how to tune a hot n tot

[walkerman]

do these need to be tuned.i have never useed them.also do you tie ti line or should you use swivel.going to the bay in the morning.have never fished it should be fun going into this kind of blind.what tot should i start with.thans for all the help.

[Den]

Depending on the speed that you are going to be trolling, or retrieving the lure at, it usually does need tuning. on tuning the hot-n-tot, bend the wire clip, do NOT bend the lip itself. to see if it needs funing pull the lure through the water as fast as you can, if it does not track straight, and try to run deeper, it does need tuning. bend the wire just slightly , and try again. sometimes it takes a while to get it exactly right, so dont get discouraged. it usually takes very little bend to get a lot of results. once you get it tuned right, here is a tip that can save a lot of headaches on most lures. when you catch a fish on the lure, and you go to take the lure out of the fishes mouth, dont hold the lure at all, use needlenose pliers and just take the hook out of the fish, dont use the lure body itself for leverage. in short, hold fish with one hand, and remove the hook(s) with the pliers, dont grab the lure lip, or wire with the weight of the fish on it , it will knock the lure out of tune. i hope this helps. it is easier to do than it sounds too. and it makes the lures more effective to do what it is designed to do. good luck and good fishin.
Den

[Starfish]

Den is right, tune the hot-n-tot by bending the link... with your fingers. You don't need a pliers. Don't forget, the 1/4 oz and 3/8 oz hot-n-tots have a "seeking" action so they'll always dart one way and then the other. You may have to watch and tweak it a while to get it right.

I usually run a duolock snap to connect to all the Storm lures. As a general rule, don't use a snap swivel with plugs.