Assorted Fishing Hooks

Sharpness Is Everything

A hook that is not sharp does not penetrate, which means a fish that took the bait comes off, and no amount of striking force compensates.

Chemically sharpened hooks are considerably sharper than mechanically ground ones and blunt just as readily against gravel and teeth.

The standard test is dragging a point lightly across a thumbnail, and a sharp hook catches and grips where a blunt one slides.

Hook Sizes Run Backwards

Hook sizes count downward as they get larger, so a size twenty is tiny and a size four is substantial, and then above size one the numbering switches to a slash-nought system where larger numbers mean larger hooks.

That system confuses everybody initially and is universal, which means learning it is unavoidable.

Matching hook size to bait size rather than to fish size is the useful rule, since a hook too large is refused and one too small pulls out.

Patterns Do Different Jobs

A wide gape hook holds a bulky bait and sets well, a fine wire hook is light enough not to sink a delicate bait, and a strong forged hook resists opening under heavy load.

Circle hooks are designed to rotate into the corner of the mouth rather than being struck, which reduces deep hooking substantially and requires a different technique.

Using a pattern designed for the bait and the fishing produces more hooked fish than any change of brand does.

Barbless And Fish Welfare

Barbless hooks come out with minimal damage and dramatically reduce handling time, which is the factor most closely linked to a released fish surviving.

They also come out of fingers, clothing and landing nets easily, which is a practical benefit anybody who has hooked themselves appreciates.

Many fisheries mandate barbless hooks, and crushing a barb with pliers achieves the same thing on a barbed hook.

Corrosion And Storage

Hooks rust in a damp box and a rusted hook is weakened and should be discarded rather than used.

Saltwater hooks are coated or made from resistant alloys, and freshwater hooks used in salt corrode within days.

Drying a hook box after every session and replacing the small desiccant packets that come in tackle prevents most of it.

Hook sharpeners restore a point in seconds and are worth carrying, since a hook blunted on a first cast into gravel is otherwise fished blunt for the rest of a session. A small diamond file or a dedicated hook hone costs very little and takes almost no space. Sharpening changes a hook geometry slightly with repeated use, and a hook sharpened many times is eventually better replaced.

Eye type matters for presentation, since a straight eye suits direct tying and a turned-down or turned-up eye changes the angle at which a hook sits against a bait.

Wire gauge affects both strength and how a bait sits, with fine wire hooks being light enough not to sink a delicate bait and heavy forged hooks resisting the opening that costs fish on hard-fighting species.

The Verdict

The component where sharpness matters more than anything and where pattern choice does more than brand.

Hook sizing is counterintuitive, blunt hooks lose fish silently, and rusted hooks are weakened.

Test every hook on your thumbnail. A blunt hook loses the fish and you will never know why.