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[Every Day]

Me too! Dreaming of a day like that.

Hard to have it happen on the mainland, although I have had a few days on the Vedder with 20-30 coho hookups.
All about timing, knowing systems well and figuring out what fish want on any given day.
If you want the insane 50+ fish days with no one around, it's best to head over to the island and explore a bit.

I rarely get skunked at all any more for either coho or steelhead, but those are my main game.

At east with this method, from my experience, you can make best of the chances you do get. Once you have a solid hook set, for the most part, these hooks ain't coming out unless you break the fish off.

[Dr. Backlash]

It works!! Got my 2nd coho in as many outings on a 50/50 BC Steel spoon and I added the braid trailing hook.  This fish went crazy with many flips and summersaults and I had zero fear of the hook popping out at all.  When I landed it I noticed the hook lodged right in the side of the mouth.  Thanks for the awesome tip man!!  Going to rig all my BC Steel spoons this way.  Cheers!!

[NexusGoo]

nothing but love for the trailer hook method so far, landed some chromers with no fear of the hooks being shaken off. Thanks ED!!

[A Frayed Knot]

I wonder if i should do with this my Koho spoons?
I took a few a part today mostly because the paints been chipping a bit on some of them and the others are look pretty haggard so I took some time to clean them up.

[Golfer]

I wonder if i should do with this my Koho spoons?
I took a few a part today mostly because the paints been chipping a bit on some of them and the others are look pretty haggard so I took some time to clean them up.

I have done this with my #45 Koho's and have zero complaints.

[ali2pali]

Not sure if anyone else has had this problem, but I'm finding using this method results in the hook catching onto the split ring or barrel swivel at the top of the lure on quite a few casts....which then results in a "wasted" cast/retrieve as the spoon is not fishing properly.
Anyone out there dealing with this too?

[Lyall]

Not sure if anyone else has had this problem, but I'm finding using this method results in the hook catching onto the split ring or barrel swivel at the top of the lure on quite a few casts....which then results in a "wasted" cast/retrieve as the spoon is not fishing properly.
Anyone out there dealing with this too?

I have. Depends on the spoon size and shape....the smaller the spoon the more often this happens.

I've found you can eliminate this problem for the most part by making the trailer loop as small as possible (such that you can just get the hook through the loop. This shortens up the length of the trailer so that it can't wrap around your leader.

Other than that this is a great set-up! Thanks Everyday! Went from landing about 40-50% to 80-90%

[A Frayed Knot]

I have done this with my #45 Koho's and have zero complaints.

I may give it a shot, I don't fish them to lures to often really.

[Every Day]

Not sure if anyone else has had this problem, but I'm finding using this method results in the hook catching onto the split ring or barrel swivel at the top of the lure on quite a few casts....which then results in a "wasted" cast/retrieve as the spoon is not fishing properly.
Anyone out there dealing with this too?

This results very often if the loop is tied too long, as others have suggested. You want to aim for a loop that barley fits over the hook. This takes some practice to get it the perfect length, once you know the length and know where to place the knots, it's very quick and easy.

The other side of this, is the benefits highly outweigh the odd "wasted" cast. I'd rather waste a couple casts out of every 100 and have up to a 50% chance greater of landing the next fish I do catch, than have my spoon fish perfectly every cast all day and lose a bunch of fish. A normal trip, I might get 1 or 2 of these occurrences. When it does happen, it's very easy to tell. Quick reel in, little shake of the spoon, and off I go again.

Glad it's working well for most!

[Pin-nook]

The trailing hook thing is nothing new, the only difference is that ED is using dacron to extend the hook which I have seen done before.  I used split rings and a swivel many years ago on Blue Foxes and Koho spoons. The principle is the same and it does increase hookups cause most of you that have used hardware have seen fish follow lures and at the last minute bump or turn away.

[Every Day]

The principle is the same and it does increase hookups cause most of you that have used hardware have seen fish follow lures and at the last minute bump or turn away.

Principle of the barrel swivel to split ring is not the same as this. I've tried both, and landing ratio goes way up with the dacron, every single time I've tried it. They both increase hookups however, and cause less injury (if a smaller hook is used with the split ring/swivel combo, which doesn't seem to be most people's case).

There are no binding points with the dacron, period. With the swivel split ring combo, there are still binding points which give the fish leverage. Try rigging a couple of each up and twist the spoon around, you'll see what I mean. While they both put the hook farther back and increase hookups on picky fish, they don't work the same once a fish is hooked.

Lastly, the dacron is much more cost effective. As I said in an earlier post, I can get 100 hooks (non open eye, regular octopus hooks) for $10. The dacron is 6 bucks and will honestly last 1000's of hooks. So you're pretty much spending 10 cents on your components. With the typical split ring/swivel/open eye hook that I've seen used (lots) you will be no where near that, and if you are, I'd love to hear what open eye hooks you use. I've never seen even just the open eyed hooks at 10 cents a piece - let alone adding in the split ring and barrel swivel cost. Maybe that doesn't bother you, but for myself, the 50 cents per spoon I'm saving when I lose one is a big deal.

And finally, maybe you're right, and you have seen this before. I personally have never seen anyone rig up a spoon with a braided trailer hook before. In my last 2 years of using it, all I get is puzzled looks on the river. It may be hard to believe, but I did indeed come up with this and start using it on my own. I don't really care if I invented it or not, it's something not very commonly seen, it doesn't get used. I wanted to bring light to it so that people could increase landing and decrease injured fish - and finally, see how incredibly easy it is to do!

Cheers

[dennisK]

Not sure if this asked; but could you use braid like power pro instead of dacron?

[Every Day]

Every time I've tried to use braid, the edges of the spoon saw through it. I lost a number of fish, so I quit trying it. The dacron for some reason never really frays, maybe due to the somewhat waxy coating it has.

That being said, I've never tried higher than 20 pound braid. I'd imagine some of that thick 50+ pound stuff would work fairly well, just haven't had it around to try it.

[CoastRider]

Cheers,
Dan Krenz

Is this Kitty, or are ya trying out some new Nail polish there Dan

[skaha]

And finally, maybe you're right, and you have seen this before. I personally have never seen anyone rig up a spoon with a braided trailer hook before. In my last 2 years of using it, all I get is puzzled looks on the river. It may be hard to believe, but I did indeed come up with this and start using it on my own. I don't really care if I invented it or not, it's something not very commonly seen, it doesn't get used. I wanted to bring light to it so that people could increase landing and decrease injured fish - and finally, see how incredibly easy it is to do!

Cheers

--For me the big lesson here is observe a problem and come up with your own solution...just keep fine tuning your idea until you get what works for you.  I have adapted many river fishing techniques for use trolling in larger lakes. I use the trailing hook method...especially for kokanee that tend to bite at the back of the lure. I've used Dacron, wire,fluorocarbon and swivels. Each has it own issues and benefits... the fun is in knowing how the modification affects the presentation and hook up and choosing the best rig for the day.
--I often am not as interested in the magic lure as I am in the presentation. Once I know the presentation I can start with something similar and fine tune it as conditions change.

--Great fishing sense and thanks for sharing.