Found an older 9" hard head. Wanted to turn it into a line thru and seen that article by Nico over on the ncbf. Im trying to get the wire out, as I pull on it, feels like Im going break the bait before the wire comes out. Am I doing something wrong or is this right?

I've had mixed results with other castaic baits since I wrote that article. Given the bait is so difficult to find these days I don't intend on messing with any of my remaining untouched versions.

If you're still intent on moving forward with the mod you could try drilling a hole through the back of the head towards the wire with the hope of intersecting it. The eyes should be much easier to pull out if the wire is already cut in the middle that way.

I sure wish castaic would re-introduce this bait :-(

How do you rig the 12" hardhead? I lucked into an older 12" and was thinking about running a stinger on bottom further back from the first hook

I regrettably haven't fished the 12" much. It's definitely a bait people have caught nice fish on in the past, though. I'd definitely put a stinger hook on it, but I haven't thrown it enough to have any more advice.

Its a big freaking bait! Like the action though will see how it works out. Im running a second treble underneath on the back half for now