Lake Ontario Fishing Forum Trout Salmon Sport Fishing Charter

Single or treble, that is the question. Whether tis nobler in the minds of men…I’m not sure how Hamlet would have finished this.  The debate has been around for many, many years.

There are two basic schools of thought on the subject of hooks on trolling spoons.  One school says leave whatever the manufacturer put on the spoon as it is, figuring that the manufacturer field tested his product for best performance.  The second school says change out trebles for singles.

I’m with the second school.  I change mine to singles, at least the great majority of them.  The only disadvantage I see to the single is that you will occasionally “brain-hook” a small fish.  However with a treble, you’d probably have destroyed that small fish’s mouth, especially upon hook removal.

In my experience, the singles provide more solid hookups.  In general they go a little farther down a fish’s mouth than the treble.  I.E. I’ve never lip-hooked or jaw-hooked a fish with one as I have with trebles.  Singles are easier to store flat in my tackle box; easier to untangle from the net after landing a fish, easier to remove from my finger, clothes & boat furniture.  They take less effort to sharpen as obviously there are fewer points.

The single is lighter than the same size treble and offers less resistance in the water so the spoon has a tendency to wobble more at a slower speed.  It also will begin spinning out of control at a slightly slower speed than the treble laden spoon.  (However this effect can be counteracted somewhat, if you want, by slightly bending the spoon.  I.E. at the same speed you’ll get more wobble with more bend and less wobble with less bend. You do have to be careful doing this though and even then you’ll probably ruin the first few spoons.)

Now that we’ve gone through all that, here’s the real reason I like singles – available speed.  Think about the physics and simple mechanics between boats.  Compare a 24 Ft I/O with a 16 ft outboard.  The 24 is much heavier, sits deeper & stands much higher than the 16 when in the water.  They have different size props.  Chances are the 24 generally has more people on board.  Chances are also greater that the 24 has someone at the helm at all times and probably has trolling bags out whereas the 16 generally does not.

Now think about engines & engine controls, in general.  Most idle around 600 RPM.  RPMs do not increase in set steps.  I.E. a little gas & you’re turning at 675 RPM, a little more & you jump to 850, little more and you’re at 1100, etc.  Every engine/boat is a little different, but regardless, no one can step it up in small even intervals.  Although chances are that the bigger boat has much smoother throttle controls than the little guy has.

At 600 RPM, without bags, the 24 may be doing 2.4 mph.  Due to water, weight & wind resistance, at 675 RPM, he might be doing 2.6 mph; at 850 RPM he might be doing 2.9 mph or there-abouts.  The 24 probably won’t begin to plane off till he hits 1900 RPM or more.  The little guy: at 600 RPM may be doing 1.7 mph; at 675 RPM,  2.3 mph; at 900 RPM, 3.5 mph & at 1100 he may be starting to plane off.  The smaller boat doesn’t have that weight, wind or drag in the water preventing him from “taking off.”  I’ve noticed over the years, it’s darn near impossible for me to “match speeds” with any of the bigger boats off the Genny.

Trolling plates, trolling bags, buckets, even kicker motors, etc are great things to help you slow down.  But what is available to help the “speed up” control.  About all the little guy can do is step up the RPM & use something like bags to prevent you from over-shooting the desired speed.  Unfortunately, bags & buckets are a real hassle for the “little guy” with limited crew, and especially if he’s a soloist.

There’s also the old axiom that every lure will work within its specific speed range.  I believe it should say:  every lure will work within it specific “wobble range.”  Manufacturer’s may very well field test their spoons & hooks but I don’t know of any that do it from little boats on the Great lakes.  I also don’t know of any that state a specific speed their lure works at.  However some do give ranges such as 2-2.6 mph or claim theirs are more speed tolerant than others.  On the same topic, I’m sure everyone has heard of the guy that catches gadzillions of fish on a particular lure yet has never caught one himself on the same lure.  Or a particular lure works great on one boat but is worthless on another.  What’s the difference?  I’m pretty sure it’s amount of wobble.

So there you have the real reason I like single hooks: I’m a little guy.  I’m going slow.  It’s a hassle for me to speed up to a certain mph.  I want spoons to wobble at a speed I can easily maintain.  The lighter single hook allows me greater wobble at my slower speeds.

That’s my take at it.  I’d suggest you take a look at what you & your boat does regarding speed.  What speed are you normally running at?  Then decide for yourself: single or treble.

One more tidbit about hooks: Single or treble – keep them sharp!

Luck to all,

Tom B.
(LongLine)

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