Hello all my buzz bait/spinner bait fisherman.
If you are tying on that buzzbait or spinner bait for this fall bite, make sure you are considering adding a trailer hook of some kind to your setup. It could be a straight shank worm hook, treble hook, or whatever kind of hook you feel will help get that fish stuck on your presentation.
Now you can go to most fishing sections and see a wall of hooks to choose from. You will even find specific little packs that are labelled "Trailer Hooks". They come with 3-6 hooks and some little keepers. I have seen the average retail price range from $2.49-$7.99 Now I am not saying these packages are bad or wont work for you, but I would like to offer an alternative:
I picked up a pack of Mustad O'Shaughnessy 5/0 hooks 6pc for $1.49 and then used some electrical shrink tube that I already had in my tackle box...Now for those that are wondering why I have shrink tube in my tackle box, it can be used for a lot of other applications. For ex: I have put it around senko worms and put my wacky hook through it to act like an o-ring keeper. I have taken a piece and put it around the eye of a hook that was been tied to protect the knot...there are just a lot of different ways to use this stuff in tackle.
Anyway, I took my 5/0 mustad hook and put it on the hook of the bait I am using. Then take a piece of shrink tube and fold it in half and then pierce it onto the hook of the bait. This now acts like a keeper and I must say that it REALLY stays on there well. I have had some issues with surgical tubing stretching or wearing out and then falling off.
Now I am not applying heat to the shrink tube to shrink it, I am leaving it as is and it works perfectly. You could apply heat to shrink it and it would still work just fine.
The other awesome thing about shrink tube is that it comes in different colours and can be purchased fairly inexpensively and you will have more than enough to use on your buzzbaits/spinner baits and other tackle needs. I picked up a pack of black shrink tube with 12" of tube at Walmart for like $2 almost 2 years ago and still have plenty.
I hope this helps out anyone looking for unique ways or more affordable ways to modify/customize your presentations and get fish in the boat/on the bank.