Keep fish pinned with rotating SpinTech treble hooks from Basstar (continued)

We tried to find clear water in our first series of tests so we could observe the swimming action of our lures to see if the Spintech hooks changed the action of the lures at all. We found our test grounds at Lake Pardee where we could see over 20 feet down to the bottom of the lake in some areas. We quickly discovered that the SpinTech hooks while a little bigger in mass than the hooks we replaced them with did little to change the action of the baits at all, even ripbaits fished normally with these baits.

A look a the bottom, the hook is like a propeller

Over the course of the entire season I caught a lot of fish on these hooks and only two of the fish ever came off. Never once did I feel like a fish came off because the hooks failed, quite the opposite in fact, I’m positive that I was able to land more fish that didn’t commit as aggressively to the baits. The fish I did lose were probably not properly hooked to begin with or possibly just tagged right on the outside of their mouths from a mis-strike.

The eye on the SpinTech hooks is pretty robust but the rotation makes it a little tricky to put them on split rings quickly

When I first looked at the SpinTech hooks I thought the wire on the hooks might be a little thin for species like Stripers but the design of the hooks themselves reduces the need for a 2X strong hook. Because fish are unable to put leverage on the hooks due to locking up it is more difficult to bend the hooks either right or left. The hooks can still be bent backwards and I observed this at Lake Falcon where I had a fish run me into structure and I got hung up on my front hook. I was able to pull the hook open and retrieve the fish by pulling straight against the submerged tree branches. While I wasn’t able to fish the hooks against Peacocks the design held up well against both largemouth and striped bass but a 2X version would be a nice addition for those anglers that like to crank or rip it up with superlines.

Mid way through our tests the lures are looking beat up but  the hooks are holding up well

When you fight fish back to the boat the battle doesn’t feel different at all. The beauty of the SpinTech hook design is the performance is transparent, meaning the product simply does its job while you fish as you normally would. When a fish is stuck on both hooks the leverage between both hooks can still be used to pry the hooks out, but then again it really isn’t a concern if the fish is going to come off when double pinned, and should one hook come out the free spinning remaining hook will keep the fish hooked. The SpinTech hooks are all about improving your chances of keeping fish hooked.

The SpinTech hooks are available in a wide range of sizes and can be used on swimbaits

Not once during the season did the actual hook design fail, the pin kept the rotating hook spinning properly and never did we have either of the two sections separate during a battle. We were only able to break a hookpoint on a straight up snag with rocky structure, and even though we were able to break that hook point the two sections remained intact. We were impressed the design held up so well, and after we caught a bunch of fish on a variety of baits it was the lures that were looking tired, not the hooks.     

With free rotation it makes it harder for fish to use the weight and leverage of big baits against anglers

Price and Applications: SpinTech hooks are available in both freshwater and saltwater versions, and in standard or red finishes. Current size selections include #6, #4, #2, #1, 1/0, 2/0, and 3/0. We can imagine big bait makers that don’t currently offer rotating hook designs using these hooks on their baits as an added value. Anglers at home now have the ability to add this feature to any of their baits, no matter how big or small. The SpinTech hooks are reasonably priced and a pack of 4 hooks retails for $6.99 which works out to $1.74 per hook. This is slightly more expensive than premium hooks from the likes of Gamakatsu and Owner. Whether or not the SpinTech hooks are as sharp is debatable, what we can say is they did the job just fine.  In our tests we found the hookpoints on the SpinTech hooks performed very well with reaction baits as well as both hard and soft bodied swimbaits. Many anglers are brand loyal when it comes to terminal tackle and Basstar’s biggest challenge will be winning over anglers that have their mind’s set on a particular brand.

The SpinTech design is clever and functions well, not once did we have the two sections separate during fishing. The rotating design helps keep fish pinned on no matter which way they turn

Ratings: (We've re-calibrated our ratings standard for 2008 and have included a key at the bottom of the following matrix as a guide):

Pluses and Minuses: