Baning stinger hooks

[deacon]

what do you all reccon about stinger hooks on plastics? i think they should be banned as most big fish take a plastic deeply and i stinger would prolly cost them there life. JMO

[Dave Press]

I personally dont use them, not because I dont like them...but because I'm slack and dont use big plastics much.

However, I am a lil worried about the risks of deep hookings. I dont know how much it affects the fish, but it surely cant be good. Some hooks definately dont rust away as quickly as some believe.
In reality its not really any different than bait fishing...so I guess theres a lot of speculation as to the true effects of deep hookings.

I'm rambling...I'll stop here.
LOL

Dave

[Bear]

In all the fish I have caught with the stingers, only one had to be cut because of depth. It's probably a risk we take with all jig heads and hb lures.

JMO.

[Stu_000]

Of the 30+ fish I have caught on stingers not one has been deep hooked. It does happen but it's a rarity so I'm a definate NO.

[Bear]

I suppose it depends on what you use. The drop shot hooks I use are fine and rust fairly quickly, as I've found out.

Some of the heavier, pre-rigger stinger could take longer to rust away for sure.

To me I think there is more of a concern in trebles in fish eyes than stinger damage.

JMO.

[nabs]

I agree with Hooked,
Well with gulp being pretty mich bait in a shape of a lure, i dont think u need to add an extra hook...
JMO

[Stu_000]

I caught a fish through the eye with the jighead on a stinger rig.
That fish is probably now blind (in that eye) and may die as a result.

So where do we draw the line?

[BIG PETE]

the way i see it is its just another way of catching fish not cheating at all, i have had bream eat hole jig heads and havnt been able to get out of its mouth with out pulling its mouth apart i have also had to leave trebles in as well

like Bear said the drop shot hooks are thin and rust fairly quickly

[will10]

Stu

I carn't really see the difference between the stinger and the trebles on a lure , wouldn't mind a dollar for every fish thats had the other treble stuck in the eye or some other part of the head area , JMO
I'm a bit like Dave like the stinger idea but to lazy to rig it up



Chris

[Ducks]

I can't really see how the use of a stinger poses any more threat of danger than any other way of fishing.

If you have a 6" worm and a fish inhales it deeply and gets the stinger in back of the gob, then if it had of been a 2-3" worm being engulfed that deeply, you end up with the jig hook and head being stuck halfway down the gob.

I think on the whole, it would do way less damage on a fish by fish basis than a 50mm minnow fished with 2 trebles.

I also don't see how an argument based on a stinger being used can centre on one particular style of lure. The people making those comments, does that mean it is OK to use a stinger in non-Gulp plastics, since they aren't more like bait?

ps. I've never used a stinger rig in my life - even when bait fishing way back when.

[brad mcdonald]

interesting question i guess.

i have only fished with a stinger once, at the moore river electric event. i did have one hooked deep so i just cut the whole rig off and put him in the well with the thought of having another look b4 the weigh in or b4 letting him go if i up graded. anwyay long story short. he swam around in the well for about 4 hours and when i got him out to to see about removing the rig, the whole thing just droped out in my hand and he swam off after weigh in happy as..... i guess my point is that perhaps it has more to do with how the fish is delt with rather than the type of hook setup used. somtimes letting the hooks work thier own way out appears better than trying to remove it yourself.

on another note i did have a fish die on me at walpole after it swallowed a laser pro 45 right down deep into the gills, probably would not have happened if the lure had single hooks rather than trebils.....

for what its worth my vote was no....

brad

[Stu_000]

Originally posted by will10
[B]Stu

I carn't really see the difference between the stinger and the trebles on a lure , wouldn't mind a dollar for every fish thats had the other treble stuck in the eye or some other part of the head area , JMO

That's exactly my point Chris. Do we ban trebles, chemically sharpened hooks, etc etc? Where do we draw the line?

[Bear]

I do think there are things that we can do to avoid fish taking a stinger deep, like using a bigger (wider gape) stinger hook or even switch to a work hook style stinger.

[lure_muncher]

Originally posted by Bear
I do think there are things that we can do to avoid fish taking a stinger deep, like using a bigger (wider gape) stinger hook or even switch to a work hook style stinger.

Or maybe Gama Twinex's? I like the look of them and they come in size 2, I believe

[bubba]

I voted to ban stinger hooks and it was something I was going to bring up with WABT this weekend anyway. My feelings are that any additional chance that a hook needs to be left inside a fish are unacceptable.
We are promoting catch and release tournaments with the emphasis on keeping the fish as healthy as possible. We spends alot of money on livewells and aeratoers to do this and we also pass it onto the general public that we are a responsible organisation.
People in this thread have said that they have caught fish on stingers and only x number have been deep hooked. Then there are pictures on the forum that show fish gut hooked and the only way to get the hook out is to cut the line and let it rust out.
Unacceptable!
There is no reason to use them. Ever. Period. THere are people (including myself) that crush the barbs on trebles and jig hooks to allow for easy removal. Now while it cant be enforced I also recommend people do it but stinger are just plain nasty.
Ban them I say