Hook Me Up!

By Gene Bourque

I want to catch a school bluefin tuna. Is a size 10 hook about right, or a 10/0? Heading out to dangle a worm in the local pond for some panfish, or maybe a trout if I'm lucky. Should I buy some size 6 hooks, or 6/0? The answers to these questions should be obvious if you're perusing the shelves of the local tackle shop, but how about if you're ordering from an on-line retailer where pictures can often be deceiving? Experienced fishermen don't give these numbers a second thought when buying but I can tell you this. In my years of working behind the counters of tackle shops, I noted that hook sizes are the single most confusing aspect of terminal tackle to the novice and even intermediate level anglers. Now factor in the various types of hooks (wide-gap, extra strong, O'Shaughnessy, off-set, circle, long-shank, and dozens more) and it's enough to give you a headache. But consider the obvious fact that your hook is your primary connection to your quarry. It has to be sharp, durable and ultimately something you shouldn't have to worry about. Here at Hogy Lure Company, we have certain hooks that we have tested and know to be perfect for our soft baits - more on how we came to our decisions later in this article. Those hooks are great but they may or may not be appropriate for the type of fishing you'll be doing. Let's look at what's out there and try to base our purchases on what's going to work in various situations and for a wide range of game fish.

The first step is understanding sizing and frankly, the way hooks are sized and labeled doesn't make a lot of sense and can be quite arbitrary. This is because there is only a general classification system used by hook manufacturers.  If you have a handle on how the aspects of a hook are defined, it will make more sense.  The shank of the hook is the straight part; the bend is obviously where the hook is bent and the size of that bend is important as it relates to the type of fish you're trying to catch. The size of the bend relative to its overall length is called the gape, and the bite or throat is the distance between the deepest part of the bend and where the hook point is located. Fish with very small mouths like winter flounder in saltwater and many of the smaller panfish in freshwater are more likely to be caught if you're using a very small gape - it's just a matter of anatomy: A hook with a relatively large gape, regardless of its overall size (or lack of size) cannot be ingested by a fish with a very small mouth. On the other extreme, a fish with a wide, cavernous mouth like a large striped bass can be most easily hooked with a hook that has a wide gape. Again, anatomy - if the shank of the hook makes contact with the fish's mouth more easily, the better the chances of the hook point gaining purchase. There is a point of diminishing returns here however. A long shank gives the fish more leverage to work the hook free, so short shank/wide gap hooks such as we use on our patented Hogy Quick Rigs up your odds with big, strong game fish.

The ends of your hook are probably the most important aspects in my opinion, besides the material from which it is made (more on this later). The eye of the hook is where you attached a snap, swivel, or tie on the line itself. Eyes must be closed tightly and one sign of a less than premium hook is a large gap between the end of the eye and the shank. In the course of the battle, an eye that has such an opening can lead to disaster as the fish charges back and forth and the line or snap works its way out that opening. Most hook manufacturers know how important this small detail can be, and in fact some hooks used for huge offshore species like giant bluefin tuna and sharks have a forged or welded eye so there is no way for the line to work loose.

Some hook eyes are bent up or down; most are on the same angle as the hook shank. The ones that are bent up or down are usually found on very small hooks such as those used to construct freshwater flies. This is because the angle upon which the line leaves the hook affects the way that fly will swim (down-turned for streamers, nymphs and other subsurface flies) or float (upturned eyes for dry flies that must float on the surface). Some of the larger hooks used in saltwater such as a variety known as Octopus Hooks have upturned eyes to make snelling easier and more secure.  

The point of the hook must be needle sharp. This is always important but especially so when targeting fish with hard mouths like tarpon or freshwater pike. How that needle sharp point is attained is something into which hook companies put much research and development. The hooks we like at Hogy Lures for Texas-rigging are Owner Cutting Point models in various sizes. They feature a "T" shaped triple edge blade terminating in an amazingly sharp point. Some hook companies rely on a ground point, while others use a triangular shape down to the point. This triangulated hook honing is a skill that all serious anglers should learn but we won't deal with that subject here. Suffice to say, keeping your hooks as sharp as they can be is essential for consistent hook ups.

So how about that number thing? Logic would indicate that a size 22 hook is much larger than a size 1 hook, right? You may already know that just the opposite is true. Now add a forward slash and a "0" after the numeral and you would be correct. That is to say, a 6/0 hook is in fact much larger than a size 6 hook. Clear as mud to the novice fisherman.  When I was learning the numeric system for hooks I found it helpful to build a kind of mental graph to compare hook sizes, from smallest to largest, looking something like this:

(small to large) 24 - 22 - 20 -18 - etc., to 4 - 2 - 1, and then continuing to increase as the numbers get bigger: 1/0 - 2/0 - 3/0 - etc.

Why is it done this way throughout the hook industry? Darned if I know, but that's the way it is, so you'd better get used to it! The astute observer will notice in the above list that I jump from size 4 to size 2. Another conundrum of the hook industry. With the very rare exception of some specialty hooks such as those used for bait fishing for tautog (also known as blackfish in the Northeast) where a size 3 hook is popular, virtually none of hook manufacturers make a size 3 hook. Why? Who knows?

The type of metal used in the manufacture of hooks is extremely important to the angler. In freshwater, a bronze hook is just fine but even if a bronze hook is coated with a protective substance it will corrode practically before your eyes if used in the salt. Bronze is also a relatively soft metal and will bend easily under the stress of a large, heavy fish. The most common and inexpensive types of saltwater hooks that stand up reasonably well to the corrosive saltwater environment are those made of a steel alloy coated with cadmium. You'll find them on many lures that use standard treble hooks or as single hooks for use while fishing with bait. Cadmium coated hooks are generally quite strong but do not hold a point quite as well as some other saltwater varieties. If you're using this type of hook, be sure to check the point of the hook often, especially if your plug or bait has made contact with rocks. If you're meticulous with your gear (or a cheap yankee like me who hates to have anything wear out prematurely!), it makes sense to rinse plugs with cadmium hooks with freshwater as soon as possible after fishing. This will substantially extend their useful life. I guarantee that if you put away your plug bag at the end of last season without doing this and your plugs have cadmium hooks, you're in for an ugly surprise!

In the last few years the premium hook companies have introduced some great alternatives to cadmium hooks. The exact formulations of these new alloys are deep dark industry secrets of course, but many of them will take and hold a point well, and are amazingly sharp right out of the package. You will pay a higher price compared to the cadmium coated varieties, but you can be sure you will hook more fish and lose fewer of them during the fight. One model we love for Texas rigging Hogys is the Owner Cutting Point Offset worm hook. It is super strong - bluefin tuna of better than 100 pounds were taken last year on the 11/0 version - and the finish will not be damaged by the saltwater for a very long time. A natural question here might be: Why not just use stainless steel? Well, in fact there are some stainless steel hooks on the market, but "stainless" is a rather relative term. Corrosion can and does occur on so-called stainless steel used in saltwater and this is likely if a dissimilar metal such as you might find in split rings comes in contact with the stainless hook, causing electrolysis. Also, pure stainless steel tends to be rather brittle and breakage of hooks made with this material is almost common. The fact is, in hooks as with many things, "you get what you pay for."

The thickness of the hook certainly is one factor in its strength, but less so than you may think. Some treble hooks are labeled 3X Strong, indicating a thicker diameter than a hook of comparable size. Just remember that thickness/strength is relative to the make-up and quality of the metal used, and this is one more compelling reason to buy premium hooks if you're after trophy fish.

Hooks come in a surprising variety of shapes too, and that is another point of confusion. One type that has gained in popularity in recent years is the circle hook, on which the hook point curves around toward the shaft in almost a circle. Many anglers swear by these hooks for chunk bait fishing or using swimming baits such as live eels or menhaden because they swear the fish they catch are almost always hooked in the corner of the mouth. For many anglers, however, circle hooks require an almost total re-learning of fish-hooking skills, because you must NOT "set" the hook when you feel the bite or pick-up. Only a gradual tightening of the line is needed to drive the hook home, and some anglers just have to react more forcefully when they feel the fish. I count myself among them, and the debate goes on about whether or not "regular" hooks result in more gut-hooked fish than circle hooks, when used by experienced anglers.

The bottom line here is that between the advice of knowledgeable anglers and tackle shop personnel, and your own experience, choosing the right hooks isn't as daunting as that huge wall of hooks in the shop may make you believe. Pay attention to this vital part of your fishing gear however - it's the "point" of connection between you and that fish of a lifetime.