South Texas Summer......

[slowride]

it has been like survival heat out there on the flats this summer but if you get out early you can beat the heat and get into some killer action and be back home by lunchtime.....

[ron romeis]

Dean, sorry to barge in on your blog... I tried to send this comment straight to Todd, but the site wouldn't let it through for some reason... I'd like to hear your take on the single hooks and how you rig them..

[ron romeis]

Todd...Mike McBride wrote an article in Texas Saltwater Fishing Magazine in July 2008 that gave a detailed procedure for putting single hooks on various topwaters, mirrolures, etc. If you can find that article it has pictures and is quite detailed. I believe TSF mag. has an archive, you may have to have a subscription, but this article alone is worth the price...

Anyway McBride suggests using Gamakatsu Live Bait Hooks,
In order for the setup to work properly, you will need to use two split rings in order for the hooks to hang straight..For top dogs, skitterwalks and larger baits..he uses a 3/0 hook on the front and a 2/0 on the back.Face the front hook forward and and rear facing backward...this setup goes through grass well and the hookup ratio is good.
on smaller baits such as the Super Spook Jr... he uses 1/0 hooks front and back he will also do this for Mirodines and mirrrominnow.. he may also use a 2/0 on the front and 1/0 on the rear for the catch 2000 and Catch Jr.
I've been using his setup for a couple years, experimenting with various sizes of split rings and hooks till I find the ones that I like best.
I switched to this rig after sinking a set of trebles in my thumb and having to have them surgically removed... I find that handling the single hooked fish is less damaging to the fish and makes a release easier and faster. My chances of getting hooked has gone down significantly.

the only down side to this setup is that the gamakatsu hooks will rust if not rinsed after use in saltwater...

Sadly, Mike McBride was badly hit by a sting ray recently and contracted the vibrio bacteria. I haven't seen a report on how he's doing, but is apparently going to have a long road back. He is a well respected south Texas Guide.

[ron romeis]

You are the man Dean...sure wish I was on those flats with you. Somehow your water always looks so much better than ours up here.

[Jeff Madre]

Great photos and a nice-looking fish. I'm looking forward to my first drum from the 'yak soon.

[Todd Llewellyn]

Dean-Is that a single hook rig you have converted the spook jr. bait with. Looks interesting, have never seen that before. What type of hooks are you using? Is the action the same?