Short biters are no picnic. You go to all the trouble to get a bite… and then whiff on the hookset. What’s up with that?

Fact is, fish species like walleyes and sauger don’t bite aggressively all the time. In cold water, during cold fronts, or under heavy fishing pressure like tournaments, they can pretty much scale back their aggressiveness to barely bumping their noses on a passing jig. Even then, they may merely inhale the tail of your jig just enough to wrap their lips around it. You feel weight, but when you set the hook… you feel the tail of your jig slip through their lips.

What’s up with that?

Good news! When fish are nippers rather than biters, anglers often add stinger hook to their jig. The hook trails a short distance back of the jighead, somewhere around the tail of a jig, or a minnow or soft plastic bait placed on your jig. Get the length right, and it’s in perfect position to bite back when fish barely taste your bait, tube jig, hair jig or bucktail.  Experiment with letting the stinger hook flop free, or insert one tine of the treble hook into your live bait.

Stinger rigs can be a bit of a hassle to tie up in the boat, so some anglers fail to use them, even when they should. Eagle Claw takes the effort out of adding stinger hooks to your jigs with two options of stinger rigs.

First is the Lazer Sharp Stinger Rig, which has a size platinum black or red treble hook pre-tied on a short length of fluorocarbon line. Just slip the looped end of the stinger snell over your hook; it won’t slip off until you want to remove it. Size 4, 6, 8 or 10 hooks. Available in 4-packs, $8.99.

Next up is the Lazer Sharp Quick-Cinch Stinger Rig. Its innovative, quick-cinch design attaches easily to any jig hook and locks securely at the bend. It’s just as easy to remove and reattach, making bait or jig changes fast and hassle-free. Built with premium Lazer Sharp treble hooks and a low-visibility fluorocarbon leader for a stealthy presentation. It’s available in two lengths—2.6 and 2.1 inches—to match a variety of bait sizes that are perfect for tubes, flukes, paddle tails, bucktails, or live bait. Size 8 or 10 hooks. Available in 3-packs, $4.99.