Trapper Tackle Hook Review | Gimmick or Game Changer?
To be completely transparent here, I will tell you that in 2015 I was approached by Trapper Tackle’s parent company Landum Outdoors about working with them to bring an innovative line of products to market. Despite that relationship, here’s why I can give you an objective Trapper Tackle Hook Review. Simply stated, I wouldn’t accept the opportunity without proof.
Like every other angler I know, when I see a new product that differs radically from what I am used to I tend to be skeptical. This case was no different. When I first saw the unconventional design of Trapper Tackle’s first prototype hook I instantly understood the principle. On paper, I really liked the concept, but there was no way I was going to buy into it, let alone stake my reputation on it without actually putting it to the test and fishing with it…a lot! So after I began fishing with them and formed my own opinions, I sent samples to a handful of trusted and very seasoned tournament pros and professional guides to get their feedback.
Our collective mission was to put Trapper Hooks through some serious field testing to determine if they were gimmicks or true game changers. We fished with a bunch of different baits, fished a number of different techniques and caught a variety of freshwater and saltwater species. What I saw from my own personal experiences with Trapper Hooks was a bit surprising. To be clear, the surprising part wasn’t what happened, it was the consistency with which it happened. The fact that everybody I shared the hooks with had similar experiences told me what I needed to know.
Trapper Tackle claims that the patented Trapper Box helps keep baits rigged better so you spend less time adjusting baits and more time making perfect presentations that are more prone to trigger strikes. To test this, I started by fishing a Zoom Super Fluke on a 5/0 Super Wide Gap Heavy Cover Trapper Hook in the Everglades around vegetation and a lot of downed cat tails and sawgrass. At first blush a 5/0 might be a little bigger than I needed, but it was the only size I had at the time. I’ve grown to like that particular pairing for a number of reasons I will reveal shortly. I intentionally tried to bump the bait off cover and rip the bait through vegetation and I was amazed at how well the bait stayed rigged and how long it stayed rigged before I needed to adjust it. What I found with the particular pairing of a Super Fluke rigged weedless and weightless on a 5/0 Offset Super Wide Gap Heavy Cover Trapper Hook was that the added weight of that beefy hook helped me make longer casts, created a faster and more natural fall and allowed me to work the bait as quickly and erratically as I wanted with out it rolling over on me. The real magic happens after the hook set! That first fish, a small largemouth was hooked right in the hard part of the snout and pinned in the Trapper Box. Then it happened again…and again…and again. Different Trapper Hooks rigged with different baits including trick worms, creature baits, horny toads, hand tied flies, custom made jigs and even fish caught on live bait all came to the boat, the bank or the net pinned in the Trapper Box part of the hook. The unique geometry of the Trapper Hook design creates a series of angles that are not only very difficult for fish to overcome, but they also restrict movement so the hook doesn’t rotate out of the fish’s mouth.
In test after test, each of us experienced a significant increase in fish retention and overall angler efficiency. The proof literally came in every catch and that evidence was replicated with surprising consistency over and over again on a variety of freshwater and saltwater species. It didn’t matter if they were hooked in the lip, the snout, the hinge of the jaw, roof of the mouth or even down in the gullet. As we examined how every fish was hooked we noticed one common factor. Each fish was landed with flesh in the Trapper Box. It was apparent these hooks were performing as well if not better than advertised.
It is so rare that a truly revolutionary product comes to market, but Trapper Tackle deserves credit for innovating a solution to the age old problem of losing fish after the hook set.
After seeing how Trapper Hooks performed and the consistency of which they do so, I can honestly say that Trapper Hooks are game changers that exceeded my expectations on many levels. So much so, that I actually invested in the company. If that fact alone doesn’t make you realize how much I believe in Trapper Tackle, let me summarize why. Trapper Hooks help you make significantly more casts during your time on the water because you don’t need to adjust your bait as frequently, and they help you land more fish because when fish get “trapped” in the Trapper Box they have a hard time getting enough momentum to throw the hook or leverage themselves free.
Of course, maybe now that you know about my relationship with this company you might be saying, “This guy can’t give an objective Trapper Tackle Hook Review.” That would be the time I would tee up the fact that Trapper won back to back ICAST New Product Showcase Best in Show Awards for Terminal Tackle in 2016 for the Dropshot – Live Bait Finesse Hook and again in 2017 for the Trapper Round Bend Treble Hook. But let’s face it, every angler worth his or her salt is a skeptic when it comes to new, unconventional products, and awards which have been voted on by people that may or may not have fished with a product don’t provide the proof most of us want as anglers…fish catches do. So don’t take my word for it, don’t buy into the hype of the awards and accolades, and certainly don’t pay any attention to the success tournament anglers like Hunter Schlander, Greg Gutierrez, Ken Mah, Vince Hurtado and Derek Hudnall are having. Order yourself a pack of Trapper Hooks and try them for yourself. You’ll get all the proof you need in every fish you land.
If you want another Trapper Tackle Hook Review you can find a bunch of them on YouTube or simply do a Google search for Trapper Tackle Hook Review.
Tight lines,
Keith Alan