02-27-2006, 09:40 PM
I[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3] respectfully disagree with BLM, but hey, we all have our opinion. I always use stinger hooks on tube jigs and I would bet I catch 30-40% of the fish on the stinger. I don't run the stinger back far enough to do significant damage on every fish, I only run a piece of mono back about 1-2" beyond the point of the main hook and rarely do I injure a fish with the stinger. FYI, I typically use a #10 treble as the stinger. I do agree that you could injure more fish this way, but I keep a fair number of cutthroat that I catch. I have yet to "kill" a fish with the stinger that had to be released (i.e. not clipped). Approximately 85-90% of the cutthroat in Bear Lake are clipped fish. (I know this has always been a debatable percentage, but I literally handle hundreds of cutthroat each year and that ratio has been static for about 10 years now).
In the end, using a stinger, really depends on what your objective is. If it is to catch fish to eat, use the stinger for what I feel is a much higher hooking-to-landing ratio. If you are only catching/releasing then skip the stinger if you desire and you may save a fish or two. With a relatively lower catch rate than compared to more productive waters, I prefer to maximize my chances of landing fish.
Thanks for the comments Rich, this could be a good subject for others to jump in on!
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In the end, using a stinger, really depends on what your objective is. If it is to catch fish to eat, use the stinger for what I feel is a much higher hooking-to-landing ratio. If you are only catching/releasing then skip the stinger if you desire and you may save a fish or two. With a relatively lower catch rate than compared to more productive waters, I prefer to maximize my chances of landing fish.
Thanks for the comments Rich, this could be a good subject for others to jump in on!
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