[topgun228]

Heard a lot about bunker heads.

Best way to hook a bunker head?
Through the lips?

The rest is pretty boney, pretty hard to hook, especially with a circle hook!

Should there be part of the bunker behind it or from the gills forward is considered the head (since I maximized the remainder of the portion of the bunker tail to the "head" section).

Thanks

 

[waist deep]

First, cut the bunker from the gills forward, you are using 'just the head'. Then, always hook it through the lips, bottom to top, and keep enough hook exposed. By the way, heads float and subsequently are out of the crabs jurisdiction when using a good sized leader. However, they can be a bit cumbersome to toss into the surf, so a good lob is needed. Heads stand out from scatterd chunks along the bottom because they float, which is why they seem to get the attention from bass.

 

[kdstriper7]

Bunker bits

So many ways so little time. Just a couple of helpful hints.

If you are using the circle hooks to play catch and release please sign off this board now before you hate me.

Treble hooks are good with the head or the body of the bunker. If you already have a freezer full, or just don't want to keep the fishies don't use the treble, they do alot of damage sometimes.

When chunking you can use a large single hook (8/0) and that will curl around the spine in the chunk, and do wonders to keep it on the hook for a good cast.

As for the head. Love to fish with'em. Sometimes I like to cut the fish in 1/2 and leave alot of meat on the head. Blood, meat, both good attractors for a hungry slob. Hook bottom to top as stated earlier.

 

[620882]

The head is by far the most productive part of the bunker anatomy. Cut the head off as described by waistdeep so you are casting only the head and gillplates. First stick your circle hook (I like #7) up thru the bottom jaw just behind the lip. Now try to exit the hook thru a nostril or thereabouts. The idea is to keep the mouth shut. Good Luck!

 

[613595]

First stick your circle hook (I like #7) up thru the bottom jaw just behind the lip. Now try to exit the hook thru a nostril or thereabouts. The idea is to keep the mouth shut. Good Luck!

Will this also work on my wife?

 

[SurfaceStrike]

Duo Snap and 7.0 hook

One of the speakers from the Big Bass Seminar who is a Boat Captian was talking about live lining bait and I was looking for opinions if it would work for bunker heads in the surf. Here is the deal. You poke a hole up through the bottom lip and top lip of the bait with a 7.0 hook. (for live bait top lip only when drifting and floating from boat). You place the largest end of the Duo Snap (the biggest you can find)through the hole you made with hook. Than you tie an 24"-36" leader to the short end of the Duo hook and place a 7.0 circle hook on the short end of the Duo Snap as well. The logic being big Bass swallow head first or will inhale the bait anyway. Why not leave the hook fully exposed increasing the chances for a hook up. What do you guys think?

 

[619372]

head first

have you heard that bass will turn large bait in their mouths so as to colapse dorsal and tail fins that might otherwise go down a little slow? makes sense to me ...heads first.... bottoms up

 

[JACKSON]

HEAD

WHEN FISHING BUNKER HEADS I ALWAYS PUT THE HOOK THROUGH THE SEVERED PART AND OUT OF THE GILLPLATE. SINCE THE BASS HIT IT HEAD FIRST, THIS ENSURES A GOOD HOOKUP. THE ONLY EXCEPTION IS IF YOU ARE FISHING A FAST CURRENT (THE HEAD WILL CONTINUOUSLY SPIN THIS WAY). THEN, I WOULD HOOK IT THROUGH THE LIP AND NOSE TO AVOID THIS SPINNING. DON'T FORGET, BE PATIENT----LET HIM RUN FROM 7-10 SECONDS BEFORE YOU HOOK IT. IF THEY ARE HITTING HEADS WELL, TRY A WHOLE DEAD BUNKER HOOKED THROUGH THE LIPS----IT WORKED VERY WELL FOR ME, AND MY GIRLFRIEND! If you need more proof, check out page 30 in this weeks magazine.
RICHIE (JACKSON)

 

[fumibass]

when i fish with the bunker head the bass always takes it nose/mouth first (first 2-5 bumps on the rod hes trying to eat the bait). I always hook under mouth out the nostral.


the fish then runs with the head after getting it in the mouth (perfect time to set the hook).

i love fishing with the head. it might limit your chances with other species (like bluefish) but when you get that all familar bump its like nothing else in the world.

fumibass

 

[wharfrat]

treble hooks

in response to kdstriper:NG on the trebles!commercials and pinhookers do that stuff.i believe we're all sport fishing-no need for trebles.leave them for the great cow hunters,you know the guys that drill 50's at the drop of a hat.join cca,expand your horizons.

 

[614097]

This topic has come up on the board several times in the past and as usual, I am in the minority. After much trial and error, I have found that for me, the most effective place for the hook to be is through the top of the skull, behind the gillplates. My problem with hooking the head through the lips is the tendency to drive the point of the hook back into the bait after a bass takes the bait. You wind up fighting the fish for a while ? because the head is stuck in the bass?s throat. Suddenly, she coughs it up, and you get your bunker head back, minus the scales, with the hook re-inserted into the bunker head.

With the hook placed behind the gillplates, the hook is the last thing into the bass?s mouth ? not the first. When you set, the hook tears free of the bunker head and grabs onto the bass?s mouth.

Anyway, that is what works for me.

 

[616725]

Hook it in the meat right behind the head. This way when you set the hook it will rip free of the head and hook the bass and not itself. I like 7/0 to 9/0 hooks.

 

[619559]

SURF

SURF NUT IS RIGHT I DO THE SAME THING BUT I USE A 10/0 GAMAKATSU HOOK RIGHT IN THE BACK OF THE HEAD WHERE THAT MEAT IS AT WHEN THEY RUN WITH THE HEAD YOU HOOK THEM AND NEVER MISS BECAUSE THAT HOOF WITH COME RIGHT THREW THAT MEAT

 

[quitethelilfish]

I use 8.0 or 9.0 gamagatsu hooks. I hook the bunker head in the hard spot near the gill. As you can see from my picture above, it works!!!!!!!!!

 

[loonzter]

This is great stuff guys. I usually cut bait for the sole purpose of getting first dibs on the head. I've always hooked it through the meaty part of the back but through the lower jaw and out the nostrils sounds like good way t oincrease your casting distance. I've got another question, after the head when only the body is left how do you keep the gut in the body cavity to spice up the chunk? I've found that once the gut is gone from the cavity the chunk's effectiveness is greatly deminished. Sometimes I lose it on the cast, any tips?

 

[JACKSON]

DEAL WITH IT

SAME THING HAPPENS WHEN I CAST----ITS UNAVOIDABLE UNLESS YOU SEW THE DAMM THING TOGETHER,I JUST CHANGE BAIT FREQUENTLY TO KEEP THE SCENT

 

[614097]

Alright guys, I'm going to give away one of my favorite secret weapons here. You know the little rubber bands that they sell for pony tails? You get 'em in the drugstore - about 250 for 49 cents.

Put a couple around the chunk n dem guts'l stay indere for a good long time - you catch more bass I tink.

Don't say I told ya so.

 

[SurfaceStrike]

Thread floating to the top again.

I wanted to re-surface this thread and share my expieriances with fishing bunker heads. I used heads the last three outings at Gilgo and two out of the three times the heads outfished my chunk rod. Also not one Blue Fish or garbage fish on the bunker head. Also, I tried the lip and other method for hooking the bunker head. Both worked fine. I did have miss hits on both. I think I tried to set the hook to early. One thing about the lip hooking method. In most cases after a mis-hit, you will keep the bait.

 

[623407]

i have always hooked Heads through the eye sockets then out into the spine..

i guess this is wrong

ill try the other ways next time

 

[bigbillybass]

NICE CATCH!!!

jackson
thats a nice catch there. I'm talking about the fish.