Featherd hooks

[twocold]

Do you use them? If so on what baits and why? If you make your own what materials do you use? I'm thinking about trying them just want to get some feedback

[SFL BassHunter]

I like lures that have feathered hooks. But I also like to replace the hooks on my hard lures for better hooks.
So there go the feathers lol.

[Capt. BassinLou]

I did feathered hooks for a bit. On both chug bugs and jerkbaits. The added flash and pulsing of the feather when the bait was at rest or moving, gave the fish an incentive to strike. But it also attracted gar and other species of fish as well. Lol

[njpaulc]

Feathered hooks will change the action of most baits.  They won't effect topwaters as much as they will effect sub surface lures.  They will exaggerate the "sway' of a lipped.  Try it in clear water with a shallow running minnow plug.  It will track much wider witha feathered treble then with a plain hook.

Tie the hooks with a cheap fly tying bobbin, a pair of vice grip pliers and size "A" rod winding thread, or heavy fly tying thread, use strung saddle hackle and crystal flash for accent.

[D.W. Verts]

Just on the topwaters where they originally were installed. Pop R's, Chug Bugs, etc. I tie my own with bucktail, always white, and no tinsel... They put a nice "drag" on the back of the bait, and I feel it enhances the action, if even a little.

Never on an underwater lure.

Oh yeah, except on some jiggin' spoons. Man, this gets complicated!

[zippyduck]

Many of the bites I got with feathers were on the hook with the feather. That leads to a lot of lost fish. Only time I use them now is if I am trouble getting bites.

[bigjim5589]

I tie them too, and use them on popper type lures primarily and as Rick said, change some of the factory installed hooks to better quality. They can affect the action of a lure, both subsurface & topwaters like spooks. Most I tie are white, but will use other colors either as contrast to the lure color, or compliment the lure color.

They can also make a lure look bigger, and at times that can be useful when bass are keying on specific size prey and I don't have a big enough lure.

I have added them to some subsurface lures. They do change the action, but that's not always bad. 

For the materials, I prefer feathers, strung rooster neck or saddle both can work. Sometimes I add some flash materials too, but not a lot of it for bass. The length of the feathers is important. I tend to make them longer on bigger size lures, and on lures I'll use for saltwater or large fish like Striped Bass. Shorter on bass lures, but not so short that they lack much movement. IMO, that movement is the best reason to add them. I've tied with various hairs too, and bucktail is a good one for large hooks, like size 1 or larger. I prefer the feathers for most hooks. 

[analfisherman]

Just on the topwaters where they originally were installed. Pop R's, Chug Bugs, etc. I tie my own with bucktail, always white,

I also update hooks.
Prefer Bucktail and the white.

I had a buddy give me some tails awhile back and he wasn't much with I knife.
The white of the tail got a lot of blood on it.
The blood didn't fade or wash out...even after a lot of catches.

So I experimented and the all white caught fewer fish/got fewer strikes.
Remember...the blood soaked had majority white still.

So I started adding  RED Flashabou Fibers...just a couple.

At times I use Marabou instead of Bucktail......white with strands of flashabou.

I too noticed a lot of tail hooked fish.
Last year I started using/replacing all top waters and cranks with a RED/Bleeding Hooks in the front treb. (don't on rear hook....gold/cooper or silver there)

Seemed to help.....not as well as the Lipless front Red hooks but still got more front treble bites.

I also started adding the same combonations to Spook type walking baits.......verdict still out on that combonation.

Side note;  I can't tie my own shoes.....so an Old Timer ties my trebs, NOT ME. 

[bigjim5589]

Hey anal, if you wash bucktails in Dawn dish detergent,  you can usually get the blood out, plus it removes most of the grease/oil that may be on them. 

Hair moves a lot better when it's clean too! 

[Smallie_Stalker]

I tie my own feather tails on just about every bait with trebles including crankbaits and lipless cranks. When I can get it I try and use chicken or rooster neck hackle because I like the way it breathes in the water. I usually tie in some flashabou and finish it off with some clear nail polish to coat and seal the threads.

If you have more than one of a particular bait you might want to try hooks with different amounts of feathers on each one. More feathers will cause more drag in the water and can work well if you want a bait to have less forward or side-to-side movement when walking it. 

There's so many variations it's almost mind boggling but that's what makes it so much fun. 

[Oldfart9999]

Hey anal, if you wash bucktails in Dawn dish detergent,  you can usually get the blood out, plus it removes most of the grease/oil that may be on them. 

Hair moves a lot better when it's clean too! 

Agreed!!
I use feathers on surface baits and some subsurface lures, mostly suspending. The subsurface baits don't as deep as the bare hooked ones do. The feathers "breath" when the bait is at rest and tend to flair when the bait is moved.
Rodney