Tadpolly's have always been one of my favorite plugs. I switched to a single hook, for the purpose of releasing fish easier. My problem seems to be,less solid hookups.I will get a good takedown,grab the rod out of the holder,the fish will be gone! I took both treble hooks off,and replaced the bottom hook with a Gami 1/0 siwash. Should I be using a larger hook? Maybe,three lost fish in a row just a continuation of the crappy season I have had. How do you guys set up your Tad's.
EdDuck

the man to ask would be saukit2em, he runs tadpolys regiously, are you useing a split ring or beadchain i know it will help to put the hook in the right place for better hook ups

For what it's worth.
I use tadpollys exclusively it is important to use at least one barrel swivel between the hook and plug. I here alot of guy's use the swivel chain but I seem to do well with the single.
Also don't keep your drag too tight. I like mine so the fish almost always takes line as you are getting it out of the holder. We had a period where we went 1 for 13 fish. We had the same problem you are having. When we loosened the noose we wnt 15 strait without loosing one.

Hope this helps, remember free advice is only worth the money you pay.

Ron Bob

When running a single siwash, use a pair of split rings and the the single hook. This will get your hook point pointed in the correct position.

No need for swivel chains or barrel swivels on a Tad.

In all honesty, both Saukit2em and I have switched over to a single trebble hook on the Tads. I'm a firm believer that a single siwash will do for more damage to a fish then a trebble.

We do use singles on the C&R seasons, though.

You'll never see a steelhead engulf a trebble hook - at least I never have. I've seen siwashes stuck deep in fish. It's just too easy to hook the tongue, throat or gills with a single.

I'd recommend the Gammy EWG or the new Owner. Both are good, sharp hooks.

Hey RonBob - what rods do you use with your Tads? I wonder if this all comes back to the memory effect in newer graphite rods? Loosening the drag, would seem to me, to counter effect the graphite rod snapping back during a take down. Kinda makes you go, "huh" when thinking about it.

Parker

[ 04-04-2001: Message edited by: parker ]

Hey guys, thanks for the quick responses. I took both trebles off,and the upper split ring. I attached the siwash hook to the lower split ring. If I go to barbless trebles,what size should I use? Also,I have been using a Lure Jensen Snap Clip (I think that is what they are called)on the bill, to tie my line onto. Is this the correct setup? Or should I be using a split ring on top. There is definetly varied opinions,and I'm sure they all work,on how to properly set up a plug.
Thanks for all your input.
EdDuck

I use Lamies, mostly because that's what I have.They seem to work just great. I don't want it to sound like I loosen the drags way up. Justenough so the fish can take line if it wants to. We had the drags so tight that on some fish they hit and started to go we couldn't get the rod out of the holder very easily.
Last year we hooked close to 70 fish and after we loosened the drag we ended up getting 55 to the boat. We used a single swivels and we didn't have a single fish hooked deep.They are so much easier to unbutton. We don't even have to touch them.

Like Parker, I prefer to run a single treble as well when the regs allow. I used to run the Gami extra wide gaps, but have gone back to the Gami barbless that have a slight beak inward ... it's got a little more length to hold than the EWG's have have had better luck recently with those.

With singles, I've run the barrels off the back with a 2/0 gami siwash ... I've had mixed success overall. I've been looking at trying the upturned hook with two split ring setup as well as switch to an Octopus hook rather than a siwash as I've heard of better results with those vs. the siwash ... but I've probably pulled plugs maybe 2-3 hours total since December this year with the lower flows, so I haven't had a chance to do much testing with the other setups.

I run 981's for my plug rods, may opt for lighter rods next season.