OK... true to my pledge, here's my positive contribution for the week.

Last year I posted a tech tip on rigging a Spin-N-Glo with eggs using an amputated octopus style hook to allow the main hook to "hang back" for better hooking posture and exposure. Basically, it was rigged like a fixed double, with the top hook amputated in order to satisfy Kenai rules specifying "one single point hook." Eggs are looped into the amputated shank, while the real hook hangs back to nab your fish.

Here is an improved version that eliminates a potential weak spot in the original rigging by omitting one of the knots in the leader. It also allows you to adjust the amount of "hang back" for different sized hooks or baits. This is basically rigged like a sliding double, again with the top hook amputated. A separate piece of 8# mono is used to uni- or nail-knot the amputee to the leader (same knot used for bobber stops).



After you add your favorite combination of beads, Corkie(s), Spin-N-Glo or Flash/Spin Cheater to the hooks, it looks something like this.... DEADLY!




The best source of amputated hooks is old ones that have dulled beyond re-sharpening. Or perhaps that long lost stash of old cheap Eagle Claws or Mustads that you no longer use since switching to Gamakatsu or Owner.

Don't wear out your wire cutters trying to sever a stout hook. Use two pair of pliers to straighten the bend, and just hinge it back and forth across the same spot until the metal snaps. To finish the amputated shanks, bend the eye back to nearly 90 degrees... this helps the finished rig to ride in a straight line when your drift bobbers/beads are mounted on. Don't forget to touch up the broken end with a hook file to get rid of any sharp burrs that could damage the leader.

FYI, the recipe for this example was a new 7/0 red Gami, old 6/0 green Gami with rusted hookpoint from saltwater trolling, 40# Maxima UG (probably tests 55-60# in real life), and 8# Ande Envy green for the sliding uni-knot/nail-knot.

Good Tip FnP...

After seeing the size of the bait you guys use up there in AK I can see why you want to let that hook hang back there a ways...

Talk about choking a horse....

Nice! I hope that makes it into the board's tip section.

Good illustration.

Doc, my eyes are weak. Is there a snell knot on the shank of the amputee hook?

Sorry SH, my scanner's resolution sucks. The fully rigged pic is life-size but still doesn't show the details of the knots real well.

Main hook is tied with a standard bumper snell or egg loop knot... only 4-5 turns on the bumper part as the eggs do not actually go on this hook.

The leader is then threaded thru the eye of the amputated shank back to front.... no knot is used in the leader itself to snell the shank. That is the weak spot that I eliminated from the original method. A separate piece of light mono is used to create a sliding nail- or uni-knot around both the leader and the shank. Position this knot to create a generous space in which to place your egg cluster.

FNP,

Great minds are always innovating solutions to common problems. Your idea reminds me of the tube flies that have become common with a lot of steelheaders. The idea is that the fly is dressed on the tube to create a larger bait, while retaining the holding advantages of a short shanked hook. It looks to me like a short piece of plastic or metal tube would serve the same purpose - a spacer - as your amputee hookshank. It would allow you to use the style of hook you like with the large bait/lure. Do you think a tube would serve as well in your application?

Sincerely,

Salmo g.

Salmo,

But don't you want the eggs in the egg loop on the amputee? The tube wouldn't have anything to attach the bait to...if you were baitless, however, a tube, or several beads, would probably fit the bill...

Fish on...

Todd

Todd,

Ah, a bait loop. What would a fly flinger know? Sorry. My initial reaction is that it's just like a tube fly - conceptually speaking.

Went salmon fishing last week. Used herring for bait. What a hassle! Fly fishing's so much simpler . . . and less mess to deal with. But not too suitable for finding chinook in the big C.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.

Salmo, your right about the tube fly, but it also resembles an articulated leech pattern. There might be a way to rig that up so you can take advantage of the jointed hook (i.e. an articulated leech)

Salmo

During the early run (May-June) when no bait is allowed on the Kenai, what you described in the way of a tube or extra beads to create space between the SnG and the hook works just fine. Helps that hook to hang back in a better hooking position, especially for short strikers.

Such a rig does NOT work well when using bait because loading the loop with a cluster of eggs will ALWAYS cause the hook to lay in a goofy sideways position which is not conducive to a good hookup. I think a lot of fish are missed this way... look at the picture on the left:

Good tip Doc! Thanks for posting it