You wander into the tackle shop to buy some hooks,
and there in front of you is a huge array of sizes and variations.
Why so many hook types, sizes, and shapes? Well this is one market
where hooks have been developed to meet the demands of different
methods of fishing, and the type of fish targeted. So this article
will try and de-mystify some main choices you may think about
in front of the hook displays.
Hook Sizes
The numbers that define hook sizes can be confusing,
but the system is really very simple. Hook sizes are based on
a nominal hook size of zero. Hook sizes with a number followed
by a zero increase in size as the number
goes up.
For instance a 4/0, ("four bar oh"),
hook is one size up from a 3/0, which is one size up from a 2/0,
etc.
Hook sizes not followed by a zero, decreasein size as the number increases.
For example a size 3 hook is smaller than a size
2 hook, which is smaller than a size 1 hook.
While nearly all hook manufacturers follow this
basic numbering system to indicate the increase or decrease in
size of each hook within an individual pattern, there is unfortunately
little standardisation in overall size. For instance what may
be a size 4/0 in a Mustad hook may not necessarily be the same
as a 4/0 in an Eagle Claw hook.
For the purposes of this article, all hook-size
recommendations are based on the Mustad hook sizes. As an aside,
most writers in books and magazines appear to assume the Mustad
standard hook sizes when alluding to or recommending hook sizes.
How Big Is Enough?
First a quick lurch into trout fishing. Dyed in
the wool saltwater fishermen are often amazed at the large size
of trout that can be caught on seemingly tiny hooks. Trout of
two or three kilos and over are routinely caught on barely visible
sized 18 hooks and smaller.
The same can be true in saltwater as those who
use small ‘keeper’ hooks will attest. Regularly, snapper are caught
on the 1/0 or 2/0 keeper hooks. It is not a huge mind jump to
think of the size of a 12/0 big game hook, hanging out of the
jaw of a marlin. Size is relative.
As a general rule I judge the hook size I need
to use, as a function of the bait size I am using, not the size
of the fish I am targeting. The fish I am targeting determines
the bait size.
If I am using a whole skipjack head when chasing
big snapper I will use a 10/0 to 12/0 hook, but when using pillies,
a 4/0 or 5/0 is the norm.
It is an enlightening demonstration to tie some
line to a hook, place the hook point in a piece of wood, and haul
on the line. The amount of force required to bend the hook out
is usually much more than you would normally pull through a rod
with a correct drag setting.
If a hook straightens during a fight it is not
usually a function of the hook size, but a function of the quality
of the hook
Stainless or Not?
The prime reason that seems to govern the purchase
of stainless hooks is storage. Stainless hooks will not rust as
fast as non-stainless hooks in the tackle box. But stainless hooks
have some disadvantages.
They are softer than non-stainless hooks, and do
tend to bend out more easily or more often.
Because they are softer, stainless hooks do not
stay as sharp.
Stainless hooks do not degrade as fast underwater,
and in fish. An important conservation factor.
They are more expensive.
There is a rule that must be observed when storing
unused hooks, stainless or otherwise. Never store used hooks
with unused hooks. I try to keep new, unused hooks in their
packets and only take out what I think I need for the trip. Even
fumbling about in a packet of hooks with hands wet with seawater
can set off rust and corrosion.
Sharpen Hooks?
Books and articles written just two or three years
ago usually contained encouragement to sharpen hooks before fishing
with them. ‘No hook is sharp enough to fish straight out of the
packet’ was the advice. If you use ‘laser’ or ‘chemically’ sharpened
hooks, this advice is bad. In most cases trying to sharpen chemically
or laser sharpened hooks will actually blunt them.
Chemically sharpened and laser sharpened hooks
are made in much the same way. Once the hook is formed, the points
are treated with a chemical and then introduced to a laser beam,
or other control source, which wears away the metal leaving a
very sharp point.
If you do sharpen non-laser or non-chemically treated
hooks there are a number of factors to bear in mind.
All sharpening produces heat. Too much heat will
reduce the temper of the hook and can soften the point. This can
lead to points bending over, or breaking off. It is important
when sharpening hooks to use a slow stroke with the file or stone.
Be careful not to remove too much metal from the
point. There is a fine line, no pun intended, between a sharp
point and a weak point. It is too easy to think of a hook point
as always being pulled into a fish in a straight-line pull. However,
this is not always true. Many times the pull is at an angle to
the point. If there is not enough metal in the point it can break
off or bend over.
Barbs?
Here is a little piece of surprise from the history
books. It seems that barbs were initially introduced, not to hold
the fish on once hooked, but to stop the bait coming off.
I often fish with barbless hooks. I guess what
launched me into barbless hooks was acting as a deckie on a commercial
tuna boat off the Three Kings many years ago.
On these trips we would tow handlines, pulling
tuna lures. We were fishing for the Japanese market, so the object
was to land the fish in as top condition as possible.
The system was simple. The hand lines were secured
to the rails of the boat by string of a known breaking strain,
and then to a Dan buoy. If the fish was big enough, the string
broke and pulled the handline, attached to the buoy, overboard.
We simply did a turn and went back to pick up the fish.
On good days we would pick up ten or more yellowfin
tuna.
Here is the important news, the hooks were all
barbless. Here is even more important news, even when the tuna
had been under a buoy, and there had been slack in the system,
I did not see one tuna come off the hook.
There is an important aspect about this that cannot
be ignored. The breakaway system we were using ensured that hooks
were always well and deeply set. This, I think is a key point,
barbless hooks are easier to set.
Easy Release?
The prime advantage of barbless hooks is that they
are easy to remove. If you regularly release fish, you should
use barbless hooks.
You can make hooks barbless by filing off the barb,
but I have found that sometimes the heat generated by filing does
reduce the hook’s temper and weakens the hook. I prefer to use
a pair of parallel-jawed pliers to crush down the barb. This does
the job without damaging the hook.
There is another advantage to barbless hooks, and
it is one that the commercial boys have homed in on. In a hot
bite, it is easier to remove the hook, easier to remove residual
bait, therefore you can get another bait back into the water much
more quickly.
And the first time you sink a barbed hook
into a part of your body, and have to go through the drama of
having it removed, you will become a barbless devotee.