Capt. John's Secret Hook Setup

Adapted from Capt. John King's article "Capt. John's Top-Secret Hook Setup," first published 2003–2004 on MichiganSportsman.com. Read the original.

Salmon often "gum" natural bait instead of ripping it, "like granny without her dentures in." On June 22, 2004, John came up with the double snelled treble setup that later became standard on his meat rigs.

The three problems it solves

  • Hooks hanging crooked. John put a slight bend in the eye of each VMC 1/0 treble, like a turned-up-eye salmon hook, so the line runs parallel to the shank and the pull drives the point straight in.
  • Fish pushing the meat head up the line, away from the hooks. A small crimp at the tail of the bait holder fixes the head in place over the hooks. He claimed this improved his hookup ratio by at least 50% and eliminated the rear toothpick, which "NEVER did the job properly."
  • Worn leaders. Salmon inhale bait, so the leader near the hooks frays. A snap swivel at the last fly lets you replace just the hook leader instead of the whole rig.

Step by step

  1. Carefully put a slight bend in each treble's eye.
  2. Snell on the hooks.
  3. Thread the leader through the meat head and crimp it at the very tail of the bait holder.
  4. Measure the original distance to the last fly.
  5. Attach to a snap swivel at the last fly position. (John later tied directly to the swivel.)
  6. Carry a good hook file. John saw one boat sharpen hooks on a rock.

The trade-off: with the head fixed in place, bait gets torn up more than with a sliding head. "This new method means sure-fire deadly hookups."

"Just because you can, does not mean you have to! Leave some for seed."

Today every King's meat rig comes with snelled VMC trebles and a ROSCO swivel below the last fly for easy re-leadering.

Shop: Complete meat rigs · Replacement snelled leaders · Hook options

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