Is it just me, or is there no good place to hook your swimbait to your rod with some of today's reels?

One combo I use a lot of my Okuma Heavy with a Calcutta 400TE. I filed off the hook keeper on the rod because my line would wrap on it occasionally. None of the wire hookeepers I've used worked anyway because when you get a small amount of slack in the line, the lure comes free. Both the Okuma and the Kistler rods I have with these type of keepers do this.

The rubber hook keepers like the ones that come on the Castaway rods just get in the way of your hand holding the rod, I removed all of those from my rods too. So irritating! And with the big stuff, I don't want to hook my bait to the foot of a guide because the barb of a big 8/0 hook will scratch up the rod.

On some reels like the original Curado you have plenty of room to hook any size hook over the foot of the reel but the thumbar on the CTE400 makes it all but impossible to this.

The more I thought about this, the more I feel like the solution should be integrated into the reel seat. Like on a right hand retrieve reel, what if on the left side of the foot of the reel, there was a graphite or composite ring right above the foot, tucked away in a place where your hand would never hit it? This seems like such a basic thing to have a place to hook your bait but it seems like no reel mfgrs take this into consideration. Has anyone seen any add on device like this before? Any reel mfgrs out there who want to make their reels like that? :) The idea is free for the taking, I'm just tired of having no place to hook my swimbait beside the reel handle where it chews up my knobs.

Maybe one of those crank bait wraps in a larger size?? The problem with placing it on the reel is it may be in an awkward spot or it may interfere with some people the way they hold the reel. Good idea and it definatley needs looking into.

I keep thinking about it... I gotta look more closely at my reels and see. I almost wonder if the keeper was directly in front of the reel seat if that would work? Must investigate this further :)

if you come up with something shoot me an email and I'll pass it on the powers that be.

I find most hook keepers annoying also. I am starting to build my own rods, and while looking into this, found that some guys drill a small hole in the trigger of the reel seat and put their hooks there. I fished a rod that had this, and it worked out fine. I did have one problem however. When I grab a rod while fishing, I tend to grab it around the reel, and put my finger on the trigger instinctively. I accidentally stabbed myself with a EWG 4/0 that was on the trigger. Thankfully, it was only a minor stab. The Revolver rods from Tactical Assault have these holes on the trigger. Fuji also makes a hook keeper that folds down, another thing to consider. Rec Components also makes a folding hook keeper. I am sure you will find the perfect solution for this, when you do, let us know!

Foofish

i was going to suggest a hole in the trigger but it looks like someone beat me to it...

I too build my own rods. I use the flip-up sytle hook keepers they use on most fly rods. You can get them in both regular and heavy sizes. But the heavy size is would work best for swimbaits. They flip up and keep the hook point away from the blank. Then they flip down after use, and become low-profile with the blank. I don't think they'll catch the line. If you know someone who would wrap them for you, you should order some and get 'em wrapped. It's an easy wrap, and takes only a few minutes to do.

i always hook my swimbaits on that peice on the top of the reel that is over the spool, it works for me