 years ago.
Problem: The round bend of a conventional J-hook creates a pivot point that causes the hook to rotate in a fish’s mouth, expanding the initial point of entry and creating an easy path to escape.
Solution: The unique, patented design of a Trapper Hook replaces the traditional round bend with a pair of right angles at the base of the hook shank which are not only hard for fish to overcome, but they also restrict the hook’s ability to rotate out of the fish’s mouth. As a result, the Trapper Hook dramatically increases the percentage of hooked fish that’ll make it to the landing net.
Problem: Anyone who has dressed any variety of J-shaped hooks with a soft plastic or live bait is familiar with the frustration of having to adjust baits that slide up the shank before making another cast. Weed cover, structure or the action of casting and retrieving baits are all culprits.
Solution: The Trapper Hook’s remarkable “why didn’t I think of that” geometry, with two right-angle bends at its base, helps keep the bait in place. All manner of soft plastic offerings, including worms, flukes, stickbaits, toads and creature baits perform better when they are rigged properly and locked in the Trapper Box. Live bait such as shiners, minnows, shrimp, and crabs as well as salmon eggs, corn, dough-baits and catfish cube-style baits are retained in the Trapper Box with equal efficacy. With less time spent fixing baits, anglers can make more casts and spend more of their limited fishing time making effective presentations that trigger bites.
Years of research, design and extensive field testing by anglers across the nation have yielded a line of general use and technique specific hooks from Trapper Tackle. Former Bassmaster Elite Series Pro Vince Hurtado has been working with the Trapper R&D Team since last year, using the bass-infested waters of the California Delta like a laboratory. “With over 300 fish catches I noticed a significant improvement in landing ratios. This hook will raise any angler’s game and that’s why I am proud to be part of the Trapper Tackle team”, said Hurtado. Now it’s time for anglers fishing for bass, walleye, musky, pike, crappie and other species to experience the fish and bait-holding effectiveness of the Trapper Hook design.
At ICAST 2016, Florida based Landum Outdoors will launch the Trapper Tackle brand and will reveal a lineup of five Trapper Hook families in a variety of sizes and wire gauges, for a total of 19 unique hooks, each featuring the unique Trapper Box. The initial hook families include the Heavy Cover Super Wide Gap hook (XXX Heavy Gauge), two Offset Wide Gap hooks (Standard and X Heavy Gauge), and a 30 Degree Jig Hook (X Heavy Gauge) for DIY anglers and jig designers that want to include the Trapper Box in their own creations. For the finesse soft plastic or live bait angler, Trapper introduces their versatile Dropshot/Live Bait/Finesse hook (Standard Gauge) in sizes #4 to 2/0.
Throughout history, nearly everything we use to find and catch fish has been redesigned and improved, yet the basic principles of the hook have remained largely unchanged…until now.
By: Jason Halfen, Traditions Media
