All About the Treble - Weighing in on Treble Hook Options

Introduction: Fishermen like to tinker. Whether it is with their rods, reels, or baits, there's something fundamental about the desire to customize your gear to perfect an intended presentation. One of the sub-groups of bass fishermen where this might be most prominent is with those who enjoy throwing big baits. With those baits specifically comes the desire to achieve the perfect behavior when the bait is paused.

Swapping hooks and split rings is one method of affecting the buoyancy of your big baits

Whether that be the perfect suspend, slow rise, or other, big bait tinkerers achieve this goal by adding and sometimes, if possible, subtracting weight from their baits. There are a few different ways to accomplish this goal not the least of which is lead or tungsten tape. However, there's a more subtle, albeit more expensive way to adjust the weight of your baits.

Owner has been my go-to replacement treble for some time now

During the testing phase with a recent product I was working with, I wanted to adjust its float. My method of choice to refine this feature on a bait is to swap the hooks, so I tried to find a spreadsheet I thought I had made listing hook weights, but all I could find were some scattered notes. Guess I'm not as organized as I thought I was. Also, the hook size I was working with was #1 and my notes were all about 1/0 sized trebles because I jotted them down while tuning my collection of Deps SlideSwimmer 250s. Additionally, I was all out of #1 trebles.

I took this opportunity to explore other options

It was a perfect TackleTour storm: I needed some terminal tackle, but also some data around that tackle, so I sat down at my computer, opened a browser, and navigated to TackleWarehouse to check out their selection of heavy-ish treble hooks. I ordered nine different packs along with some split rings and after they arrived, I got to work weighing and comparing the hooks prior to installing. This time, instead of a spreadsheet or scattered notes, I'm recording my findings here and sharing them with my fellow big bait enthusiasts. Note, for convenience, I've added direct links to the product in question via italicized text.

I knew about Mustad's KVD trebles, but not the Jawlok series

The Split Rings: Before we get to the hooks, I felt a little warm up was in order. Swapping and adding split rings is a low key way some big bait enthusiasts use to really fine tune the sink rate of their baits. It's too tedious for me, and I'm not convinced it makes enough of a difference. My go to has always been Owner's Hyperwire split rings, but I noticed some new options at TackleWarehouse and was in need of a package or two anyway, so I ordered a couple and added them to this detailed look.

Some anglers fine tune their baits by swapping split rings

Owner: The historic standard in stout replacement rings, they're available in sizes #4 to #8. I typically use #4s on my baits, and that's what I ordered both for this comparison and my real, intended use. I weighted one ring from each package of split rings. Owner's Hyper Wire Split Rings in size #4 weighted 0.2 grams.

A bit too tedious even for me, I thought I'd investigate

Decoy: Decoy's split rings are well renowned. However, they make several different varieties. One I find incredibly interesting is their R-51 Front Ring Split Ring. It appears a very sensible replacement for the split ring at the bait's line tie. For my purposes though, I still prefer using snaps, and my mission here is about the hooks - gotta stay focused! After poking around at the options from Decoy, I decided on their R-3 Medium Class Silver Split Ring. I weighed the #4 sized ring at 0.2 grams.

Left to right, Gamakatsu, Decoy, BKK, Owner

Gamakatsu: One choice that surprised me was Gamakatsu's Superline Split Rings. I shouldn't have been surprised because it makes perfect sense that Gamakatsu makes split rings, it's just the first time I recall seeing them. I'm so laser focused on those Owner Hyper Wires, I just never thought to check Gamakatsu. I weighed a #4 sized ring from this package at 0.2 grams.

All four weighed the same

Split Ring Wrap: I suppose the strategy of swapping out split rings to adjust weight on a bait must infer swapping out what are probably thin, stock, split rings with questionable strength because the four I checked out here all weighted the same on my scale. You can certainly add more than one split ring to fine tune, but as I said before, the prospect of adding 0.2 grams of weight at a time is just too tedious for me. Just the same, I've assembled my findings in a table for easier reference.

The Hooks: Owner is also my traditional go-to for heavy gauged replacement treble hooks. They haven't failed me, so I haven't had a reason to seek something else. However, I will also lean on Gamakatsu if I'm seeking a light wire replacement. Naturally, for this investigation, I looked to other options, but to help constrain choices and keep the overall cost somewhere within reason, my selection criteria here was size #1 hooks that looked or read (in the product description) like they'd be a good option in a thick-ish gauged wire.

Decoy's Y-F33F is a standard gauge treble

Decoy Y-F33F Silky Finish: In terms of hooks, Decoy's selection of quads is likely far more popular, but I, personally, am not a fan of quad-tipped hooks. Of course, if your goal is to add weight to a bait with the hooks, a quad is going to be heavier than a treble of equal gauge wire simply because there is more material. Just the same, I'm sure a move like this is simply an invitation to hook myself more often than a fish. Afterall, my self hook ratio is already excellent with standard trebles. Decoy does make a treble, and I ordered a pack to try out. The Y-F33F is a normal wire gauge with a single hook weighing 1.2 grams on my scale.

Gamakatsu's SP XH is truly XH!

Owner ST-66 (4X): It had long been my assumption, that if I wanted the heaviest possible replacement treble in any given size, Owner's ST-66 was the answer. The #1 hook in this 4X rated treble weighed 2.2 grams. That's actually one full gram lighter than the Gamakatsu SP XH listed above! So if this exercise helped me with anything, it was to discover a treble hook option even heavier than the ST-66. Mission accomplished!