So I am considering replacing standard hooks on my whopper ploppers with red hooks. Is this worth the time and expense ?

Maybe. Do it on half of them and then tell us! :)

"Our red hooks look irresistible to fish!!"

"Our red fishing line is completely invisible under water!!"

schweady: ""Our red hooks look irresistible to fish!!"

"Our red fishing line is completely invisible under water!!" "

Something about those two lines doesn't jive.

I have about a dozen of the whopper ploppers in various sizes and I think those hooks are extremely sharp. I would l leave the hooks alone on those, because with the plopping action there is enough to attract fish. With that said I really like red hooks, but I don’t go out of the way to change quality hooks.

I like red hooks on certain cranks but not for a plopper

Wow , you guys are great. Thanks

schweady: ""Our red hooks look irresistible to fish!!"


"Our red fishing line is completely invisible under water!!"
"

LOL, that's funny.

It seems funny to me, that there are so many different colors of rapalas, but most of them are white on the bottom. I often wonder if a fish, striking a rapala from underneath, sees anything but white?

I do like to fish with red hooks, when I'm using leeches or minnows. It could be just imagination, but they seem to work better than plain silver or gold.

analyzer: "

schweady: ""Our red hooks look irresistible to fish!!"



"Our red fishing line is completely invisible under water!!"
"

LOL, that's funny.
"

Our crew uses the Cajun red fishing line and red hooks with leeches and minnows but we leave the hooks on that come with the whopper ploppers.

Color is given way too much emphasis and for the wrong reasons IMO. I make lures and have caught fish on them which has allowed me the opportunity to test all of the claims I've read about color choice over the last 40 years - color is one of many. And when it comes to color, color is in the 'eye' of the beholder. You and I can see a color when out of the water, but depending on so many factors, fish see something quite different and at times hourly depending on clouds, sun position, stained water, cover etc.

Red hooks in my experience have never made a difference especially at deeper depths where red turns to gray. More important is what the lure looks like, acts like and sounds like to fish. A color may enhance those qualities but generally speaking, many colors could do just as well in most situations.

Lastly, what is a fish drawn to when it comes to lures and what causes it to strike? Certainly not hooks. If it had half a brain, it would swim in the other direction!

Savage Voyageur: "because with the plopping action there is enough to attract fish.

I agree with this statement. I don't think many fish that strike a whopper plopper are getting a good look at it. It's noisy and causes a violent reaction. Stuck through a leech under a bobber, might be a different story.

I do put red trebles on the FRONT of most of my lipped and lipless crankbaits, but not jerkbaits. I do put red/white feathered trebles on the backs of my poppers, but nothing different on my Whopper Ploppers. I do also use red or orange octopus hooks for leeches.

Here's a story for you. On Crooked last year, in early June, my friend and I were trolling on the way to Curtain Falls and back, on a bright and sunny day. I had a white/silver/black shad rap (not sure of the size, probably 3" long) tied on, with the red front treble. We were paddling a bit fast as we were more intent on getting to our destination, so not the ideal trolling speed. I hooked into 4 walleye on the way up there and 3 on the way back, all on that single crankbait. After 3 walleye on mine, my buddy realized he had the same lure, and swapped it out. We had roughly the same line angle, and hopefully roughly the same amount of line out. He hooked into a pike and 1 walleye on the way back, but that's all he got. Meanwhile, I continued to catch them. My best of the day was a new personal best, a 27 incher that must have just been hanging out near a dropoff we were paddling parallel to.

Now, my buddy did have FireLine with no leader, while I was using straight fluorocarbon, so line visibility could have been a factor....... but don't you just want to believe it was the red hook that did it? :)

When it comes to claims made regarding anything when it comes to fishing, basic statistics matter. To test an idea - red hooks, fluorocarbon leaders, lure color choices, certain lures and a host of other factors, 'time is of the essence' meaning testing something on many outings and on different waters over many months.

For example, if you see photos my in posts of lures and the fish caught on them, you can bet they caught fish whenever and wherever I found fish. Can I prove they catch larger fish in the waters I fish. No, but they catch numbers of fish including a few large ones. My camera documents examples of fish caught on all outings and the lures they were caught on and then stored in dated folders for particular waters. No guessing a year from now if certain lures in certain colors worked or anything tested over many months and on different lakes.

schweady: ""Our red hooks look irresistible to fish!!"


"Our red fishing line is completely invisible under water!!"
"

Hmm so fish cant see red lures ;)
some people love the red hooks, i'll take a neutral color with a gamukatsu hook anyday. replaced all the hooks on my Rap CD9's collection , just didnt like the factory hooks they came with.