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Posts: 87
Location: Minnesota Metro | Lately I have had a ton of action on my mantas, but man I just can't seem to keep the fish hooked or not get the hooks into them at all. Part of the problem seems to be the fish are rolling on top of them and grabbing them where there are no hooks. Yes my hooks are sharp as I touch them up several times an outing, mainly because of fish not staying hooked. I've thought about using wider gapped hooks but I don't want to mess up the action or get foul hooked more. Anyone have any suggestions? |
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Posts: 580
| Hooking percentages with glide baits are relatively low to start with, and in my experience, the manta is probably one of the poorest hooking glide baits around. It's obviously more of a rhythmic hypnotizing action, which you'd think would allow fish to eat it more easily than a more erratic glider, but that never seemed to be the case for me. Not sure if its a hook placement issue, or what. But in any event, it doesn't hurt to increase the size of hooks or go to wide gap hooks. You won't negatively affect the action. Personally, I don't throw mantas anymore, and much prefer hellhounds. Action is better (more erratic) and hooking percentages are definitely better. |
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Posts: 157
| I proved on Canada last week that Manta's have a 0% hooking percentage  |
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Posts: 393
Location: Hopefully on the water | Glide baits in general have been tough for hooking percetages for me. Personally Manta's the worst for me. My dad loves them because they are easy to work but got frustrated on the %'s. What we did is upsize the hooks and T them. I try to T all my glides and jerks for this reason plus it helps on hook rash with the baits. %'s went up some on these baits. I know some guys swear by the Manta's and they do well. One other thing that helps is not letting slack in the line. even on the glide really try to reel any slack up it could help with hooking more of them. |
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Posts: 200
Location: Minnesota | twells - 8/10/2011 9:50 AM
Glide baits in general have been tough for hooking percetages for me. Personally Manta's the worst for me. My dad loves them because they are easy to work but got frustrated on the %'s. What we did is upsize the hooks and T them. I try to T all my glides and jerks for this reason plus it helps on hook rash with the baits. %'s went up some on these baits. I know some guys swear by the Manta's and they do well. One other thing that helps is not letting slack in the line. even on the glide really try to reel any slack up it could help with hooking more of them.
Excuse me because I'm relatively new to this, but what do you mean when you say you T the hooks? Are you taking them out of the bottom of the lure and putting them in the side? Are you putting them directly in the middle or more toward the back or front? |
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Posts: 4343
Location: Smith Creek | Bending the hooks so it looks like a T instead of a Y |
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Posts: 393
Location: Hopefully on the water | Where they are rubbing against the body of the bait I will flatten (T) the two hooks of the treble that are touching the bait and generally will give a little extra bend to those 2 hooks so the tips are not rubbing into the body of the bait. |
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Posts: 87
Location: Minnesota Metro | When I was in Canada last month I hooked 4 fish on the manta, but I only got one of them in. As soon as that fish hit the net and had slack line he was unhooked to. On Saturday I had a real nice 45-46 inch fish roll on it and just crush it at the bank, but I didn't get any hooks into it then. It's getting rather frustrating raising fish all the time on it but not getting any solid hook-ups. I knew glide baits had a low hooking percentage, but this is getting ridiculous! I've never used a hellhound but I might have to look into that. |
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Posts: 994
Location: Minnesota: where it's tough to be a sportsfan! | Life with Glide baits, some hook sometimes....but they will get strikes! I do two things that might help out. One is replace hooks with two larger hooks "both the same size. " I use zip ties or cable ties behind the front hook in the eyelet and in front of the back hook in the eyelet that keeps the hooks from getting together. The locations on the Manta are tough to keep oversized hooks apart though. Play with your hook sizes a bit to see how your cast motion , retrieve etc...works with different sizes. |
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Posts: 1141
Location: NorthCentral WI | Matt DeVos - 8/10/2011 9:36 AM
Hooking percentages with glide baits are relatively low to start with, and in my experience, the manta is probably one of the poorest hooking glide baits around. Personally, I don't throw mantas anymore, and much prefer hellhounds. Action is better (more erratic) and hooking percentages are definitely better.
From my experience, I have to completely disagree. Just like you said, the side to side rhytmic action is what I believe makes Mantas better hooking glide baits, as well as the relatively small body shape of the lure (of the 8" size). Personally, I have raised a ton of fish on hellhounds but only caught one ever. Fish seem to swipe and completly miss the hellhound quite frequently. Maybe it's just me but I love my mantas. Best glider made IMO simply because of the confidence I have in them.
I would agree with keeping minimal slack in the line, and I've never changed the hooks out but would be worth a try. Something like the wide gap MI plasma points that come on a regular dawg would probably be good.
Don't get me wrong, I love the action of the hellhound, but I honestly think they could be the worst hooking bait ever made. |
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Posts: 173
| Life is sure funny. I'm on the good hook ups with the Hellhound group. Mantas --nah. Will never EVER cast another Manta. Cute quote from a Wisconsin musky guide : " You're God if you can hook muskies on a Manta". |
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Posts: 291
Location: Madison, WI | I have T'd all the hooks, even tried a 7/0 hook on the back to try get them to stick. Of the 15 fish that I have had hit or blow up on a Manta, 0 fish. The problem is not just with the erratic action but with the fact that the fish just come unglued on the bait when they do hit it and dont really get a good bead on the bait, they just go apesh&# on the bait. I also tend to see the fish roll over the top. I always thought to try and mount a single hook on the top of the bait (like a Super D or Dawg) and just attached it with wire or thread. I think if they somehow molded a hook into the top like that, it would definitely help. I wanted to throw it in Canada last week but couldnt bring myself to lose more fish on it. I didnt want to waste an active fish on that when they would probably go on topwater or a bucktail.
I just rig up my own Red October Tubes and they usually have the same reaction, anything gets within 5 ft of one of those bad boys and its game over, nothing but hooks when they bite down. You can pretty much get the same action of the tubes at the same depths with a little practice and adjustments.
They just plain dont hook fish. You see them, you move them, you just dont catch them. I have a chewed up Manta that has caught zero fish. Havent tried too many other side to side gliders after switching to the tube. |
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Posts: 393
Location: Hopefully on the water | The biggest thing is what Martintd mentioned "confidence". You could throw a rubber ball with hooks in it if you felt confident. Mantas personally are not for me. The Hellhounds on the other hand I would not hesitate to throw. But takes getting use to. For me theybhave been a lot like topwateer bites for me and wait to feel the fish to set the hook. ANY brand glide bait I have thrown have had lots of action from fish with many territory swipes. I think the speed you fish them have a difference also. For me it is almost always fast unless it is opening weekend. They all work it just matters what you have confidence in. |
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Posts: 43
| I've had 4 hits on Mantas and all 4 fish have been landed with nothing done to the hooks. However, no fish has been over 36 so maybe it only keeps the small ones hooked |
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Posts: 129
Location: North Metro - Twin Cities | I replace all the hooks on my favorite gliders both subsurface and topwaters with Gamakatsu hooks. Also on all my fav topwaters. Still going to miss some fish but not as many. Phantoms are tough to beat if your looking to try a different glider. |
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Posts: 437
| I lost 4 fish in one day on a Manta. All were hooked for 30 seconds or so, but shook free. After having this problem I swapped the hooks and T-d them, but I havent thrown the lure since. |
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Posts: 1036
| If only God can hook fish consistently with a Manta, then I know God quite well. Ben Kueng is unreal with that bait, and he sticks darned near everything that hits them. He is religious about sharpening those hooks.
If you wish to learn more of his Manta secrets, look him up and shoot him an e-mail, maybe he will help. www.benkueng.com
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| years ago when manta were unavailble,the guys have paid something like 50$ for a single lure and now from what i read that bait is junk lul.
sry i cant help you on that one i have never try one |
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Posts: 580
| Well don't get me wrong, I've stuck some nice fish on mantas...especially the Hang 10. Love how wide it can glide and how long it will hang in the strike zone. Deadly in late season. But I can do pretty much the same things (as well as some other neat tricks) with a hellhound and boat a better % of those fish. As mentioned above, it's a confidence thing. I certainly wouldn't call a manta "junk". But in my humble opinion, I think that a hellhound is a better tool for essentially the same job. |
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Posts: 87
Location: Minnesota Metro | Thanks guys some really good responses here. I must say I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who has had trouble hooking and keeping fish hooked on it. Has anyone noticed a difference between the regular manta and the hang 10? I only have 3 regular sized mantas so I was curious if the 10's had a better hooking percentage. I'll probably try and put on longer shank hooks and see if that helps.
Don't get me wrong I love my mantas, they raise fish when nothing else will, but it's just getting rather frustrating having fish hit and not staying hooked on it. Has anyone had better success on an undertaker? I've never thrown one before and don't really know anyone who has. One thing I LOVE about the manta is it's gliding ability and how long and wide the glides are, makes it very versatile IMHO. |
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Posts: 393
Location: Hopefully on the water | Troutwater, the Undertakers are in a whole different relm in my opinion. I have caught a fair number of fish on them with good hooking percentages on strikes. When I say they are in a different relm it is reguards to action. The Manta and the Hellhounds are more of the rythmic motion where the Undertakers are more eratic. I have a 8 of them and doo like them. It just depends on the spots I am fishing and what the fish are letting you know. If you have fish going on Mantas and not getting strikes throw them a Undertaker. With the eratic action a lot of times it will get a strike on them. I had a 5 fish day in Canada in 05 on the Hot Tiger Undertaker. Personally myself if it is going to be glider on the rod it will be either a undertaker or Hellhound. I haven't tried a Phathom yet but heat they are pretty easy with good luck. |
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Posts: 288
Location: Montreal, Que. Canada | Troutwater,
I've heard that speed with them throws off your catch rate with out a "tight" cropping of your retrieve or perhaps longer pauses at the end of each glide to make it easier for them to get a better bite.
Hope this helps,
David |
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Posts: 25
Location: Hayward, WI | Here's what a manta should look like after a couple good seasons and a few hundred hits later.
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 MANTA [1600x1200].JPG (65KB - 433 downloads)
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Posts: 1504
Location: Oregon | Wow, that's a cool picture Matt......I'm curious, is the damage mostly from musky, pike, both?
RM |
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Posts: 25
Location: Hayward, WI | I'd say the damage is 95% musky. |
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| Check out our luck on the Manta's we never have had an issue.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEnVLycfAng
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwxzvLGO4Qc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwxzvLGO4Qc |
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Posts: 87
Location: Minnesota Metro | Now that's an impressive picture. My orange tiger is pretty chewed up, but nothing like that. I especially like how the tail is pretty much gone.
Those videos are also pretty good to. I'm going to try putting on some thinner gauged hooks with some longer shanks and see if that helps. My brother did that on his and said it helped quite a bit. I've been raising fish the last few weeks on them but I haven't had any strikes recently. |
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Posts: 4053
Location: Land of the Musky | If I could only ever get a lure to look like that from fish hitting it! Wow! That is one lure for your wall of fame! |
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