I was frustrated by short strikes from striped bass on my soft-plastic shads fished on leadhead jigs. To solve the problem, I used one of the new hooks that are marketed to go on the front end of jigging spoons, which have a loop of braided line affixed to the eye and finished with heat-shrink tubing. I attached the braided line to the bend in the hook of the jig, positioning the second hook near the tail of the shad. The plastic shad body keeps the hook upright and the braided line of the stinger hook permits the shad body to swim naturally. The setup works equally well trolling or casting.
– Mike Lama, Silver Spring, Maryland
