# Assist Hooks



## Moonlight (Aug 1, 2007)

I've noticed Kil Song and others rigging their Jigs with assist hooks on the bottom of the jig only....I'm wondering why? Better for big fish? I'm rigging up for a floater trip in the GOM late jan. I've caught tons of yft on swimbaits and poppers, chunking too, but have never had much luck with the them on jigs...thats one of my goals on this trip. Any advice is much appreciated !

so far what I've learned is slower jigging, fish upper water column more, wider slower jigs that hang in the strike zone longer......models?


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## J.R (Sep 26, 2015)

We catch most of our Yellowfin at night on 100 gm and 170 gm Flat Fall jigs. We have caught them on both jigs the glow in the dark and sometimes with jigs that do not glow. YFT will hit Flat Fall jigs at night but so will the Blackfin. Here are some photos taken at night from Tuna taken on Striker Tackle jigs. All of these photos are from Venice, LA at the floaters and drill ships. 

Feel free to send a PM with any questions. !tuna!


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## Dick Hanks (Aug 16, 2007)

Your 100 G flat fall come with a split ring at the eye end but the 170 G do not have a split ring at the eye end. I would assume that with the split ring being the weakest link, you chose not to add them to the 170 G and up jigs? What is pound test of the split rings that you use?

Having the assist hooks at the eye end allows your line and the hooks to both be on the solid ring, and the split ring only supports the weight of the jig. Is the hook up ratio that much higher with the hooks at the bottom to make giving up a stronger link to the fish worthwhile?


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## Dick Hanks (Aug 16, 2007)

Well, today I experienced a good reason to have the assist hooks at the bottom of a flat fall jig. I fished 2 wrecks (235 ft and 340 ft) that I had jig "bite offs" in the past. This time I was using Striker Jigs with the hooks at the bottom. Brought home 1 Blackfin Tuna and had the assist hooks bitten off of 2 of their 170 G jigs....... but I didn't lose the jigs! Having the assist hooks farther from your main line does save some jig from bite offs. This is in Florida.... don't know if it was Kings, Sharks, or Cuda.


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## Moonlight (Aug 1, 2007)

I like the look of the flat fall Jigs - I have mostly used shimano butterfly jigs in the past......suggesting the 100 gram suprises me but thinking about it, the lighter jig gives you a better fall action. StrikerTackle - what would you say your average depth is for your yellowfin jig bite?


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## hog (May 17, 2006)

I have litterally a couple hundred verticle jigs... sort of a Jig-a-Halic I guess you could say.

But, I bought my first flat fall about a year ago, and after that one trip where I SKEPTICALLY used it... I have a mess of'm now. Many from the above company.

I Do use the hooks that come on them, but, I also make my own for when the replacement assist are needed (bite offs) 

I'll give you one example.... last summer, a friend called and asked if I would deck for him for a couple guys, that had bought a trip to go fish'n with him to raise money for some sort of charity thing... 

I had about half dozen of these, we also had bait of 2 or 3 kinds. These two executive types that no nothing about Offshore fish had NEVER if I remember right even gone offshore before, much less jig.

I gave them both about 3-4 minutes of demonstration and a bit of coaching, and they caught fish till they said "thats enough, my arms are give out"...
took another first timer, the next trip that was a 19 yr old youngster.... gave him one jig and a jigg'n pole, he went to town. he now has his own boat, own rods, and some flat fall jigs... that was about 7 months ago.. 

They work... 


JMO
Hog..


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## J.R (Sep 26, 2015)

Dick Hanks said:


> Your 100 G flat fall come with a split ring at the eye end but the 170 G do not have a split ring at the eye end. I would assume that with the split ring being the weakest link, you chose not to add them to the 170 G and up jigs? What is pound test of the split rings that you use?
> 
> For some reason when we got batch of these jigs from the factory they all had split rings at the top. I never use a split ring at the top. We just took them off. Some people we sold them to kept them on.
> 
> Having the assist hooks at the eye end allows your line and the hooks to both be on the solid ring, and the split ring only supports the weight of the jig. Is the hook up ratio that much higher with the hooks at the bottom to make giving up a stronger link to the fish worthwhile?


Some guys do switch the hooks to the eye end. I think its just a personal preference.



Dick Hanks said:


> Well, today I experienced a good reason to have the assist hooks at the bottom of a flat fall jig. I fished 2 wrecks (235 ft and 340 ft) that I had jig "bite offs" in the past. This time I was using Striker Jigs with the hooks at the bottom. Brought home 1 Blackfin Tuna and had the assist hooks bitten off of 2 of their 170 G jigs....... but I didn't lose the jigs! Having the assist hooks farther from your main line does save some jig from bite offs. This is in Florida.... don't know if it was Kings, Sharks, or Cuda.


That happens sometimes. Wahoo will hit these jigs also, but the Kings love them. I have seen some guys rig the hooks with 7 strand wire to prevent bite offs.



Moonlight said:


> I like the look of the flat fall Jigs - I have mostly used shimano butterfly jigs in the past......suggesting the 100 gram suprises me but thinking about it, the lighter jig gives you a better fall action. StrikerTackle - what would you say your average depth is for your yellowfin jig bite?


I find the Yellowfin hit the 100 gram jig better at night. The 100 jigs falls slower which means it stays in the strike zone longer. I would say the average bite would be 100ft-150ft. It really just depends where they holding in the water column.



hog said:


> I have litterally a couple hundred verticle jigs... sort of a Jig-a-Halic I guess you could say.
> 
> But, I bought my first flat fall about a year ago, and after that one trip where I SKEPTICALLY used it... I have a mess of'm now. Many from the above company.
> 
> ...


Awesome story. I want to thank all you guys for the business. I really appreciate it.


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## tngbmt (May 30, 2004)

it has been so long since i fished that things are so different
maybe it's just me


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## Dick Hanks (Aug 16, 2007)

Here are some additional thoughts on assist hooks. I'm not trying to pass off these thoughts as fact.... but rather my impressions. Definitely chime in if you thoughts are going in a different direction:

I really like the new, shorter assist hooks that Striker is starting to put on their jigs as bottom hooks. You can see the difference in the picture. The 100 G has the shorter Kevlar assist hooks. This keeps the bottom hooks closer to the jig and I think more hook ups in the mouth and not the fishes face. I haven't been able to figure out how to get 170# 7-Strand wire this short yet.

As mentioned in an above post, I've been getting bite off problems. Sometimes just the hooks, and sometimes everything. Given the depth of the wrecks that I was fishing, and the fact that the strikes came 1/2 way up from the wreck, these might have been Wahoo bite offs. The picture below, I have rigged a 170 G Striker with the 170# 7-Strand. I put the assist hook on the bottom end, but will be moving it to the eye end because it is longer than I like for bottom hooks. I will still have to use about 8" to 10" of 90# wire between the main line and the solid ring. 

You can see in the picture, that if you rig the wire with 2 crimps (Shown before I put on shrink tube), you can't get the assist hook much shorter. The reason that I'm using 170# wire is that I think that I get stronger crimping this way. I'm using oval crimps. Any thoughts on how to make these differently to get them shorter? The hooks that I used in this picture are the Mustad Big Gun Ultrapoint 8/0

I have found and purchased pre-made wire assist hooks, but they aren't any shorter than my homemade ones.

Hey Hog, will you post up some pictures of the modified assist hooks that you make? The one that you have shown with the Red Snapper looks very interesting, but I couldn't see all of the details.


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## hog (May 17, 2006)

Dick Hanks said:


> Hey Hog, will you post up some pictures of the modified assist hooks that you make? The one that you have shown with the Red Snapper looks very interesting, but I couldn't see all of the details.


I will, just not able to get any photos right now.. I'll post up some maybe this weekend..


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## hog (May 17, 2006)

Here ya go Dick Hanks....

I not only make all my Assist for the Flat Falls, But, do the same for my others also.

The one Im showing here with the Squid Skirts is the Flat Fall Design, the other pictured are some of the regular assist.

I also sometimes make a regular double hook assist for the flat falls similar to how you buy'm. But, Im partial to the glow in the dark squid.

Im always search'n for better hooks. In the case of Flatfalls, as you know they not only have to be strong, but also very light. These are just I think Gamakatzu Live Bait hooks probably from memory a size 1 or 2... (Im still look'n for better, unless you put your jigs in the Dishwasher after a fishing trip or rinse real good, these are gonna rust with time.)

Theres better line than this, but, Im always look'n there too... 

I poke a hole in the nose of the squid skirt
I press a perch bobber in the head of the Skirt to make it float some
put the spectra thru the nose of the skirt
I pull thru the bobber, and slip over the floresent bead
measure and tie on my hook. Knots up to you.. there are several options. a semi uni works great.

For the flatfalls, i use 130# JB Hollow Spectra and try to double inside itself if the hook eye will allow. JB is VERY limber which I like for these... I by some glow in the dark Squid Skirts, some small perch bobbers, and I even get a Fluorescent sleeve. I put those all inside the Squid (on the next to the bottom photo, if you will look infront of the hook, you can see the bead). What this does is allows the hooks to be on the upside of the jig sorta danc'n in the water even if bouncing on the bottom, the hooks ready to be sticky...

I sometimes do make this same thing for a single assist hook also for vertical jig'n, but, Im not sold on that combo yet unless your mainly bottom bounce'n..

My deal is, I get some sort of satisfaction out't mak'n'm myself I guess. I glue things on jigs sometimes, Eyes, Rhinestones, Flashiboo etc... . 
Yes, I still use the factory made, but, soon as theirs gets frayed or is cut off, Im putt'n mine on..


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## Dick Hanks (Aug 16, 2007)

Wow! Excellent post Hog.... Thank you.

I've seen a lot of videos where squids were used in conjunction with jigs, but didn't know anything about the "how or the why". Putting the float in the squid head is also something that I had not seen, but want to try. I've got a pile of squids to experiement with. I also enjoy tinkering with (modifying) tackle.


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## hookN (Oct 27, 2015)

There is no why or how , its fishing . 
No rules have ever been written about it , just keep it simple and you'll have a higher success rating.


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## hog (May 17, 2006)

Forgot these were in our seldom used dish washer from a trip about a month ago. Found'm this weekend


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## Dick Hanks (Aug 16, 2007)

Do you always tie your mainline to the end that has the squid? I see swivels on both ends of the bottom diamond jig.... how do you use that?


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## J.R (Sep 26, 2015)

We now offer the following OWNER products at www.strikertackle.com for you jigs.


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## hog (May 17, 2006)

They look good!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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