Another lure that I love using for golden perch and Murray cod in my beloved Mulwala is the Custom Crafted Extractor . This lure is dynamite and can handle a lot of extra weight and still float and fish really well . However , in recent times , my good mate Marc Ainsworth has been playing around with his Extractors and has found a way to actually lighten up the lure and turned it into an even more deadly lure . Here ’ s how he does it .
Marc will remove the front split ring and tie directly to the lure ’ s tow point with a loop knot . This is a key factor . The trebles are removed and replaced with Mustad KVD hooks and the split rings remain the same . This process actually lightens up the lure and we both believe it gives the lure a stronger action . When we golden perch fish , speed is often super critical and these mods allow the lure to swim harder at slower speeds by actually lightening up the whole rig . The Mustad KVD trebles are 1x strong – plenty strong enough for golden perch and Murray cod up to the 75-80cm mark when fished on 20lb braid and a 4-6kg rod .
strength
The strength of the treble is probably the main reason we change out trebles on lures . More often than not we are looking at increasing the strength so that we can fish heavier lines to keep hard fighting fish out of the snags .
understand so that you do not have higher expectations of the hook ’ s strength than it actually has . The 1x is perhaps the most misunderstood with these hooks being 1 times stronger than the standard hook ( roughly twice as strong ).
Additionally , a small 4x treble is never as strong as a large 4x treble of the same pattern . Again the treble will be 4x stronger than the standard treble of the same size and pattern . This often trips people up who expect that 4x treble in 2 / 0 to be as strong as the 4x treble in 6 / 0 . They will not be the same strength . If you fish a lure rigged with 4x 6 / 0 trebles on 50lb line , you ’ ll likely get away with it on just about any species , however , if the same line is used on 4x 2 / 0 trebles , you ’ ll likely straighten them out if you fish the same drag and hook the same sized fish .
For fish like barramundi this is critical . Barra don ’ t fight as hard as say a GT , but the strength they possess in their jaws is extraordinary and this is where split rings rip apart and trebles lose tines or open up . Unfortunately , sometimes it is trial and error if you are doing your own research and you are always fighting the battle between strength and hook set ability as the stronger the treble is , generally the thicker the metal and the harder it is to penetrate and get a solid hook up .
The strength of a treble is a little bit misunderstood generally speaking . A 2x hook in one pattern is never the same strength as a 2x hook in another pattern , even from the same manufacturer . The designations of 1x , 2x , 3x , 4x and so on simply represent the number of times stronger that treble is than the standard hook of that pattern . This is important to
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