<h2>Buying Guide for Stingers</h2><p>Stingers are used to hook cautiously biting predators more reliably. A stinger is an additional hook fitted alongside the jig hook, mounted on a <strong>wire trace or fluorocarbon leader</strong>, and placed further towards the rear of the soft lure to catch predators that only nip at the tail end.</p><p>This is also where the name <em>Angstdrilling</em> - literally a fear-of-missed-bites hook - comes from. </p><p>Complete stinger systems that replace the jig hook entirely are now widely available. These include the <em>Shallow Rig</em>, which comes in both unweighted and weighted versions. </p><h2>Construction</h2><p>Stingers can be built in many different ways. The simplest version consists of nothing more than a treble hook, a short length of leader material and two crimp sleeves. The treble sits at one end, and at the other a small loop of wire trace slips over the eye of the jig hook. This is the classic version used in zander fishing with a jig head as a safeguard against missed bites.</p><p>Increasingly popular is a setup where <strong>screw-in jig heads are connected directly to treble hooks</strong>, doing away with a traditional jig hook altogether. This gives the best results when vertical jigging and fishing in the pelagic zone.</p><h2>What to Look for in Stingers</h2><p><strong>Across all stinger variants, there are a few general points worth keeping in mind:</strong></p><ul><li>High-quality construction to prevent losing fish and causing unnecessary harm</li><li>High-quality hooks</li><li>The right choice of trace material - flexible and bite-proof</li><li>The correct length and size for the setup</li><li>Flexible stinger systems that can be reconfigured using split rings</li></ul><h2>Use Stingers with Care</h2><p>With all due understanding for wanting to avoid missed bites, one important point deserves attention. Stingers can be very difficult to remove when they are lodged deep in the mouth or throat of a fish. If you intend to keep the catch, that is of course no concern. However, it can result in undersized fish or specimen fish within a catch-and-release window being seriously harmed. Think carefully before using a stinger about whether it is truly necessary, and never go longer than you really need.</p><p>When pike fishing with large lures, stinger systems are entirely worthwhile. They take the strain off the lure and often off the fish during the fight, are usually easy to remove, and make handling noticeably more straightforward. Even so, it is worth thinking through how many treble hooks are actually needed for a given lure size, to avoid unnecessary injury to pike that take the lure aggressively.</p>