It takes a little trial and error to get it down right, but making your own is definitely the way to go. I bought a heat gun which shrinks the heat shrink tubing the best...(it blows some damned hot air)...and the result looks professional. I find that 1/4 inch diameter heat shrink is perfect for the assist hooks because it's small enough to wrap your line and big enough to push over the eye of the hook. I made a bunch before the Sept. 15th Big E trip and none of my assist hooks failed. I toyed around with a double assist hook on one loop, (one facing one direction and the other facing the other direction), and it worked, but the blackfin were hitting single hook setups just as well. I didn't see an advantage of having two hooks.